Aria M300 double point mandolin

[Taylor and Tenor]

What can you tell me about a Korean-made Aria double point oval sound hole mandolin. I found one in a neighbor's garage the other day and I am trying to convince him to sell it to me.

i played it briefly but the strings were so old and tired, it was difficult to determine the sound and playability of the instrument. Physically it was in nice shape with an inexpensive pressed cardboard case.

What would be a fair price for a 15 year old Aria instrument of that vintage?

Any information will be greatly appreciated.

[Trey Young]

I don't know for sure on a fair price (I think, I bought mine for 250 and sold it for 225, so there is some estimate) but I really enjoyed mine while I had it. Definitely not a BG mando, but was fun to pick around on.

[Martin Jonas]

I briefly had one of those, bought because I thought it was an older Japanese-made one. When I got it, it was Korean-made. Nicely playable and good intonation, but plywood top and unremarkable tone. Not actively bad, just a bit boring. I sold it again quickly and actually made a small profit -- I bought it at 120 Pounds (then $240) with a Fishman M100 pickup bridge and I sold the mando without pickup for 110 Pounds and the pickup for 50 Pounds.

I still have a soundfile of the Aria I sold, and I attach it below. Sound better than I remember it being, actually.

Martin

[hhold]

I briefly had one of those, bought because I thought it was an older Japanese-made one. When I got it, it was Korean-made. Nicely playable and good intonation, but plywood top and unremarkable tone. Not actively bad, just a bit boring. I sold it again quickly and actually made a small profit -- I bought it at 120 Pounds (then $240) with a Fishman M100 pickup bridge and I sold the mando without pickup for 110 Pounds and the pickup for 50 Pounds.

I still have a soundfile of the Aria I sold, and I attach it below. Sound better than I remember it being, actually.

Martin

Hi
Do you happen to know if the M500 is made of plywood too?