Search:

Tell us about that truss rod cover, Dan!

There’s no Mike Black in your signature . . . :whistling:

Do you think that the 19” scale contributed to it coming up short compared to your 22” OM?

I bought a used Collings MT from Guitar Center of all places a decade ago thinking that I would sample it for the 45 day trial period and then return it if the experience wasn’t overwhelmingly...

Interesting contrast. What value do you find in nice vintage guitars beyond fetish hype over the fanciness of the carving and inlays and historical value?

I was trying to be coy, but do you know if she’s building one for you? :mandosmiley:

What’s she building, banjoboy? :whistling:

Gail built an A5-z for Darryl Wolfe back in 2016 and an A5/H3 pair in 2017. I don’t remember anything since, although she may still be doing repair work.

Gail Hester https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/members/8571-Gail-Hester

F-holes?

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Andy Statman, as few can match his technical mastery across a wide range of musical expression.

High-end instruments are built by established luthiers with reputations for paying attention to all of the small details that optimize a mandolin, details that a factory worker building for scale may...

While I recognize that our budgetary sense of what constitutes "moderately-priced" is a sliding scale, I would point out that the OP joined in July of 2023 and only has 35 posts to date.



The...

While I understand that everything is relative in the marketplace, I don’t think that $1995 OBO is what the OP had in mind when introducing the term “moderately-priced mandolin.”

Have you tried the Wegen TF120 or TF100? That’s what I typically use on my lighter strung instruments, such as the RM-1 with flatwounds or Poe with medium-lights.

I’m just curious because one of the loose aphorisms around here holds that you should expect to pay twice as much for an archtop mandolin as a flattop guitar of equivalent quality. So a $1K mandolin...

What guitar(s) do you play?

I was under the impression that, when the mandolin craze ended, Gibson used up old parts to maximize profits / minimize losses.

With the caveat that one man’s midlevel is another man’s cheap, octave mandolins that thread the needle of being high quality but not exorbitantly expensive are often flattops which take less time to...

My perception was that the 590 model has always been all solid wood construction, just more modestly appointed than the 520 one.

https://www.theloar.com/lm590

What mandolin is it?

I had a 1984 1N that was a real screamer, sounded better than any other flattop that I owned at the time (a Mid-Missouri M0, a Gypsy Vagabond, and a Redline Traveler). I only moved it along because I...

Both? :confused:

I’m not sure if he’s officially retired, but Ross Teigen in Hawthorn at least had a stellar reputation.

https://vintagelicksguitars.com/vintage-guitar-repair-luthiers/

Your thread title (“best”) is a little at odds with the post within it (“decent” for $500 or less range). To answer the title, I’ve never played a Sawchyn Beavertail, but the best pancakes in my...