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.
Eastman MD305 mandolin
Kentucky KM250 mandolin
2 x Fiddles, 1 x 5 string viola, 1 x 5 string octave viola, 2 X nyckelharpas
2 X 12 string guitars, 3 x 6 string guitars, 1 x Cuatro de Puerto Rico
5 x recorders - descant, alto, tenor
1 X Highland bagpipes
1 x Garvie 'Session' mouth blown bagpipes in A
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