Inexpensive starter instrument

[kennaitchem]

I just bought a mandolin on the internet. I am totally new to mandolins, and at 80 years old I now regret having waited so long. Don't laugh but I bought the least expensive one I could get as I figured it would teach me what to look for in an upgrade. I know of no one else who plays one. Well for $58 US I got an IRIN boxwood veneer instrument, and after a few tweaks I am delighted with it. Main problem was uneven frets, but I resisted filing them down and I was able to reset them using a hammer and a flat punch. Now the intonation is as near perfect as my untrained ears can tell. In short I am finding it an ideal starter instrument. I consider it inexpensive, but the finish and quality are far from cheap. I welcome comments. What should I be looking for next. I don't know of anyone else who plays this instrument to ask for advice.

[MikeEdgerton]

What should I be looking for next.

Your next mandolin, nobody stops at one.

Welcome to the fray.

[gtani7]

What should I be looking for next. I don't know of anyone else who plays this instrument to ask for advice.

Well, you're the first person to ever ask this question, ever... in the last hour . So there's a wealth of threads in the search engine in the upper right corner. This was my collection of links: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...=1#post1476330

tl;dr is Eastman, Kentucky, JBovier, Breedlove, Morris or "The Loar" or a flattop or see what floats by on craigslist or your local shops in your price range (it's possible you don't have any local shops)

and this is for the pdf book on instrument setup everybody uses: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...by-Rob-Meldrum