Re: Cheap/low-end mandolins...
Originally Posted by
Joey Anchors
I know in the guitar/bass world there are player who love to tone and feel of some cheap/low-end instruments (Silvertone, Hofner Beatle bass, Danelectro, Kay) which got me thinking...
Are there mandolin players who perfer cheap/low-end mandos ($500 and less) to the Gibsons, Collings, Weber...ect?[
This thread has gone far afield from the original question.
"Prefer" is an interesting qualifier. There are many folk who have never handled a mandolin in the multi-kilobuck range, so "prefer" is strictly hypothetical. For those folk, it's like asking the guy driving a five-year-old Camry whether he prefers that car to a Mercedes C550 even though he has never driven a Mercedes in his life. "Yearning for" is not "prefer" since "prefer" indicates experience with the objects in question.
I've never seen a Gilchrist or Collings other than in photos, and only handled a vintage Gibson once, and saw a Weber being played by another guy. I also know what my playing level is (fun-time amateur), and as such do not need what I consider a pro-level instrument. Also, since my amateur playing occurs at a number of environmental conditions, I can't justify in my mind the expense coupled with the operating risk. So, I prefer playing instruments in the <$500 range since I can "hot rod" them a little and spread out my discretionary funds to cover other fun activities.
The OP's question is a good one. It brings fiscal reality back to mandolin playing, especially among the fun-time amateurs with several interests, mandolin playing being just one of those interests.
...Steve
Current Stable: Two Tenor Guitars (Martin 515, Blueridge BR-40T), a Tenor Banjo (Deering GoodTime 17-Fret), a Mandolin (Burgess #7). two Banjo-Ukes and five Ukuleles..
The inventory is always in some flux, but that's part of the fun.
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