Re: Honest opinion sought
Do the two mandocellos cost the same, or close to it?
I can't imagine a PacRim instrument from a reputable company (say, Eastman) that sells in the same price range as a local luthier-built instrument NOT sounding awesome.
For example, I sort of have my eye on a Big Muddy flat top, oval hole mandolin. The one that I have my eye on, build to my specifications, would run me right around $900. OR I could buy a $900 Eastman from Elderly Instruments or The Mandolin Store, like for example the Eastman MD505, and I know that it would be all solid select tone woods, hand carved, excellent fit & finish, and excellent intonation & playability thanks to the set up that Elderly Instruments & The Mandolin Store do on all the mandolins they ship.
Now a PacRim instrument with a laminate back, if it cost, say, half of what the MD505 cost, around $450, well a $450 instrument that has a laminate back, I'm probably not even going to pick it up and play it. And I would never in my life expect to find any local luthier-built instrument costing anything near that low.
Eastman MD-514 (F body, Sitka & maple, oval hole)
Klos Carbon Fiber (on order)
And still saving my nickels & dimes & bottle caps & breakfast cereal box tops for my lifetime mandolin.
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