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Thread: Should I trade up?

  1. #1

    Default Should I trade up?

    Hi All,

    First Post here, please correct me if this is the wrong spot. I'm new to the Mandolin and my wife got me a Gold Tone GM-35 as an early Christmas present. I understand that it's a solid top and laminate sides and back. I know enough about archtops that I've set it up pretty well and lowered the action. I'm having quite a bit of fun with it and it's pretty fun to play. I like it but I've been reading around that there are definitely better options for beginners. Should I see about trading up for a Kentucky, Loar or something else that is all solid?
    Thanks,
    Ryan

  2. #2
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Early initial thoughts...

    If you desire more in a mandolin: Yes

    If your wife is anything like mine: No

    Congrats on your new mando and happy pickin
    Worlds okay-ist mandolin player

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  4. #3

    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Quote Originally Posted by Zach Wilson View Post
    If your wife is anything like mine: No
    Hah!
    Thanks. She's a good sport and I think she's just happy I've found something I enjoy.
    That being said, you're right, it may be prudent to keep it a while longer and then move up quite a bit past the entry level models to something much much nicer once I have some more experience.

  5. #4

    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Wait a minute. Are you telling me that all your significant others know one mandolin from another? I've sold and purchased different mandolins during the years and have never had my wife question anything. As long as the mandos are the same style (i.e. A vs. F), you shouldn't have any issue sneaking a new mando into the house. If your wife is a musician, then you best keep the mandolin she bought you. Of course, there is also the problem with getting MAS (must acquire syndrome) and trading up and up and up through the years. The time may come that you pass on, leaving your wife behind. As Dave Harvey once told me, a mandolin players final concern is that his wife not sell his mandolin for the price he told her he paid for it.

  6. #5
    Playing on the porch
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Welcome to the Cafe! And, congrats on your new mandolin.

    Since you asked...

    If you are having fun playing your new instrument, stick with it for now and begin following threads here on the Cafe. You will learn a great deal about mandolins, how different woods, styles, and strings can all make a difference. And, some mandolins may work better with whatever musical genre you end up playing. As long as you are having fun, give yourself a little time to learn.

    Then, go for it!
    ---
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  8. #6
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    No, because this one was a gift. You can buy a better mandolin later. But keep this one rather than trading it off, even if you eventually get a nicer one.

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  10. #7
    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    I have to agree, unless you’re equally confident that you can upgrade your wife. Given that your wife actually gave you a mandolin, rather than grief for buying one, that doesn’t seem too likely.
    still trying to turn dreams into memories

  11. #8

    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    I agree with rcc56, keep it. You should play it for a while and let yourself develop a real understanding of what you appreciate about it, what you don't like about it, and what you want in a step-up instrument. When you do step up, don't just go a smidge above your current instrument. Get one that is significantly better. You don't have to spend a huge amount to get a significantly better mandolin, but it will require a little looking and trying out different mandolins. If you want to be satisfied with your step-up mandolin for a good long time, you do have to spend more to get it.

  12. #9
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rdeane View Post
    When you do step up, don't just go a smidge above your current instrument. Get one that is significantly better.
    I absolutely agree 100% with this advice. I went from a The Loar LM170 up to a Weber Yellowstone, admittedly I won the Weber (it was fate that it has all the qualities I would have looked for). After that I've been able slowly work backwards to fill in tonal desires (oval flat tops).
    Worlds okay-ist mandolin player

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  13. #10
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    I agree with GMorgan. Play it for awhile, see if you get better and then that may tell you if you want a better instrument. Be warned that eventually MAS will get you as it has gotten the majority of us on this website. Good luck and welcome to our wild, wacky world.

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  15. #11
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    [QUOTE= Of course, there is also the problem with getting MAS (must acquire syndrome) and trading up and up and up through the years. [/QUOTE]

    I thought that MAS stood for "mandolin acquisition syndrome".
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  16. #12
    Dave Sheets
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    You can learn a lot on it and have fun with it. With at least the solid top, this could serve your needs for quite a while. If you wait a bit to upgrade, you'll have a better understanding of what you want in the next mandolin. If you make a big step up on the next one, you may want to hang on this one for places you don't want to take a more expensive instrument.

    If you have a chance to get to a dealer with a number of mandolins, play a number of them, including some that are well past the "starter" instrument stage, that will give you some idea of what to look for in the next one.

    I started with a cheap bowlback and had a lot of fun with it, even though the sound was pretty poor. My wife urged me to get something better, which turned out to be a blemished Flatiron, which was a big upgrade, and which I'm still playing 30 years later. That big step up saved me money in the long run.
    -Dave
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    Way too many other instruments

  17. #13
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Quote Originally Posted by Charles E. View Post
    I thought that MAS stood for "mandolin acquisition syndrome".
    It does as there is also PAS (pick) and GAS (guitar). I'm sure others as well.
    Worlds okay-ist mandolin player

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    Red Valley EM (2018)
    Howard Morris Blue A4 (2023)
    Flatiron 1N (1982)

    https://youtube.com/@zachwilson54?si=iGum4xPlSj0pbcjj

  18. #14
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Lots of good advise here. Good luck with your mandolin journey.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  19. #15
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Gold Tone makes decent instruments, and you can definitely learn on the one your wife gave you. And congrats on having a supportive spouse; I've gotten pretty sick over the years on the Cafe, of the "I'd buy a better mandolin, but my wife'll kill me, so I'll have to sneak it in, in a tennis-racket sleeve," etc. etc. Perhaps the Cafe should hire a moderator with marriage-counseling experience...?

    Also concur on the recommendation to save your dough and -- if you stick with the mandolin -- make your "upgrade" (not "trade up") a near-pro-quality, low-four-figures instrument. You would notice a qualitative difference between the Gold Tone and an entry-level Kentucky or Eastman, but when you're learning, the main thing is to have a decent-sounding, easily playable mandolin that encourages you to pick it up and play it frequently.

    You're balancing two variables here: modest improvement in quality vs. continuing to show your wife how much you appreciate her thoughtfulness and support,as shown by playing the mandolin she gave you. I know where I'd go with it.
    Allen Hopkins
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  21. #16
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Allen, do you think alot of people are really sneaking instruments into the house, expecting that spouses won't know the difference, or it's a bit of hyperbole? One time I contracted to buy one (the Octofone) without letting my DH know my intentions ahead of time. (I actually went out to the garage to call the guy.) It was the source of alot of angst until I 'fessed up. After a bit of grumbling, it was fine, and my conscience was clear

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  23. #17
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    At least you're starting on a Gold Tone. I started on a Fool's Gold Tone.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

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  25. #18
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    My wife bought me my 1st, a relative no-name from GC. It has a thin tone, but I can throw it in a suitcase when I fly and I don’t worry about any pain the baggage handlers might inflict. It serves adequately as a practice axe. When I get home, the others sound incredibly good.
    Girouard A
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  26. #19
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sue Rieter View Post
    Allen, do you think alot of people are really sneaking instruments into the house, expecting that spouses won't know the difference, or it's a bit of hyperbole? One time I contracted to buy one (the Octofone) without letting my DH know my intentions ahead of time. (I actually went out to the garage to call the guy.) It was the source of alot of angst until I 'fessed up. After a bit of grumbling, it was fine, and my conscience was clear
    Let me start by saying I'm in a particular individual situation: I play professionally, at the minor-league, local level, and what money I make (a few thousand $$ per year), I use to underwrite whatever instrument purchases I decide to make. So I'm not taking "grocery money" or "mortgage money" and spending it on mandolins; my kids (now grown, and making more money than I ever did) didn't have to go shoeless because feckless, irresponsible Dad spend all the money on a Gibson F-5.

    So, leaving that aside -- I do get a bit testy when I read the frequently repeated "I'd love to buy this new mandolin, but my spouse won't let me -- unless I use some subterfuge (hiding the new one inside the old one's case, putting it amongst other instruments so it's not noticeable, making up some BS story to cover my tushy, whatever)." First, buying an instrument -- assuming you can afford it, and aren't spending the rent money and risking eviction -- is a fairly noncontroversial, even wholesome, use of your discretionary funds. You're not scoring a deck of heroin, gambling it at the casino, drinking it away, or even buying lottery tickets.

    Yeah, good mandolins aren't cheap, but they're a helluva lot cheaper than motorcycles, RV's, '70's muscle cars, beach house rentals, diamond jewelry, boats, Bermuda vacations, and the other non-essentials we spend money on. Playing mandolin is a good way to spend one's leisure time, IMHO -- it doesn't harm you or anyone else, it produces pleasurable sounds (once we get the hang of it), it develops motor skills and enhances natural talent, it can be a social activity, and -- you can make money doing it, in some cases.

    I wonder about the marital dynamics when one spouse holds a veto over the other's leisure-time activities, assuming that those activities are carried out with judgment and consideration. My wife used to collect dolls -- Shirley Temples, Dionne quints, Madame Alexanders and such. I found her hobby interesting and got some enjoyment from the antique-store searches myself; we did joint doll-collecting forays and both got excited when we found a rare or desirable one. Some of the dolls got pretty pricey, but if we could afford them, we looked upon them as both a pleasure and a possible investment (the latter didn't really work out when she sold them later, but so what?).

    I don't know how many of those Cafe posters, actually have to sneak mandolins past their disapproving spouses (almost always wives, by the way). I sometimes think that if you have to keep something as harmless as a new instrument secret from your spouse, there's more wrong in that marriage than mandolin playing. But that's just me viewing from afar. And yeah, a lot of it may be hyperbole, for all I know. But still, repetition of the "my wife won't let me" meme gets me a bit riled up sometimes. And I drop in a post about it, which may well PO some others.

    So don't do anything you have to apologize for, or engage in prolonged negotiations over, or override a spousal veto. But perhaps ask yourself, "Why do I have to do this? I'm not doing anything wrong."
    Allen Hopkins
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  28. #20

    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    I must apologize. I was only kidding. My wife knows all about my purchases and has been very supportive. However, she still doesn't know the difference between one mando and another. I didn't think you folks would take me seriously. Keep the mando she bought you. But if you stick with it, you eventually may want to trade up, or buy a second mando.
    Last edited by banjoboy; Dec-25-2021 at 10:54pm.

  29. #21
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    To be honest, I think (hope) most of this kind of thing is intended as humor. My apologies to the OP for the side track.

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  31. #22
    Mandolin user MontanaMatt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    I went from a Gold Tone to a top of the line Weber when I was still developing my chops on mandolin. I was already a professional fiddle player(by local market standards) when I upgraded to a pro mando, and it suited me well for a decade before I got the itch to have a different tone…
    I do get to write off all my music purchases and it encourages me to make a lot of $$ playing so I can get the gear I lust after.
    My wife came into my life after I was well addicted to mandolins and electronics. The one that is hard to justify is my microphone collection, since the majority are ones that have passed out of favor for better ones…
    But thinning the mic herd is tough when Craigslist is full of low ballers.
    2007 Weber Custom Elite "old wood"
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  32. #23
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    No, absolutely not for a variety of ( obvious ) reasons.

    Learn to play.
    Play other mandolins over a period of tine, say 6 months to a year.
    During that time play other mandolins.

    And , as others have suggested and if you are serious, get a significantly "better" mandolin.

    I have had extraordinarily good finds over the years.. it's not about dollars, it is about playability and tone.

    Humor or not, never in 39 years have I ever questioned my wife's purchases, nor her mine.

    We are somewhat frugal, not cheap, frugal. We can afford what we want as a result.

    I have owned over 100 guitars, 50 mandolins and well over a dozen banjos, we won't talk about my 50 plus diatonic button accordeons.

  33. #24
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    A personal very similar situation: I wanted to learn violin (teach myself.) My significant other bought me a (very) beginner violin for Christmas. I practiced it for awhile, and we were at an auction (we both enjoy browsing auctions locally) and someone was auctioning her (grandfather's?) violin, she played it as a demonstration for someone. It sounded magnificent, and I told my S.O. "that's coming home with us today." There was no problem, and I still have both violins today. The auction one is heads above the quality of the initial one, but the initial one will never leave because the purchase of it was to help me realize a dream.

  34. #25
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should I trade up?

    As a gift I would never replace it. Someone, wife, or family member, or friend, someone who thinks that much about getting me something I might like will never, never, be wrong about any of the details.

    And lets be realistic, that is not the last mandolin you are ever going to own. Of course not.

    But let it be the mandolin you own the longest.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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