If it was your pick..Northfield Calhoun vs Breeedlove Quartz?

JohnW63 · #1 11-01-2021, 06:28 PM

I'll trying to find a solid mandolin as my first attempt, rather than a beginner model to step up from. I've sent emails to the sellers of both instruments. The Northfield is new and full MSRP at $995. The Breedlove is used and down at $800

Both A style. I'm not sure if the Northfield has a case or not. I asked in the reply I sent. The Breedlove had a nice padded case that zips up. Looks like it could be used by most body shapes of mandolin. If I can that one, I'll ask them to add padding inside the case when they ship it.

JohnW63 · #2 11-01-2021, 06:46 PM

I guess I should add, I am also thinking of a new Big Muddy M11 which is also about $850 with the wider fretboard.

phydaux · #3 11-01-2021, 06:50 PM

I recently bought a mandolin, but I bought mine new from Elderly Instruments.

If I had it to do again I'd spend a little bit more money. The Kentucky KM-250 is nice, but a 256 or 270 is only a little bit more.

Buying new also gives you the opportunity to have it professionally set up & intonated by the seller. That's important for a guitar, but for a mandolin it's critical.

Also, check out Big Muddy Mandolins.

Shaneh · #4 11-01-2021, 07:23 PM

Breedlove American mandolins are great. My wife has oval hole. Highly recommend them. Too bad Breedlove stopped making them.

JohnW63 · #5 11-01-2021, 08:27 PM

phydaux,

I have checked them out. See my second post. They are on the list, I just was thinking about two new choices when I began the thread.

Br1ck · #6 11-01-2021, 08:34 PM

What kind of music will you be playing?

JohnW63 · #7 11-01-2021, 08:54 PM

Not bluegrass, I think. I'm not expecting to be able to play at that pace. It's not my favorite genre anyway. Pop, jazz, and perhaps something a bit more classical. I'm not really sure. Probably a lot of experimenting as I go. It's a new sound pallet I am curious about.

pjheff · #8 11-02-2021, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnW63

I'll trying to find a solid mandolin as my first attempt, rather than a beginner model to step up from. I've sent emails to the sellers of both instruments. The Northfield is new and full MSRP at $995. The Breedlove is used and down at $800

For a first mandolin, I’d rather buy an archtop that is used for less than a flattop that is new for more.

posternutbag · #9 11-02-2021, 06:25 PM

I am pretty sure I know which instruments you are looking at, as I spend a lot of time over at MC. I have a Breedlove Quartz as my backup (and amplified) mandolin. I have owned several Mid Mo/Big Muddy mandolins. So take this for what it’s worth.

The Breedlove will be more versatile. It’s carved (as opposed to a flattop) and it should have a pickup. Neither of these are terribly important to a beginner, but if you are looking for a mandolin you won’t need to move on from (as opposed to simply wanting a new instrument) the Breedlove will give you more room to grow in terms of genre. You could really play anything on the Breedlove.

That being said, American made Breedloves tends to be a very undervalued, whether you are talking about their entry level Quartz mandolins or their more expensive Masterbulit series. I am not sure anyone know why this is. If someone does, please let me know.

The prevailing opinion is that when they were sold to Two Old Hippies, they diluted their brand with their Crossover series. There may be some truth to this, but they were undervalued before the sale.

I think it has more to do with the fact that they are, for the most part, not traditional, in that they don’t look like Gibsons. But for whatever reason, they are usually hard to sell, which is good for the buyer and bad for the seller.

The only exception is that, From time to time, for whatever reason, a relatively obscure brand will get “hot” over at MC. There is a little bit of that going on right now with Breedlove, which has raised their visability a bit, and also, more than likely, the asking price.

In a normal time, I would say you could get a Quartz for $700 plus shipping, but their may be a slight premium, right at this moment, and were you looking to sell down the road, the general consensus that you can more or less sell an American made mandolin for what you paid for it (assuming you bought used), might not hold up in this specific case.

But, unless resale is foremost on your mind, a Breedlove Quartz is a very good mandolin, assuming you like the wider fretboard and chunkier neck.

There is nothing wrong with Big Muddy mandolins. If there were, I would not have owned several over my time as a mandolinist. They are totally solid mandolins, but they have their own sound, and importantly for me, they are hard to attach a strap to. You pretty much have to loop it over the headstock, you can’t loop it around the base of the fretboard because the fretboard is attached to the body. A minor point unless you spend a lot of time standing and playing in front of folks.

So literally, the worst thing I can say about them is that they don’t have a convenient place for me to attach a strap. But if you don’t play bluegrass, they can be a forever mandolin.

I haven’t played a Northfield Calhoun, but I had a Big Mon for a while. It was fine. It was better than the Kentucky and Eastman mandolins I have played, but just like Breedloves tend to be undervalued, Northfields are a little overvalued. They are good mandolins, and $950 for a well made flattop is in no way a bad deal, but if I wanted a flattop, it would be hard for me to pay $950 for a Calhoun when I could get a used Big Muddy for about half that.

And that’s probably why you don’t see a lot of new Big Muddy mandolins. Mike Dulak is, by all accounts, a standup guy and a good builder, but a used Mid Mo or Big Muddy is just so attractive, it’s hard to justify a new one. That being said, I have contemplated one of his large bodied mandolins as a dedicated classical mandolin that I would only play seated. I haven’t pulled the trigger, but the thought has crossed my mind.

As a final point in this already too long post, don’t count out the possibility that you might play some bluegrass down the line. Bluegrass jams can be super fun and super accessible for mandolinists. There are often 2-3 guitars for every mandolin, at least in my experience, and mandolins are so integral to the sound of bluegrass that they are almost always welcome.

Again, all this is FWIW, which is not much.

JohnW63 · #10 11-02-2021, 06:33 PM

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I just missed out on the Breedlove in the Madolin Cafe classifieds that was going to be $700 shipped. I like the natural maple look better, but someone sent money before I could.

So, I'm watching them like a hawk, now.

John

posternutbag · #11 11-02-2021, 07:38 PM

I think there is one on MC right now for $800. The seller ie also selling a Gilchrist.

JohnW63 · #12 11-02-2021, 07:53 PM

I'm in contact with the lady selling the Breedlove. It was her late husbands. I just asked he to have a friend who plays mandolin to check it out to make sure it is good condition. Hopefully, no one else buys it while I am asking for that to happen. I don't think I could afford the Gilchrist.

posternutbag · #13 11-02-2021, 08:01 PM

If you don’t get it, keep watching because I end up putting mine up for sale, since there seems to be more interest in these than there has been in a while, although you said you like a natural finish and mine is a quite dark sunburst.

JohnW63 · #14 11-02-2021, 09:32 PM

Looks come 2nd to tone.

Br1ck · #15 11-04-2021, 02:53 PM

I was never, ever going to play bluegrass. One day one of the mandolin sites had a fiddle tune I really liked. I learned it. Later I found out is was a Bill Monroe tune. Then I came upon another fiddle tune I liked. Bill Monroe. Then another, then another.Then I learned a tag line. It was fun. Then an intro. Then there was a technique that sounded really great called staggered eighths. Yep. Monroe again.

One day an open mic friend asked me if I'd learn to play Walls of Time, so I obliged.