Picking the right mandolin

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thanks for the welcoming Charlie and this great advice. I’ll look into a tone gaurd. Does it require any involved installation? Can it be moved from one instrument to another? I kinda like A style as well

No installation. They just slip on the back, and slip off whenever you want. No modifications or adhesives are involved. Just some rubber grips to hold it in place and protect the mando's finish.

A Tone-Gard is good for most standard bodies, but you can email the company to confirm the fit before you buy one. (And, of course, they'll let you return it.)

My question, which I asked here, was whether I'd still be able to close my case. Folks said I probably could, and indeed I can. They don't add much size.

[EdHanrahan]

... Oval hole mandolins tend to be warmer. F hole mandolins tend to be brighter, and project their sound better. ...

Since so much of the tone is in the touch of the player, IMHO it's easier to tone down an F-hole than to brighten up an oval. Thus: F-holes tend to be more versatile.

Also be aware that the pick (big, small, thick, thin, stiff, soft, pointed, rounded, $ - $$$$) has a HUGE influence on tone; some would say more than any variation in body style.

[Dan in NH]

Thanks for the welcoming Charlie and this great advice. I’ll look into a tone gaurd. Does it require any involved installation? Can it be moved from one instrument to another? I kinda like A style as well

I have one. It's shaped to just sort of "grip" the back of your mandolin. It has padded "feet" so you don't have to worry about it marring your finish. You can move it from one mandolin to another without too much bother. But IMO if you only own one Tone-Gard then it should "live" on the back of your "primary" mandolin.

Mine was on my Kentucky KM-250. When I bought my Eastman 514 I moved it to the Eastman and it lives there now, even though I still occasionally play the Kentucky. If I ever get that Eastman 815/v, or if the stars align a Northfield, then I'll probably get another Tone-Gard too.

[SteveBray]

Thanks Kirk, this sums it up for me.

[GMorgan]

I happen to be an F-style enthusiast not because of the looks, but because of how it sits on my lap while playing.The points on the underside of the body hold it on my lap just right. I'm an old violinist and a terrible guitar player. I started out in 2017 with an Eastman F-style 515 and then, because I wanted a campfire instrument, bought a Recording King A style with f-holes. Both were set up nicely and the Eastman was my go-to instrument. Both were setup to play pretty nice, although the Eastman was the clear winner. The Recording King, which I got pretty cheap at GC, has been a great loaner. I did finally decide that I was getting fair enough that a serious lifetime upgrade would be great and that is when I bought my Ellis F5 Special, which is about all I play these days. The Ellis is glorious! I like f holes on everything, partly because I am an old violinist, but also because I used to spend considerable time holding my guitars upside down and gently shaking as I tried to extract my lost picks. As an additional note, I prefer Thomastik Infeld Mediums 154 for my strings as they seem sweeter to me and are reasonably easy on my fingers. to top off my combo, I use CT-55 picks as that is what I am used to. I do have a reasonably excessive number of other pikcs, that I often try out, but still keep coming back to my CT-55. My mostfervent wish is that you enjoy your mandolins as much as I have. Cheers!

[keith.rogers]

Kentucky makes only 2 models with a radiuses fingerboard, the KM-950 (A-style) and KM-1050 (F-style). They also have the 1/18” nut and larger frets, though more in the medium gauge you’d find on a traditional Martin guitar. The Eastmans, AFAIK, all still have narrower frets and nut, though they do have a radiuses fingerboard.

You don’t see a lot of higher end Kentucky models for sale in the used market, so their retail price is a bit daunting and used Northfields pop up in that range. I have a 950 and think it is a great mandolin, and the neck feel leans more to the NF than the Eastmans I had. I’ve been traveling with it for a month and at a week-long festival before they and it’s as satisfying as my NF in every way, though it has slightly more mids. I don’t even miss the scroll!