Old martin model a (b/c) mandos/dolas

[Klaus Wutscher]

I am currently looking for a good mandola that doesn´t break the bank (i.e. under USD 2000.-). I was contemplating an Eastman but am also checking out other alternatives.

Now I came across a Martin 20ies Style A mandola (spruce/mahogany flattop). Does anybody have any experience with these (or style A mandolins, for that matter)? I am looking for an instrument with good sustain and a sweet tone. Volume and projection are welcome, but not my prime concern, as I wish to play mostly classical, choro (maybe)or folk, and not so much bluegrass, and mostly solo or in intimate settings.

Thanks!

[MikeEdgerton]

The Martin Style A mandolins are wonderfully sweet little instruments. I've had several over the past few years come through that were delightful. In my mind they are very undervalued.

[Mike Herlihy]

I have a 1937 Martin, it is not a bluegrass mandolin but fits in old-time and Celtic music. It has a more "guitar" like sound to my ear versus the singing sound of a modern mando.

Check out Rory Gallagher playing his Martin live.

Rory Gallagher

[Steve L]

I have an old Martin/Oliver Ditson A style and really like it for around the house. They are rather quiet and have a 13" scale. Very nice mandolins for quiet settings. The tone is round and sweet.

[Celtic Saguaro]

I have both a Martin A and an Eastman with an oval sound hole. I like both of them a lot. The Martin probably has better tone and balance. The mahogany back gives good bass with lighter strings. The Eastman has better volume and projection. I think either is fine for solo/intimate settings. I'd lean toward the Martin for classical and perhaps the Eastman for folk/celtic.

[Bob DeVellis]

I've had a couple of Martin flat-backs in rosewood. They're very nice instruments of a different kind than the more familiar Gibson-inspired designs. I first saw and played a Martin when I was first learning mandolin on an old Kentucky 250S, which was a pretty decent mandolin. I was having a heck of a time with the Kentucky's fingerboard, trying to get my fingers in the right places at the right time. The place where I was taking lessons had a Martin on consignment. I picked it up and immediately fell in love with it. It was too pricey for me to buy at the time, though. Years later, after having given up mandolin and then rediscovering it, I had a chance to bet a nice old Style B. I really like it and parted with it only after getting a Martin employee mandolin finished in 1919 with proportions and appointments of a Style D (which was no longer in production in 1919 and of which only a handful were ever made). It had passed through the hands of two families of Martin employees and was in absolutely pristine condition. Its light construction really made it sing. I still have it and currently it's strung with the G and D courses in octaves, which gives it a haunting sound.

Suffice it to say, I think these are instruments that are well worth considering. There are plenty of As out there and they can be had quite reasonably. If you come across a Vega cylinderback, that's another choice I'd look at seriously. They can be exceptionally sweet-toned.

[Klaus Wutscher]

Thanks for the responses so far. I have been looking around and found a 20ies Martin A mandola for around USD 1500.-, but the mandolins seem to be much cheaper (Martin mandolas are quite rare, I guess). 1920ies A models can be had for as litte as USD 700 to 1000 , it seems. Are the rosewood instruments tonally superior (more sustain, more complex tone)to the mahogany A styles or is it a matter of taste? I like mahogany guitars quite a bit but wit mandolins it could be different.

[Bob DeVellis]

Acoustically, I think it's a matter of taste. Rosewood was (and is) the more expensive wood, of course. I've never owned a mahogany Martin. The rosewood sounds great but I don't recall being disappointed with the sound of the mahoganies I've played. Different, not necessarily worse.