DO I need a better mandolin?

[DougC]

Of course you want MY mandolin. It is so good you'll have to send a private message to learn about it. I get so many offers...

[mandokismet]

I wouldnÂ’t discount playability. I had a Loar 220 and thought it was good. My Eastman 304 is so much easier to play AND sounds better. IÂ’m sure there are variations in both playability and sound within a model so it can come down to individual instruments too.

If your credit limit can stand it, buy 3 after researching and return 2 (or 3). Cheaper than a long distance trip and might cost around $100-150 extra.

[mandroid]

Not the best place to seek people to talk you out of it.

[Captain Kirk]

Not the best place to seek people to talk you out of it.

Haaaaaaaa!

[adam e]

I realize that I've gone overboard with buying mandolins since I got into it a few years ago, but one of my great joys is learning a new song and then playing it on all four of them back to back and noticing all the tone differences. Having multiple mandolins has really honed my ability to hear subtle differences - and severely reduced my savings account! But whatever. A good mandolin kind of retains it value so it's not that risky of a purchase. If you get a good one and don't love it, you'll probably be able to sell it for like 80-90% of what you paid, or maybe even closer to 100% if it's a used model from a good builder and you keep it for a year or two.

[mbruno]

.oop

[mbruno]

I started on a rogue mandolin ($50), then Oscar Schmidt ($400), then Gibson f9 $3k), then my Newton f5 ($8k) I have now.

The difference from the rogue to the Oscar Schmidt was small but noticeable. The neck had a better profile at least. Still needed to do some work to fix it.

The difference from the OS to Gibson f9 was huge. Much better tone and playability. I drove out to the mandolin store when they were still in AZ and played all the mandolins I could till I find the one I liked.

The difference from the Gibson f9 to Newton wasn't as big as the jump from OS to Gibson, but still noticeable - tone and sustain seem better to me. I was in Nashville for work and took a day playing a ton of really nice mandolins before I decided to get the Newton.

With each upgrade, I was also getting better at mandolin. So some of the improvements may have to do with me and not the mandolin - but I'm still glad I upgraded. Also glad mandolins tend to appreciate - so I haven't lost any money. Even if you sell it at cost, you got the playing time.

If you have the ability, take a trip to a mandolin focused shop. Go to Nashville for a few days on vacation if possible. Playing another mandolin (or 10) will tell you all you need to know.

[Dan in NH]

I gave the thread a quick skim.

With acoustic guitars most people live within a comfortable day trip drive to a major acoustic guitar seller with several examples at various price points from multiple manufacturers. So when you're in the mood to upgrade taking a day to drive and play various instruments isn't that hard.

With our chosen instrument it's not that easy. For some of us it might mean a long weekend to drive (or fly) to a city some distance away before we can get to a store with 20-30 mandolins to choose from.

Round trip air tickets, a hotel room, and meals is a little exorbitant when your budget for an "upgrade" mandolin is maybe $1000.

That said, going to Nashville, taking in the Grand Ole Opry, visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, and then hitting every guitar & mandolin store in town sounds like a fun long weekend to me, maybe ever an anniversary celebration. And a new mandolin is an appropriate souvenir.

[sbhikes]

I played a $100 mandolin for a decade. Then I decided to get a better one (at $750 I hoped it was better.) People said hey that's great, you deserved a better mandolin. But honestly I couldn't really tell the difference and I kinda wished I kept my old one. My old one was an A-style and my new one was a fancy F-style. Or maybe I wish that I would have waited until some kind of fancy antique Gibson or a really nice Celtic style mandolin fell in my lap. Anyway, I really couldn't tell the difference in sound or playability with my old and new mandolin. I'm not a collector, just an amateur player. I know a lot of people who are like this. A friend of mine is a really good fiddler and plays a $250 fiddle. She decided maybe she deserved a better fiddle so she bought a $2000 fiddle. She doesn't like the $2000 fiddle. Says she's really tried to like it but she and it just don't get along, so I think she's going to sell it and stick to her $250 fiddle.

A lot of people around here are into collecting or have mandolin acquisition disorder. The only way to know if you have that vs. it's really time for a new mandolin is if you get the new one and you play it and you're happy enough you don't think about getting another mandolin.

[Bill McCall]

………A lot of people around here are into collecting or have mandolin acquisition disorder. The only way to know if you have that vs. it's really time for a new mandolin is if you get the new one and you play it and you're happy enough you don't think about getting another mandolin.

That’s just crazy talk.

[Captain Kirk]

That’s just crazy talk.

haaaaaaa

[Charlie Bernstein]

Well of COURSE you need a new mandolin.

Ask us a hard one!

[Charlie Bernstein]

I gave the thread a quick skim.

With acoustic guitars most people live within a comfortable day trip drive to a major acoustic guitar seller with several examples at various price points from multiple manufacturers. So when you're in the mood to upgrade taking a day to drive and play various instruments isn't that hard.

With our chosen instrument it's not that easy. For some of us it might mean a long weekend to drive (or fly) to a city some distance away before we can get to a store with 20-30 mandolins to choose from.

Round trip air tickets, a hotel room, and meals is a little exorbitant when your budget for an "upgrade" mandolin is maybe $1000.

That said, going to Nashville, taking in the Grand Ole Opry, visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, and then hitting every guitar & mandolin store in town sounds like a fun long weekend to me, maybe ever an anniversary celebration. And a new mandolin is an appropriate souvenir.

Good thoughts. And you're right, a tour of Nashville's music stores and other landmarks is a blast.

Here's a different (and maybe more convenient) approach:

None of Maine's few music shops has a good mando selection. I got my first mando through a friend when I didn't think I wanted one. It was $50, and I was feeling flush, so I figured wotthehell archy. Turned out I got a big kick out of the thing. Nothing like a guitar. Who knew?

I got the next three online. All three were good. The third is the keeper.

I learned a lot with each instrument — like that I'm not a bluergrasser, that bling leaves me cold, that less is more — and figured out what's right for me. Having a good store around would've been nice, but I got where I wanted to be without one.

[fatt-dad]

No matter what you get, it'll sound different than your current mandolin.

Maybe?

(My eye-opener mandolin was my Flatiron A5. It sounded both different - in a good way - and was just efficient with great dynamic range.)

f-d

[Dan in NH]

None of Maine's few music shops has a good mando selection

And it's three hours one way from Augusta to The Music Emporium. Four hours one way is about the limit of what I consider a "day trip." And I have to have a REALLY good reason to make the trip.

[Mark Gunter]

I wouldn't discount playability. I had a Loar 220 and thought it was good. My Eastman 304 is so much easier to play AND sounds better. I'm sure there are variations in both playability and sound within a model so it can come down to individual instruments too.

I just wanted to comment on this with my own, strongly held, opinion.

PLAYABILITY is of extreme importance IMO; in fact, it is as important as the sound of an instrument.

Playability has more to do with SETUP than anything else. Find the strings that sound best on your mandolin, find the picks you like best, then make sure the mandolin is setup according to your preferences. Meaning that the action is as low as you prefer it ... for me, that means nearly as low as it can be without buzzing when played aggressively. Not that I would want to play it aggressively all the time or even often, but I don't want it to buzz when played aggressively and I want the action to be as low and easy as possible. This means the nut slots must be cut low enough to lower the action at first fret, and the bridge and saddle must be low enough to achieve a nice, low action at the twelfth fret and higher. Frets leveled and dressed properly. Neck relief set properly. Bridge feet fitted to the mandolin's top. Nut and saddle slots angled properly and cut to proper width for your strings.

When the setup, as described just above, is right, then the playability of a really cheap mandolin will be better than that of a really expensive mandolin with a bad setup! Point is that for the most part, PLAYABILITY has little to do with the cost or quality of the build, and much to do with the setup! Concurrently, playability has little or nothing to do with the sound quality ... except when setup is so bad that it results in buzzing, dead notes, or some such.

PLAYABILITY is affected by the build type or quality though when it comes to NECK WIDTH or NECK PROFILE. In my opinion, all other aspects of playability are due to setup, and can be altered, improved or made worse by simple adjustments to setup on any instrument.

[bhaltom]

DO I need a better mandolin?

Yes!

[Sue Rieter]

DO I need a better mandolin?

Yes!

Or maybe another one ...
They're all individuals, after all

[catmandu2]

Probably, many people will not find the cost of a high-grade instrument "justifiable" in terms of their playing. However...a high-grade instrument does what an inferior instrument will not; the skills required to evoke the sound potential from a high-grade instrument will not be learned on an inferior instrument. This is to say that, you need a higher-grade instrument if you want to pursue developing higher-level skill. It would be very difficult indeed to develop these skills on an instrument that does not provide the necessary feedback.

This is why teachers always recommend that (serious) students get the best instrument affordable. And it's also why, traditionally, the 'level' - aptitude and aspiration - of student is assessed.

[Dan in NH]

Another great piece of advice I got, here on this forum, was “Skip your second mandolin and go straight to your third mandolin.“

In other words keep playing your first mandolin while saving your nickels & dimes & bottle caps & breakfast cereal box tops. That way you can go from your first Mandolin to your first NICE Mandolin.

[Mandoplumb]

I started playing mandolin on my Dads, while living at home. When I went on my own I needed one of my own. PAC Rims were just becoming acceptable. A small store had a Aria for $375, which I could afford but hanging next to it was a Hutto for $1200 which I could not afford. I left the Aria there and almost lost out buying it because the Hutto sounded so much better. I did come to my senses , went back and bought the Aria and played it for years with no regrets until I could do better. In a lot of ways, I wish I had kept it, although I own much better mandolins now, for the money that Aria was hard to beat. My point is be satisfied with what you have and can afford but never deprive yourself of better because you “ain’t that good”

[jim_n_virginia]

No one NEEDS a better mandolin a better question to ask yourself is do you WANT better mandolin. 😁

A higher end mandolin usually plays better and intonation and tunability is better.
It takes a while when you first start before you can notice the difference.

I am an amateur player. I have one mandolin: a Michael Kelly Dragonfly. I like it, and it works. I've had it for about 5 years now.
I live remotely, and my access to mandos is non-existent. I have never handled another one, nor have I heard any up close and personal.
What I can't evaluate is how much better a "good" mando sounds, in comparison to the one I have. (assuming mine is not "good")
Playability aside, and I know it is subjective, but how much better does a good mando sound, and will I be able to tell the difference? I do have a fairly good ear....

[Rythemic]

My son's music teacher suggested what I still think is the right metric -- you are ready for an upgraded instrument when you can play & hear the differences between the two.

Definitely this! When I went shopping for my first one, only recently, I was lucky enough to be able to visit about 6 different guitar shops in central London, and I think I tried out about 8 different ones before I found the one I knew I was going to buy - It was funny, as soon as I picked it up, it just felt right. My partner - who was unwillingly dragged along - even piped in that this one sounded really nice.

Definitely make a trip to somewhere where you can try out a few different ones before buying (or not buying) first.

[Marcus CA]

...a high-grade instrument does what an inferior instrument will not; the skills required to evoke the sound potential from a high-grade instrument will not be learned on an inferior instrument. This is to say that, you need a higher-grade instrument if you want to pursue developing higher-level skill. It would be very difficult indeed to develop these skills on an instrument that does not provide the necessary feedback.

My point is be satisfied with what you have and can afford but never deprive yourself of better because you “ain’t that good”

Ooooooh. Those give some gasoline for the MAS fire!

A higher end mandolin usually plays better and intonation and tunability is better.
It takes a while when you first start before you can notice the difference.

For me, the most important difference is in tone. Once you clear the $2K barrier --- if not some lower one --- intonation problems are caused by the bridge somehow slipping out of position, and are easily fixed. Tunability problems can be fixed by installing higher-grade tuners. I don't want an instrument that looks superior; I want one that sounds superior!

If an instrument has been sitting in the store for months with little time being played, then I might need ten minutes to really hear what it has going for it. If it sounds like it has opened up, I might fall in love in the first minute and play it for at least another ten, or I might put it back on the shelf in less than five.

[Dave Sheets]

Yep, try to get that stage around $2k-$3k where you can find potential lifetime instruments used from small makers or flatiron, weber, Northfield, Collings etc. These will tend to be A body and used, but they are a big step up in terms of sound. phydaux had the good advice of buying your 3rd instrument, not your second.

If you really want an F body, add another $1500 or so to that number.

Used instruments in this range hold value pretty well, so while it is a lot of money, the risk may not be as high as it might seem.

I have regretted purchasing a number of lower- priced instruments, but none of the more expensive ones. I've only purchased one good instrument new, and I know not to do that now