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Thread: Upgrading mandolin

  1. #1

    Default Upgrading mandolin

    First time poster here. I am looking to upgrade my mandolin from a blue moon mando, it's been a decent little intro to the instrument, but having progressed, and having bought a deering tenor banjo to transfer my skills, I realise how bad and difficult the blue moon is to play.
    While my heart would love a Weber, my purse strings are restricting me to around £500-600, the mandolins I am stuck between is the Seagull s8 and an Eastman MD305. I'm trying to gather thoughts on these, or be steered toward another make and model that I may be overlooking.
    Many thanks

  2. #2
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Welcome! I would probably vote for the Eastman over the Seagull - among other things "when you buy, you sell" as a pal of mine's da used to say, and when the time comes that you might want to upgrade, you'd not have a problem selling the Eastman. That said, you'll also likely get lots of mileage out of an Eastman MD305, and depending on what your needs are, it might be the only mandolin you ever need.
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    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by GN62ZLN View Post
    While my heart would love a Weber, my purse strings are restricting me to around £500-600, the mandolins I am stuck between is the Seagull s8 and an Eastman MD305. I'm trying to gather thoughts on these, or be steered toward another make and model that I may be overlooking.
    If your heart would love a Weber, keep your eye out for one of the flattops that they made previously. The Y2K in particular often shows up in your price range. Alternatives to consider from UK builders might include Jimmy Moon, Thomas Buchanan, and Paul Hathway:

    https://hobgoblin.com/thomas-buchanan-mandolin

    https://hobgoblin.com/hathway-mandolin-solid-spruce
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    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    I just thought about this article on Great Vintage Mandolins:

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pu...s_001443.shtml
    Last edited by Sue Rieter; Feb-07-2021 at 11:15am. Reason: link wasn't working

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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Hi GN62ZLN - Im in UK, and recently upgrade from only have a 'travel' mandolin (seems tiny now). After a good deal of research here and other places, it came down to a choice between the Eastman 304/305 (good reviews on here) and a couple of Kentucky models 252 (ff) and 272 (oval hole) - similarly, good reviews here. I decided I wanted an ff hole model A (teardrop) style as ff holes are are reputed to be a bit more agressive sounding than oval holes (a generalisation of course). Also, as you probably know, comparable quality 'scroll' type mandolins like the Eastman 315 are maybe £250 more expensive than the A model 305 for what appears to be similar quality.

    In speciality folk instrument shops, I found Eagle Music are very helpful with several mandolin players working there, in fact I eventually bought from them. Celtic Chords in Stonehaven, Scotland has those two Kentucky models, plus the much more affordable laminate back and sides 140S at about £350 - nobody here seems to know much about that model. The Acoustic Music Company in Brighton seemed very helpful. They have the best photos of the Eastman range on their site. Eastman is their bargain basement range, they start from there and have a good range of single luthier US mandolins for those with £££s. Unfortunately they're completely closed currently due to Covid. Hobgoblin? - well, personally, I wouldn't even though I live near their Crawley store, for the reason that they sell too many different kinds of instruments for me to be happy with their mandolin expertise should there be a problem. Seems like Eastman prices are pretty standard across all UK stores - the 300 range was the same price absolutely everywhere I found it, the 500 range had the occasional store £50 with a reduction below the majority, and those Kentuckies can be found £50 lower than other places. Be careful at the moment to check stores actually have a mando before ordering one. Some will take your order online then email to tell you they don't have one, and is it OK if you wait X weeks? Right now, unless they have a shipment in transit, there are some longish waiting times for what would usually be an off the shelf instrument (maybe up to 10 weeks or so).

    Ebay UK? It's a strange place at the moment - too many people who think they'll sell used mass production musical instruments for a lot more than anyone will pay for them. If you watch you'll see the occasional decent value Kentucky (assuming it's structurally OK), but I watched for weeks and saw nothing affordable enough to be worth the risk (even though I'm pretty handy and have made guitars). There are instruments on there for weeks with no decent offers because they're just too expensive for a no-see auction buy. New Eastmans are the same price on Ebay as everywhere else. Most other UK sales sites don't have enough used mandos on there to be worth looking, for me at least.

    I ended up with a new Eastman 305, and I'm very pleased with it. It looks like, well, a very plain brown mandolin with little wood figure - but it's well made (ebony fingerboard, alloy tailpiece, all solid carved woods), plays easily, and it sounds good - quite woody, if you like that. It's the kind of instrument you could leave on a pub table for 10 minutes without a light fingered customer being attracted to the bling some mandos have, 'cos this model doesn't have any at all! For me, that's part of its attraction, you seem to get more sound per £ than a mandolin in this price range with wood figure, inlay and bling. Good luck with the hunt, Max
    Last edited by maxr; Feb-07-2021 at 1:33pm.
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Yep, what they said.

    I used to own an Eastman 315 that was my “beater,” but it was nice enough that I treated it just as carefully as my nicer mandolins. It’s tone wasn’t as complex as my Kelley or the Silverangel I used to have, but, if finances dictated that it be my only mandolin, I’d have been very happy with it. I bought the 315 rather than the 305 only because it’s what the store had and it was on clearance. I think you can likely be very happy with a 305 for years before feeling the need to upgrade, and, as Jill states, you may not ever need to upgrade. They got my 315 right...
    Chuck

  8. #7

    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Moderator's Edit. Removed because of Forum Guidleines. Please be aware this is a global community.
    Last edited by Ted Eschliman; Feb-08-2021 at 5:57pm.

  9. #8

    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    The Eastman 305 is a good starter mandolin. Tamco and Eagle Music have a good reputation, and will make sure that it’s well set up to play comfortably.

    Never played a Seagull, so I can’t comment on those, but I’ve played several Eastmans over the years (and used to own a 505) and they’ve all been decent instruments.

  10. #9
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    If your heart would love a Weber, keep your eye out for one of the flattops that they made previously. The Y2K in particular often shows up in your price range.
    The Aspen would also qualify: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/166987#166987
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    GN62ZLN - there's a Breedlove mandolin come up on Ebay UK that MIGHT be even better value than the Eastman or Kentuckys mentioned above, at around the same price - BUT!!! only if it's made in USA. From memory of other posts here, these mandolins were first made in USA, then only in China, and the US ones are far superior to the Chinese made ones (is that correct, guys?) - to the extent that if it's Chinese made you probably don't want it at this price. Also, the auction has less than a day to run - 14th Feb, 10:33. I've asked on the Ebay page here whether this is a USA made or Chinese made one, no answers yet:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Breedlove...YAAOSweXJgH8AW

  12. #11
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Upgrading mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    GN62ZLN - there's a Breedlove mandolin come up on Ebay UK that MIGHT be even better value than the Eastman or Kentuckys mentioned above, at around the same price - BUT!!! only if it's made in USA. From memory of other posts here, these mandolins were first made in USA, then only in China, and the US ones are far superior to the Chinese made ones (is that correct, guys?) - to the extent that if it's Chinese made you probably don't want it at this price. Also, the auction has less than a day to run - 14th Feb, 10:33. I've asked on the Ebay page here whether this is a USA made or Chinese made one, no answers yet:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Breedlove...YAAOSweXJgH8AW
    That's definitely an American made mandolin. Only the Crossover series was made overseas.

    Of the two originally mentioned, go for the Eastman. Have heard a few Seagulls and even played one. They are fun, but sound more like a travel instrument than a full on nice mandolin, IMO

    Would also suggest looking at the Kentucky KM-150, which might be less expensive than the Eastman. It's still a very nice instrument. As I said in another thread recently, saw Finnish musician Arto Jarvela playing what appeared to be that model Kentucky over the holiday season on a series of videos. It sounded quite good with his band.
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