I too am new at this mandolin thing, and just now have developed confidance in my abilities to tell people I play, and I guess I am good enough so that my wife and kids to run from the room when I pick at the mando. I have few musical abilites, can't sing, wasted 3 years of my parent's money on piano lessons when I was younger, have no sense of timing. Found a mando at a yard sale a few years ago for $15, with a hard case. figured the case was worth more. The POS mando worked OK, took it apart a few times to fix the bracing. My wonderful wife bought me a lower level new mando for christmas, so I started playing more. Found a better mand at a yard sale this summer. Now am playing at least an hour a day, and having fun. My youngest son can play the violin, so he can pick up my other mando and play with me. That is fun. I will probably never play in public, but really don't care.
