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  #1  
Old 09-27-2020, 08:23 AM
corpblues corpblues is offline
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Default Hondo Mandolin

Looking for a little advice. I bought a guitar from a very nice person that also offered me a mandolin while I was there. I know ZERO about mandolins but she were so nice I bought the mandolin also. I may have overpaid for it but she was selling it for a friend of her grandmothers, so I wanted to be supportive.

I have no idea of the vintage or the value of this.

https://offerup.com/item/detail/929766746/

Any information greatly is appreciated.

Last edited by Kerbie; 09-28-2020 at 05:25 PM. Reason: Not allowed.
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Old 09-27-2020, 10:11 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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Copied from a discussion on a different place back in 2015:

"According to the Vintage Guitar 2014 Price Guide, Hondo made "budget grade imported" mandolins from 1974 to 1987. In excellent condition, retail value on the F style is 200 to 250."

That would place your A style value no more than $100 USD. They're really more like mandolin shaped objects to borrow a phrase from the violin world.

Here's a Goodwill listing, current bid is $27.
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Old 09-27-2020, 03:27 PM
corpblues corpblues is offline
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Thanks, I had no idea. I was hoping the martin script type font on the headstock might be of interest to someone.
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Old 09-28-2020, 04:38 PM
Les Young Les Young is offline
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Default I have one

That some of his kids got my diseased father in law. He had another one that he played & it's easy to see why. The Hondo will flat destroy your fingers & isn't much of an instrument just to be honest.
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Old 09-28-2020, 04:50 PM
corpblues corpblues is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Les Young View Post
That some of his kids got my diseased father in law.
I don't understand your comment.
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Old 09-29-2020, 02:26 PM
Br1ck Br1ck is offline
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FYI, the base line where most folks differentiate between a mandolin and a mandolin like object is about $500 new. This will buy you a Kentucky KM 150, an all solid wood, carved top mandolin. This is often recommended as a starting point in the mandolin world. Mandolin quality costs double what guitar quality does.
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Old 09-29-2020, 04:54 PM
leew3 leew3 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corpblues View Post
I don't understand your comment.
I think the first sentence of the post reads "I have one that some of the kids got for my deceased father in law." My guess is that the poster inherited the Hondo mandolin and doesn't recommend it.
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Old 10-13-2020, 05:18 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corpblues View Post
Looking for a little advice. I bought a guitar from a very nice person that also offered me a mandolin while I was there. I know ZERO about mandolins but she were so nice I bought the mandolin also. I may have overpaid for it but she was selling it for a friend of her grandmothers, so I wanted to be supportive.

I have no idea of the vintage or the value of this.

https://offerup.com/item/detail/929766746/

Any information greatly is appreciated.
Corpblues, if you bought the mandolin shown in the link you provided for the $75 price listed, you did okay. It is an entry level mandolin, no question about that, but with a proper set up it can probably be made playable easily enough, if it isn’t already.

If not it has an attractive caramel finish and will make a handsome wall hanging on your music room wall!

What I’d suggest you do is take it to your friendly local music store and get either the store repair tech or another knowledgeable staffer to take a look at it for you, to see what it might need to be optimized to play.

Whether or not you decide to get any serious work done on it is up to you, of course, but at the very least you should get the strings replaced and the bridge put in the proper position, with the thumb wheels on the bridge adjusted so that the strings are the proper height over the fretboard.

If you’ve never changed strings on a mandolin before it can be fairly challenging, particularly since the plain steel strings are tuned to such a high pitch that it’s very easy to break them. So from that standpoint, this time it’s probably a good idea to have a pro put on the strings, place the bridge in the right spot and adjust the thumbscrews so it’ll play in tune with itself.

That way you can get it restrung with only one set of strings, instead of having to rob another set to replace the strings that get broken due to inexperience and unfamiliarity. It’s an irksome, problematic process, especially when you haven’t done it before.

I’ve restrung my mandolins for more than forty years now, and it remains my least favorite music-related chore...

But whether you get the mandolin restrung is completely dependent on the instrument being in relatively good shape. If there’s a bow in the neck or any other major problem, then it’s best to just hang it on a wall because it’s not worth spending a lot of money to make it right.

At least it’s a nice-looking mandolin that will enhance any room it decorates!

Seriously, this Hondo mandolin you have is never going to be a professional quality instrument, but if it’s mechanically sound it’s worth paying a few bucks to get it optimized. You might find, as I did when I first started playing mandolin, that new songs will suggest themselves to you as you start finding your way around its fretboard.

My first mandolin was even cheaper than yours, but I learned to play on it, and I still sing some of the songs that suggested themselves to me when I was playing that clunker. That particular instrument has long since gone up to that great swap meet in the sky, but I learned my first mandolin chops on it. As I already mentioned, I still have the songs I wrote on it, and one of them has been a staple of my live performances ever since.

So see if you can get it fully functional, then take it from there. If it’s messed up beyond the capability of a simple setup to correct, just hang it on your wall. But if there are no major problems with it, it’s definitely worth optimizing so it can be played.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller
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  #9  
Old 10-13-2020, 12:50 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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I inherited dad's Hondo A-style mandolin that he acquired in the late 70's or early 80's. It is surely not a pro-grade instrument - dad could never afford such a thing -- and it desperately needs a good set up to play well. But it makes a good wall hanger in my office and reminds me of my dad all the time. I really don't care that it has no real monetary value. I tune it up and chomp away from time to time, but so far have not invested in a real setup from the local guru.

During our last trip to Elderly Instruments together just a few weeks before he passed away suddenly, I offered to buy him any Martin that he wanted (a lifelong dream for him) and even had my credit card out, but he declined. I still wish that he had said "yes".
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