Flatiron sound

  1. Elb2000
    Elb2000
    I greatly enjoy my Flatiron 1984 A5. I’m sort of new at music and only started playing few years ago. When traveling, I will often try other mandolins in music stores. In my opinion, some other mandolin’s have more bluegrass bark, or a brighter tone or an easier to play neck. I think it’s a lot of personal preference, but I like the overall balanced tone and overtones of my Flatiron more than other instruments I’ve quickly tried. Since this is a group that has Flatirons, are there other similar sounding and not super premium mandolins that you think are closely comparable or improved compared to your Flatirons and worth looking for instruments to try?
  2. Pjones3
    Pjones3
    Eb,
    Simple answer, nope. It is my opinion that no other mandolin produced in the quantities Flatirons were produced, has the consistent quality of craftsmanship and sound of a Flatiron. There are surely individual mandolins around that sound, feel, and look as good as a given Flatiron, however I would, with very little trepidation, purchase a Flatiron sight unseen and barring any unknown damage, be confident it would sound and play wonderfully. I've owned a few, played quite a few more, and they've all been delightful. My 84 A 5-2 is simply a gem, however my friend's blackface 88 festival A, a lower end Flatiron model in it's time, sounds almost identical. To me, the similarity in sounds between an instrument worth $ 900 and another worth $ 3500 speaks to the quality built into the instrument from the beginning. Anyway, that's my humble opinion.
    PJ
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