Purchase a good entry mandolin in EU in 2021

[Prisca]

Hi, folks.

New year, old story.
I need a good entry level mandolin that makes me want to keep playing it forever.
Budget: not over 1000€; less is better. Speaking of what, here in Europe mandolins prices are unfairly much higher than in US or anywhere else!
I come from banjo and, despite it's the best sounding instrument in the Universe, I decided to switch to a light, versatile A-style mandolin to play bluegrass with, as Italian folk, "songwriters music", progressive stuff...

Questions:
1) Dealers or makers in EU - not to expensive? Are there second hand markets?
2) According to the previous discussions, I was considering the Eastman MD305 and the Kentucky KM500 (it's to be noted that their prices, in EU, are repectively around 600 and 800 €!). Would you recommend other/more?
3) Are you able to compare the two (or more) models now built and purchased for their tone quality, volume, durability, melody/chopping playability, intonation up the neck, etc...?

That would be a huge help!
Thank you

[Bren]

Dealers in EU:
Look at Thomann and New Acoustic Gallery in Germany for the widest selection.

Makers:
There are many in the EU, especially Czech Republic and Slovakia, but will probably be above €1000 price point

Second Hand:
Reverb.com and mandolin cafe classifieds.

Eastman instruments are good and have good customer backup if you buy new.
I don't know about Kentucky but I've heard they're also good value.

[Jill McAuley]

Moloney Music here in Ireland (Galway city) does the Eastman 305 for €575 and the 315 for €795.

https://www.moloneymusic.com/Product...ndolinsbyprice

[Simon DS]

It’s a bit expensive but you can get them cheaper if they’re shop soiled or ‘almost new’ second hand.
Ashbury make, from Hobgoblin UK, (fabricated in Vietnam and China) have other models up to around 975 euros, (and this price has reduced from 1300 euros over the last 2 years) the supply is limited in France now, but you can still find them.
I think demand (for everything) may have dropped.


Here’s their top of the range -if only they sold a larger bodied mandola version!
http://www.ashburyguitars.com/cat/sa...-solid-spruce/

The others (notice the price of the Kentucky)
http://www.ashburyguitars.com/cat/sa...ry=310&Style=B

(I get confused when people say, ‘I’m in Europe’, because it’s quite a big place with over 120 different languages, and Russian being the most spoken native language. It’s often easier if you say the nearest city).

[poul hansen]

Hora mandolins are really good value for money and CHEAP

I also like this beautiful all solid mandolin I bought last year.

I am planning to scoop the "Florida" though.

I

https://roundmusic.nl/product/richwo...yle-all-solid/

[Prisca]

When I say EU I mean an economically different context than the USA or the UK. Geographically, I am in nothern Italy.
Anyways, not looking for a cheap piece of wood, but a pleasant instrument and a good investment.

[Jill McAuley]

When I say EU I mean an economically different context than the USA or the UK. Geographically, I am in nothern Italy.
Anyways, not looking for a cheap piece of wood, but a pleasant instrument and a good investment.

I'm fairly sure Moloney Music (which is in Ireland, an EU country) ships instruments throughout the EU - the Eastmans are a good solid instrument and you'll have no problem selling an Eastman if you decide you want to move up the mandolin food chain later on.

[Charles E.]

Eastman 305 or 505 (better tuners) used if you can find one.

[Bren]

(I get confused when people say, ‘I’m in Europe’,

The important part was "EU" which means there'd be added duty and VAT, plus VAT on the costs of the importer paying the duty and VAT - unless you buy from within the EU.

The threshold for these import charges in the UK is £135, since they harmonised the VAT and duty thresholds.
The EU had a very low VAT import threshold of €22 but now ( as of 1 July 2021) have adjusted it roughly to the same as the UK threshold at €150. Not enough for a mandolin!

I have bought bits and pieces from Oliver Waitze at New Acoustic Gallery in Germany and I see he has a small but well-chosen selection of Eastmans below €1000 inc. VAT NAG Mandolins

For a "used" search, you can try Reverb (other online sellers exist) with parameters set to "ships to - Italy" "ships from - EU" "price < €1000" like this https://reverb.com/marketplace?query...&price_max=800

[poul hansen]

....................The threshold for these import charges in the UK is £135, since they harmonised the VAT and duty thresholds.
The EU had a very low VAT import threshold of €22 but now ( as of 1 July 2021) have adjusted it roughly to the same as the UK threshold at €150. Not enough for a mandolin!
............................

The threshhold in EU for VAT on imports has been totally removed. You now pay VAT on everything and maybe handling charge. The appr. 150€ threshhold is only for customs charges.

[Bren]

Thanks Paul.
I think I had misread a directive about the limit for paying vat at source.

[Simon DS]

@Prisca -Do you live near Milan? There must be some amazing music shops there. Send photos!
Also, I don’t think there’s VAT on second hand mandolins though I’m not sure.

[mandrian]

@Prisca -Do you live near Milan? There must be some amazing music shops there. Send photos!
Also, I don’t think there’s VAT on second hand mandolins though I’m not sure.

VAT still applies.


Regards,

[Prisca]

Is there a significant improvement in the new made Kentuckys and Eastmans? What about the tuners? I read many threads: the 5xx E. models seem to have better ones, but cost a lot more (more than 900€ new!)...

There aren't many dealers around Milano, that I know... So, yeah, a used mando would be a satisfying solution, maybe.

[robhanesworth]

The tuners on the 300 series Eastman mandolins are certainly adequate and many people use them quite happily with no modification or upgrade. While everyone agrees the 500 series have "better" tuners I think few of us could quantify how much better.

[grassrootphilosopher]

I do think you have to approach the search for the right mandolin in a roundabout way here in Europe.

First of all: What kind of music do you want to play???
You write, that you come from the banjo... Classical banjo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eibkwv6kn88 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9R2lAxqYuQ) or your garden variety Pogues stuff (sorry all you Micks) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJuoNHgTl2A) etc...

I would be wary of this first step. If inclined to play classical music I'd turn to search for a readily available Calace. Check out this thread from 2015 with price discussion.

If it's Irish music that you're after, why not considering a Calace for that also...

If you're into blues... check out the mandolins that Yank Rachel etc. used to play. These things are not so expensive...

Presuming you're into bluegrass, it's a different kettle of fish.

All in all, it might help if you found musicians that could help you, that know the "lay of the land" where you live. Assuming that you're in Italy there's Carlo Aonzo (classical and probably everything else concerning mandolin), Massimo Gatti (bluegrass, classical and everything in between), Martino Coppo (bluegrass), Stefano Santangelo (https://twitter.com/stefanomideando), Matteo Ringressi (member here and also https://de-de.facebook.com/matteo.ri...&ref=nf_target) and Giovanni Stefanini (https://www.facebook.com/0039-Bluegr...1814708215246/). They walked your shoes before you. They are able to point you in the right direction. And they are all great people.

Then... find builders, like (https://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin...h?search=Italy) to me the most recognizable, Corrado Giacomel. I can only say that I have never seen any builder that is not accessible. They are all very forthcoming to help you on your quest to find the right instrument, even if it's not one of their own (which in the case of Corrado Giacomel would set you back around ten thousand Euro... depending).

In the end: Do your homework, like reading this: https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pu...s_001443.shtml

When I contemplated shelling out incredible amounts of money to buy a mandolin, an instrument that I would (have) loved to own but did not know how to play, I asked around until I probably drove numbers of people insane or at least irritated them quite well. In the end I found my Strad-O-Lin, my wonderful companion that does everything anybody ever needs done. I since have branched out into pricier waters. But still my Strad-O-Lin punches way, way above it's price point, which still is quite lower than 1.000 EUR. I was in a jam session with some of the mandolin players mentioned above. They had with them their extremely nice (and pricey) axes. My Strad-O-Lin raised its head just as proud and also sounded very nice indeed.

I wouldn't limit myself to Kentucky, Eastman, Rogue, Michael Kelly etc. This is just brand talk (even though I hear good things about Kentucky mandolins and have a friend that has/had an Eastman that is okay). Go out and hunt for it. You have to track your mandolin down. Without effort it's not going to be worth as much.