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Thread: Question on "tiers" of instruments

  1. #26

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Let us know what number your Morris is!
    Mine is #475

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  3. #27

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    I think you made a great choice. Hope you enjoy it!

    Resist the urge to side-grade. The next tier is pretty expensive and you will know when/if it's time!
    Girouard Concert A5
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  5. #28
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by NDO View Post
    Let us know what number your Morris is!
    Mine is #475
    Mine is #450

    Click image for larger version. 

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    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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  7. #29
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe K View Post
    but I’ve been daydreaming about getting good enough to warrant a top-tier Collins, Weber, or Northfield. I’m just not good enough to deserve anything like that now, though, and I don’t know mandolin well enough to want to commit to one among them while I’m still trying to learn.
    I absolutely disagree with this kind of thinking. It is natural enough way to think, but it is wrong headed.

    I can see going for economy on the first mandolin, where one is not sure of one's commitment or whether love is in the air. But once these issues are settled, I believe one should get the very very best mandolin that can be be afforded. The sound and ease of play will make everything easier and more fun. The performance anxiety when one pulls that beauty out at a jam will motivate practice and learning.

    Nothing more exciting that having a mandolin better than me, better than I will ever be. To feel the potential, to get excited when I manage to unlock some secret and the mandolin responds like it always knew. It is great to spend a long time with a one or a small few great mandolins, to develop a relationship, to learn the instrument's wiley ways.

    There ain't nothing that can't be done on my mandolin - its up to me to learn how to do it.
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  9. #30

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Congrats on the Morris! I love mine, it's #482.

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  11. #31

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Well, my Morris is here, and I've loved playing it. I still don't sound like Brian Oberlin, but I can't blame the Morris for that.

    Mine is model #486, dated May 2022, so it's brand new.

    I'm grateful that a few of you asked, so here are a couple photos.

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  13. #32

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    “A bad instrument will hold you back, a great one will pull you forward.”

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  15. #33
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    There are two distinct tiers on the same instrument;

    (Unfortunately, they are both going to be pretty much inaccessible to being effectively addressed by a novice)

    The first is mechanical fitness; is the instrument perfectly set up in every single aspect as it can be. Intonation, action, play-ability, etc. It may be a beauty or a beast, but it is crucial (even if the instrument in question is not worth it) that all these are addressed in minute detail to even begin to assess it.

    The second is tone. Everybody has picked up a guitar, given it one strum, and set it back down. One chord told you everything that you (didn't) want to know. Thin, harsh, "stringy", etc.

    Mandolins don't give up their secrets as easily to a novice.
    Just because you have a masterpiece in your hands does not give your hands the ability to "pull-tone."

    The novice is doubly hamstrung if he is inexperienced with both set-up and tone-pulling.
    But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
    And London never fails to leave me blue
    And Paris never was my kinda town
    So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

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  17. #34

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Quote Originally Posted by Fretbear View Post
    Mandolins don't give up their secrets as easily to a novice.
    Just because you have a masterpiece in your hands does not give your hands the ability to "pull-tone."

    The novice is doubly hamstrung if he is inexperienced with both set-up and tone-pulling.
    Thanks, Fretbear, for articulating something I think I was beginning to sense. Yes. I've had the joy of playing one chord on a guitar and knowing I liked the sound. I've played on chord on a cheap mandolin and known it wasn't for me, but it's much trickier with an instrument that I realize I might want.

  18. #35
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Mike Marshall tells a story about when he needed to get a guitar to play in the DGQ.

    He asked Tony Rice to help him find one, and said that T simply walked down the long row of Martins in the store, and without even taking them down, simply plucked the open D & G strings of each one. He finally pointed to one and said: "This is a great guitar...."

    Hard to believe, but why would he make something like that up?
    But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
    And London never fails to leave me blue
    And Paris never was my kinda town
    So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

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  20. #36
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Less than 500, less than 1,000 less than 3,000 less than 5,000 and 5000 to 30,000 ...... I'd say that covers it. The gradient is clarity and balance of tone. It's kind of like buying a car. You can get a speeding ticket in a KIA...... but it is more fun in a Ferrari. R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

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  22. #37

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Hey Joe, congrats on making your next step up the ladder. Hopefully the Morris will keep you satisfied for a long time. In tiers, it seems the next step up is about $3k (gulp) that's where mandos start getting nice. From there, it's more like $7k.

    Part of what makes them so pricey is that on archtop mandolins, both the top and back are not only arched (carved inside and out) but are also graduated (thicker in the middle than at the edges). This carving and tuning process is labor intensive and relies on the luthier knowing what they are doing. They also require premium woods in thicker slabs to start with. Enjoy our adventure with your new mando!

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  24. #38

    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    I am 68 years old and definitely a beginner. I have always considered myself musically illiterate. I started playing a Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer about six years ago. I made three Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer from scratch. I have made a few Cigar Box Guitars and some Strum-sticks also. This past January 2023 I started learning how to play a guitar. I found a cheap Mitchell OM100VS/S concert guitar slightly damaged; but, blemish free for $80. I repaired the damage and it plays great. I was browsing a local Pawn Shop when I came across a Recording King RAM-3-BK mandolin hanging on the wall. It needed some TLC. The endplate and end pin are missing and there are only three strings holding the bridge on. I picked it up for $40. I restrung it and got a new endplate for it. I have a wood lathe so I'll make an endpin. I guess I need to figure out how to play what I have before moving on. Maybe if I hang in there I could see myself moving up to maybe a Kentucky or Eastman. Click image for larger version. 

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  25. #39
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Question on "tiers" of instruments

    Instead of asking whether you're good enough for a higher-end instrument, how about asking whether you've decided to stick with it?

    If you're not sure yet, go with the 505 or something like it. But if you're certain the mandolin is for you, there's some sense in getting a swankier axe and letting yourself grow into it.

    Also keep in mind the two advantages of buying a used instrument — say, from here or Reverb.com:

    - You can get a higher-end instrument for the same money.

    - If you ever sell it, it won't be at a big loss.

    And of course, the good folks here can advise you as you ponder your choices. The Cafe is a great safety net.
    Gibson A-Junior snakehead (Keep on pluckin'!)

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