Need Opinions Please!

[MorselArielle]

I don't play - yet! I have mandolin fever and need a good one to start out with but not one of the high-dollar babies. I have narrowed down my search to either a used Loar 600 or a new Eastman 305. I'm ok with either one, although the Eastman is a little less expensive. Since I'm as new as they come to mandolins, I couldn't really tell a difference in tone between them. From the practical standpoint, I'm leaning towards the Eastman, but the Loar is nice too! Please, what would you choose? I want to make the right decision!

~Arielle~

[dcoventry]

Personally, I like the neck shape on the Loar, the fret size, and the nice, tight sound. It'll last you a good long time.

[Mark Wilson]

One of three things could happen:

you play it a while, lose interest and put it down
you can't put it down and you eventually want a more expensive one
you can't put it down and you are happy with it

Monetarily (if you 'ok with either one') get the least expensive one and you will be ahead on all three

[Steve Zawacki]

Both are good objective choices. The question is which one do you favor subjectively? In other words, which would reach for first? Odds are this won't be your last mandolin (they tend to be addictive), so go with your heart.

[robert.najlis]

Personally I would go for the Eastman, due to neck shape. But that is me, and that probably does not help you much...

[Tezzerh]

I love my Eastman 305. It's much easier to play than the Kentucky I started off with.

[Greg H.]

Are you buying it locally or online? As if your just buying it at a local store, then it would make a difference on how the neck feels to your hand. What to tone sounds to you from the open strings etc. Better yet, if you know someone else who does play some mandolin how it sound to you 10 feet away.

Even if buying it online, if you can find similar mandolins in local music stores it an help you in deciding how the neck might feel to you. No, this is now answer for you, but it's far better for you to get some idea how it might feel to you.....as none of us will know how a particular neck/mandolin would feel in your hands.....

[JEStanek]

How the mandolin feels in your hands is key. Try them both (assuming you can), if you can't the Eastman tends to have a more narrow V shaped neck and thinner fret wire.

If you can't try either, and the used Loar comes from a good dealer or is well set up, I would recommend that. If you decide you don't like it, you'll likely get almost every penny back on resale. You would lose 25-30% on the New Eastman at resale.

Jamie

[MorselArielle]

thank you all so much for your opinions! Both instruments are local, both will be set up for me upon purchase. I just wanna get one in my hands and start learning! I know this will sound completely dumb to everyone, but what does it mean when you tune to open strings? And bone nuts, what is that? And that invisible truss rod thing..do I need to look at that to see something? I didn't consider re-sale value, and I really appreciate that point of view. The Loar seems to have a beefier set of tuners on it..should that be a consideration for me? And what does it mean when an instrument "opens up"? I take it that means after it has sort of broken in and then sounds better? So the Loar would maybe have done that since it is used? And how do I know when it opens up?

[JEStanek]

Wow... That's a list and covers some deep, unsettled water.

Tuning to open strings isn't normally done with mandolins. They are tuned in fifths from low to high G D A E. Open strings would tune the strings so when strummed with no strings fretted a chord would sound.

The nut (the part of the mandolin the strings pass over just below the tuners at the top of the fingerboard come in a variety of materials, natural and synthetic. Bone is one of those materials. Eastman and The Loar use bone.

The tuners on those mandolins should be of similar quality.

Opening up means the mandolin has transitioned from being a tree and to being more like an instrument. Some folks swear as they play an instrument, the vibrations from long use alter the way the components interact with each other and the soundboards vibrate more freely to give more volume and better tone. This is an unproven theory from a scientific point of view but there are plenty of stories of mandolins that sound better as they are played longer. Some people say the change is in the player getting better.

Maybe take a friend who can play (even a little) and have them play both instruments at you and you play both and select the one that feels the best in your hands and sounds the best. Both the instruments you're considering are a great place to start. Have fun!

Jamie

[Mike Arakelian]

Both the Loar 600 and the Eastman 305 are good mandolins, and you won't go wrong with either one. Don't worry about the questions you raised in your last post as they're really not relevant to your picking an instrument. Since you don't play, I would ask a friend that does play, or a person at the music store if they would play both instruments for you. I would ask them to play a few songs that you know and like (possibly from the genre of music you want to play). Listen carefully and see if you like the sound of one better than the other. You also have a choice between an A-style and an F-style. Between the sound and look of one vs the other, hopefully one will "speak to you". That's the one you should go with. Good luck and welcome to the Cafe.

[dcoventry]

OK, one more time with feeling:

Buy the Loar 600. It's a good hatchet.

[roysboy]

My first 'serious' mandolin was the Eastman 305 . Still the easiest playing mandolin I've ever picked up due , primarily , to the radius fretboard. Great first choice , imho , great price for a solid wood easy-playing good sounding instrument with a good reputation . HOWEVER , I sold the Eastman and purchased a newer model Kentucky KM-150 once I heard the tone . Amazing . Not quite as easy to play as the radius neck on the Eastman ...but damn close and 200.00 cheaper . Good luck

[Greg H.]

I'm sorry, my reference to "open strings" was simply meaning picking individual strings....i.e. not using your left fingers as all. As you're just starting out it seemed the easiest way to see if one or the other mandolin sounded better to you. If you've been playing guitar or another stringed instrument (and as such have callouses on the ends your fingers) then definitely try out the fretted notes as well. Beyond that, it's largely a question of whether or not it seems the neck fits well in your hand. if one seems to feel easier/more comfortable in your hand then that can make a difference.

At this point either mandolin could be equally good beyond this....

[Petrus]

I'm weird (duh), but I take the broader definition of "chord" as referring to any simultaneous sounding of two or more notes. So GDAE actually can be considered an open chord, it's just not a triad. It can be thought of as three "power chords" (a root and a fifth without the third): GD, DA, AE. Or simply as a four-note chord GDAE, expressing a root, a fifth, another fifth (= a ninth), and another fifth (= a 13th from the root.) Explain it this way to your non-musician friends and they'll think you're a musical genius. (That's the key, though: you always want to surround yourself with non-musician friends! Don't try this with musicians!)

[Mike Bunting]

I'm weird (duh), but I take the broader definition of "chord" as referring to any simultaneous sounding of two or more notes. So GDAE actually can be considered an open chord, it's just not a triad. It can be thought of as three "power chords" (a root and a fifth without the third): GD, DA, AE. Or simply as a four-note chord GDAE, expressing a root, a fifth, another fifth (= a ninth), and another fifth (= a 13th from the root.) Explain it this way to your non-musician friends and they'll think you're a musical genius. (That's the key, though: you always want to surround yourself with non-musician friends! Don't try this with musicians!)

I just call it a G 6/9.

[mandroid]

I have narrowed down my search to either a used Loar 600 or a new Eastman 305.

I do have Opinions, but not about that particular A vs B choice,
I have a picking buddy that got an Eastman, He likes it.


BTW 2 notes are an interval.. the space between them , not so much a chord,
(opinions vary no doubt)
but they can partially describe a feeling of a chord.

Major chords the 1>3 is major interval , the m-,1/2 step lower ,
makes the 3>5 major. as the 1>3 is minor ..

[Eric Michael Pfeiffer]

I played a Loar LM520 at the Guitar center in Orlando back in November...asking U$S569....I thought it was about as much mandolin as one could expect for that price....I was pleased with it...waaaaayyy better than my first mandolin. And I could only imagine the LM 600 being even better.

[MorselArielle]

I am ready to go back to the store tomorrow! In as much as one who doesn't play yet can be. I have watched YouTube videos, and have learned how to play a C and G chord by watching. (And taking notes, haha!) If I can just play these 2 chords on each instrument, I hope to be able to make an informed decision, and the right choice! I wish it was tomorrow already.

[Loretta Callahan]

How the mandolin feels in your hands is key. Try them both (assuming you can), if you can't the Eastman tends to have a more narrow V shaped neck and thinner fret wire.

If you can't try either, and the used Loar comes from a good dealer or is well set up, I would recommend that. If you decide you don't like it, you'll likely get almost every penny back on resale. You would lose 25-30% on the New Eastman at resale.

Jamie

Amen to how the mandolin feels when you play it. My beater and Muddy were the only mandolins I got to play before purchasing. Both will continue to be in our mandolin family here. Curious as to why the Eastman would lose 24 to 30% on resale. I'm presuming they are good Chinese built instruments. The fact that they have bone nuts is good. My first $300 beater had a plastic nut that I immediately replaced.

Also, how does the Washburn MS6W http://www.musiciansfriend.com/folk-...style-mandolin (properly setup by our own MandoMedic) stack up against the Loar and Eastman mentioned here? Mine lost over 60% of its new price cost. If nobody knows … that's cool. Just curious as I'm going to sell it … and want to price it fairly.

[belbein]

I feel like Eeyore. I always give this advice and nobody ever listens. But once more into the breach:

DO NOT BUY A NEW MANDOLIN. You don't know if you're going to like it. If you like it, you don't know if you're going to prefer an "f" or an "a," a scroll or a two point, an oval hole or "f" holes, an arch top or a flat top. And how could you? You're new at this.

But being new, why invest even $300 or $500 on a piece of **** ("junk," Scott, "junk") that can be better saved up for a better instrument?

The thing to do is buy used. Buy the cheapest decent feeling and sounding mandolin you can buy. It may be the last one you will ever buy. It may be the first of many. But you can guy a decent mandolin for $100, used, and start figuring out if you want to play and what you want to play. It's the setup that matters: it will turn a cheap p.o.s. into a good sounding instrument. I've written about this at length--you can see my posts on it if you want.

Trust me on this ... my first mandolin was about $60. My second, the "serious" mandolin, cost me about $700 and it was a bad mistake because I wasn't experienced enough to know what I wanted. My third was $2500, and it is precisely what I want at this point in my life, because I have several years (and mandolins) of experience.

My opinion. Worth what you paid for it.

[JEStanek]

The Eastman will lose 25-30% on resale since it is new and the The Loar is used (already lost it's value).

Jamie

[belbein]

The Eastman will lose 25-30% on resale since it is new and the The Loar is used (already lost it's value).

Jamie

You mean: already lost its "new instrument" markup. Now it's worth what it's worth, rather than worth what it's blown up to be. Right? (Or were you being funny and I just missed it?)

[Jon Hall]

The OP asked about an invisible truss rod. This is a misunderstanding since most mandolins have an adjustable truss rod that is as long as the neck and is recessed in a groove beneath the fret board. It can be adjusted to increase or decrease the bow in the neck. Most steel string and electric guitars have these as well. Since it isn't visible I guess it could be described as an invisible truss rod however, I have yet to see the first visible truss rod in an assembled instrument.

[MorselArielle]

Thanks again for all your opinions! I have now decided not to get either the Loar or the Eastman. I believe I'm going to be completely happy with the one I picked, and while I didn't have the chance to hold it, I absolutely trust the seller. Now to be patient just a little longer until my new-to-me/used-to-another is here! I'll let you all know what I get when she gets here, along with a pic or two if I can figure out how to post one.