Cort cma150e or Ibanez M510 Ebs

[Tortuga de Mar]

Hello there! I' ve been playing a very cheap stagg mandolin for a couple of years and now i' ve got the money to improve a little bit, altough not enough to buy any F-series instrument. Mandolins are quite a rare instrument around here and I can only get one of these two models:
Cort cma 150 e
Ibanez M510 ebs

The thing is, I have to order them, so I can' t give them a try myself. If anyone has tried one of those two pleas let me know what do you think about them, so I can make the comparison. I think the Cort cma would be the best choice, because I want to play live, so I' d use the internal mic a lot, and I' d rather have a more 'natural' than 'electric' sound.
What do you think?
Thank you very much!

[allenhopkins]

So, "Sea Turtle," where are you located that you can only get one of those two models? If you have to order them shipped (presumably to a dealer at your location), why can't you order directly from an on-line dealer?

An F-model isn't necessarily an improvement, it just looks prettier (if you think scrolls and points are "prettier" -- some don't).

The Cort has a solid spruce top, apparently heat-pressed, and (presumably laminated) mahogany back and sides. It doesn't have an "internal mic," but it does have a piezo pickup (not the same thing). I find it listed, discounted, for about $200 US.

The Ibanez M510 ("bs" apparently means "brown sunburst") acoustic-electric is all plywood, spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and has a magnetic pickup. Discounted, it's around the same price as the Cort.

The Cort has the marginal advantage of having at least a solid top. And you're right, a piezo pickup will sound more "acoustic" than a magnetic pickup, other things being equal. I'd rate an all-solid-wood, carved-top mandolin like the Kentucky KM-150 (about $50 more), or the Rover RM-50 (about $50 less) higher than either the Cort or the Ibanez; you're not getting the pickup you want, but you can get a fairly sophisticated piezo pickup like the K & K Twin for around $100 -- or you can use a stand-mounted microphone.

My choices, in rank order would be (for whatever it's worth):

1. Buy the Kentucky KM-150, add $100 for a piezo pickup, total around $350 ±.
2. Buy the Rover RM-150, ditto on the piezo, total around $250 ±.
3. Buy the Cort, total around $200.
4. Buy the Ibanez, same amount.

You can order the Kentucky or the Rover from a variety of on-line or mail-order outfits; they'll definitely ship to you if you're in the US or nearby, and probably to Europe/Latin America as well, though you have to figure in the shipping. Get whatever mandolin you choose from a seller that does "shop set-up," since many of the larger on-line sellers don't do that, but ship them "as is" from the factory.

Answering your question as asked -- and I haven't owned either the Cort or the Ibanez, so basing my opinion on the published specs -- I'd agree the Cort's a better product. I'd also urge you to consider other mandolins, if you can get them shipped to you directly.

Again, just my 2¢.

[almeriastrings]

What country are you based in? If we know that, we may be able to suggest places where you could find better instruments than the two you are considering. I could not recommend either of these, really. They will not be much (if any) better than what you already have.

[Tortuga de Mar]

Thank you both a lot. I' m from Mar del Plata, Argentina. I only have a local credit card, so I don' t know if I can have enough cash to buy online. In any case, I' d appreciate any data you can have about that (I wouldn' t know how or where to order).
Thanks!

[Jeff Mando]

I'm not sure I understand this situation. If you can get online and you can get here, you should be able to get on eBay, etc. Some sellers do not offer international shipping, but many do. If you use Paypal, you can pay by credit card without anyone seeing your actual number online. (besides Paypal) I agree there are better choices than the Cort or Ibanez.

[Tortuga de Mar]

Believe me, it' s kinda complicated... I don' t even understand it myself... I' m going to ask anyone else here for advice, but as far as I know, shipping is not easy around here. If I can buy online then I' ll follow your suggestions. Thanks!

[Tortuga de Mar]

Oh, I might also get a Jay Turser Jtm10, for a better price than the other two I mentioned before.

http://mla-s2-p.mlstatic.com/mandoli...7_012015-F.jpg

[Tortuga de Mar]

Damn, the Jay Turser is out of stock...

[almeriastrings]

You didn't miss much.

Those are really no better than the others. The problem is that to get something better than what you have, you really have to find one of those particular models that are really SPECIAL value - which means built correctly using decent materials. There are not too many of them... there is, however, a lot of "junk" out there.... you need to avoid the junk and find one of the good ones! I would not waste money on Cort, Stagg or things like that. Save up some money, and get something that will sound good and be playable.

I would be looking for a Kentucky KM-140 or KM-150.

You really cannot get better in that price range.

[Bill Snyder]

I suspect you will be dissapointed with either the Cort or the Ibanez. I doubt that either of them would be much better than the Stagg you are already playing.

[Tortuga de Mar]

Thank you all.
It is really hard to get good pickups here too.
I' m trying to buy on Amazon, if I can. Could you suggest any good mandolin with pickup (piezo, or whatever) that sounds good, or a good pickup to buy online? I can spend 300 dollars. More than that, I' d have to pay aduana taxes.
Thank you very much.

[allenhopkins]

Amazon has the Rover RM-50 for $137.50 US. Note: does not come with shop set-up, so you should see if you can get that done at one of your local instrument shops -- or learn to do it yourself. The Rover is a bare-bones, all-solid-wood, carved-top mandolin, features that are better than those of the Cort, Tarser and Ibanez instruments we've been discussing.

That leaves you perhaps $125-150 (depending on shipping, customs, other charges) to spend on buying and installing a piezo pickup. I'm far from expert on these, so I'll defer to others who are.

[Tortuga de Mar]

Thanks a lot, you' ve been of great help. Just one last thing... what does "shop setup" exactly mean? Sorry for my ignorance!

[allenhopkins]

...what does "shop setup" exactly mean?...

Basically it refers to the adjustments that need to be made to make an instrument optimally playable. Mandolins, unlike guitars, have a "floating" bridge that's not glued to the top, but held in place by string tension. Therefore, the bridge must be properly located for the mandolin to play in tune -- for the fretted notes to be of the proper pitch. Many, if not most, mandolins also have height-adjustable bridges, which also must be calibrated to have string height -- "action" is the term -- low enough to be comfortable, but high enough to avoid "buzzing" when strings vibrate against frets further up the neck from where the string is fretted. A good set-up tech will also check the nut for proper height and slotting, check the tuning machines for tightness and accuracy, eyeball the neck for proper "relief" (slight concave curvature) -- adjusting the truss rod, assuming the mandolin has one, to proper tension -- and perhaps replace the "factory" strings with a better brand.

Many mandolins, especially inexpensive ones, come from the factory without proper set-ups. The assumption is that the dealer, or the purchaser, will set up the instrument to be playable. Many instrument dealers have limited experience with mandolins, and don't do shop set-ups; you can, generally, expect to pay $50 and up if you have to take your instrument to a repair shop for one.

Nothing that a musician can't learn to do him/herself, but for a new mandolinist with a first instrument, it's probably better to at least talk to the dealer about providing a shop set-up as part of the purchase transaction -- preferably without extra charge.

[almeriastrings]

I would advise getting a good basic mandolin, anything from the Rover that Allen mentions to a KM-140 or KM-150, then adding the pickup yourself. This is easy to do... we can show you how. You will get much better results than buying a cheap mandolin that has a pickup installed at the factory. You can get very satisfactory results on mandolin with, for example, just about any piezo pickup (that one is $10) and a $30 preamp. That $40 (total) combination really works...certainly far better than anything you will find built into a lower priced mandolin. Easy to fit, easy to use. Strongly suggest just getting the best mandolin you can find within your budget and dealing with the pickup separately.

[Tortuga de Mar]

Thank you all and sorry for being away for so long. I have found an external pickup for about $35 that seems quite decent, with an XLR connector. I'm going to spend some time trying the different spots until i find the one that sounds better. For now I'm going to keep both my Stagg and Palmer mandolins (a luthier made a good setup for them) and carve some holes for the XLR so the mandolin can be connected directly.
Then I'll save the money for a couple of years until I can get a better one, so you' ll have me asking again when the time comes :P
Thank you all very much, I would have wasted a lot of money if you wouldn't have been there to help me. I' ll send some pictures and audios when it' s done.