Gibson Master Model vs Custom Master Model - advice please

[Nashville]

Okay, I've decided not to buy it. I spent today at Carter Vintage playing on a wide selection of mandolins there. I did find a few that I liked right off the bat, tone and neck. I didn't have that kind of responsive first impression when playing the seller's instrument. Also I played on some true Master Models as well as a few Ferns and F5 Customs, plus a selection of non-Gibson's such as Hinde, Kimble, Collings, Northfield and Dudenbostel, etc.

I find myself favoring the used instruments because they are broken in, scratched, dinged, worn, loved. I tend to play hard and inevitably I will put some wear marks into any instrument I own. I'd feel bad about marking up a mint collector instrument. And as several guys have posted, if the sound didn't grab me right off then it would be a gamble. Truthfully I didn't like the sound of most of the Gibson's I played today and they were well broken in.

It sure is pretty though.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Good decision!

In music forums, when people ask, I almost always say, "Buy!"

But not this time. Personally, I don't like owning new or like-new instruments.(Or cars, for that matter.) I worry too much about dings and wear.

It sounds like you're like me: a player, not a collector or investor. So I'd hold out for something that comes alive in my hands and is honest about its age.