Re: Bluegrass Mandolin for a Newbie
Originally Posted by
Yamaholic
Budget £$600; that would get me an Eastman MD305, which looks like a cracking instrument, but not sure its quite the sound i'm after.
Solid spruce top, solid maple back & sides, F holes, that sounds like a bluegrass mandolin to me. It's an A style, not an F style, so no scroll. Perhaps in your head it doesn't look the part of a bluegrass mandolin without a scroll.
You'll pay about £150 pounds to get that scroll on the side (that would be the Eastman MD315). Some people say they can hear a difference. I'm gonna rattle some cages when I say this, but IMO the only difference is £150 pounds and a decoration on the side.
Please don't think I'm berating you. I paid that much or more to get a AAA flame maple top on my Les Paul when I could have had a regular maple cap for less, and a Gold Top for less than that. So I totally get it, the heart wants what the heart wants.
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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