Mando on a college budget

[vipp6017]

Hello out there! I am new to the mandolin cafe forum community, but have been playing mandolin for 7 years on a trusty Epiphone MM-50. I am in college now and strapped for funds, but a need for a higher caliber instrument is beginning to present itself. Any suggestions on how to afford a 3K+ mandolin on a college student budget?!

[Jim Garber]

Maybe you don't need a $3k+ instrument... Or did you try a few in that price range and decide that is what you want. I would think there are some that are a big jump from your Epiphone but still not that expensive. I would suggest saving a little at a time -- maybe put a little money every week into a jar and see where you are at after a few months and what you can afford. Maybe you can do some small concerts to raise some money for your instrument. Or perhaps there is someone on the Cafe who might be willing to lend you a decent mandolin.

Whatever you do, don't get anything on layaway or use a credit card or you could be seriously stuck. Can you tell that I have a daughter in college?

[multidon]

The Mandolin Store offers in house financing. I see some real nice instruments on their site that can be financed for 50-60 dollars a month. Just give up 3 or 4 pizzas every month, and there it is.

[Keith Witty]

Hey man, same situation here. Get a job and save. It doesn't take as long as you think and could your parents help you out? 7 years is a nice commitment to something in parents eyes. Mine bought me my Northfield F5 on the condition that I pay them back for half of it. It was an awesome deal for me.

[Michael Thompson]

Like mentioned before, you can try financing to spread it out. Or you can try out any and all mandolins you can find that are less than that. Who said you need a $3k mandolin. It'd be nice, yes, but there are plenty of mandolins out there that fill the gap between your Epiphone MM-50 and, say, a Weber or a Gibson.

I'm very happy with my The Loar LM 700 and I've seen plenty of people playing amazingly well on Michael Kelly mandolins, though they aren't for me. I run the social group for The Loar players and a guy just joined who said he's been playing for a very long time and had many mandolins; he just bought a The Loar because his other instruments were stolen and he was strapped for cash. After buying it, however, he claims it sounds better than most modern Gibsons he's played.

Now if you just want a $3k mandolin because that's what it is, I completely understand that, lol. I always like expensive things, myself, and am having to constantly talk myself out of buying them. :-P

[vipp6017]

Very helpful! I don't really want to do a payment plan right now, it seems like a really big commitment, saving does seem like a good option and as well as gigging. If not a $3000 instrument, what would you suggest? And I can certainly tell you are a college dad! ha

[Michael Thompson]

Oh yes, I meant to say something else.

If you've been playing for 7 years, by now you must be proficient enough, I would think, to teach. Put up ads in common areas on campus, online, see if you can get some interested mandolin beginners as students. Offer reasonable rates...instrument teaching can add a significant amount to your savings if you can keep yourself from spending the extra cash.

[Mike Bunting]

Hey man, same situation here. Get a job and save. It doesn't take as long as you think and could your parents help you out? 7 years is a nice commitment to something in parents eyes. Mine bought me my Northfield F5 on the condition that I pay them back for half of it. It was an awesome deal for me.

One hundred per cent in agreement. Get a job. You'll get the mandolin and a sense of accomplishment.

[Mandobart]

Let me suggest the obvious - buy used! You can get a great deal on the classifieds. Or, buy from a lesser known builder. Sonny Morris builds great sounding mandos without all those frills that do nothing to improve the sound or playability. You can get a new A from him for under $1000 that will sound better than many of the better known instruments that start at $2k. Or do both! Right now there's a used Morris oval hole A going for $765 with case in the classifieds. I know whoever gets that one will not be disappointed.

[TheMandoShop]

Very helpful! I don't really want to do a payment plan right now, it seems like a really big commitment, saving does seem like a good option and as well as gigging. If not a $3000 instrument, what would you suggest? And I can certainly tell you are a college dad! ha

I would suggest a Weber Gallatin A. It will be difficult to find a better sounding mandolin for less money.

[Paul Busman]

What exactly do you mean by a need for a higher caliber instrument? What exactly do you hope to gain by spending a lot more money?
When you got this mandolin, did you have it professionally set up by someone who knows mandolins? If not, you may find that this relatively inexpensive service will give you a LOT more playability and maybe sound.
I don't know what field you're studying, but once you graduate and are out in the world earning a living, that might be a better time to consider spending more bucks on a "better" mandolin. I took a look at the reviews of your Epiphone, and people seem to like it quite a bit. My local store carries Epis and I've played several which were quite decent. I'm just suggesting, consider your needs.

[FloridaCracker]

Most college kids I know have more cash than me...
But as a working joe, I can tell youvwhat I did to procure mando-funds. Sell your stuff! Guns, gold, anything you dont "need". Just my 2cents.
If you really are wanting to spend a bit of cash, call up Barry Kratzer and talk to him, tell him what you want. He's a hell of a guy who builds a nice mandolin.

[Canoedad]

Epiphone MM-50 to a 3k plus intsrument? That's a heck of a leap for most who are pretty well settled in their lives. I wouldn't even want a 3k+ instrument in college, lest it get stolen.

You can get a heck of a mando used for a grand if you're patient. Or how about a KM-900 new ... while you're in college.

[bmac]

There is really something bizarre about the question... A college student claiming poverty wants a $3000 iinstrument. I wonder what my wife would say if i told her I wanted a $3000 mandolin.... but I don't think I will ask.

[mandobassman]

Very helpful! I don't really want to do a payment plan right now, it seems like a really big commitment, saving does seem like a good option and as well as gigging. If not a $3000 instrument, what would you suggest? And I can certainly tell you are a college dad! ha

My suggestion would be a Kentucky KM-900. Getting fantastic reviews, even by some you wouldn't think would like a A model import. Very professional sound and can be had for under $1300.

http://www.folkmusician.com/Kentucky...ctinfo/KM-900/

Here's a recent thread about the KM-900

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...y-KM900-Review

[Ed Goist]

...snip...If not a $3000 instrument, what would you suggest?...snip...

* Under $1,000: New or used Howard Morris A-style
* $1500: Girouard production A-style
With either of these choices you will not be disappointed, and you'll likely ask yourself why you ever thought you needed to spend $3K.

[mandroid]

Lay away.. its amazing how you can find the funds when you can only visit
with your new mandolin, in the shop, until it's paid off.

took me 5 months to get my brown '22 A Gibson.. home, 23 years ago..

[chasray]

My first thought - is this a community college budget or Ivy league? Just kidding. A tight budget is a tight budget.

Don't go into debt. Two of my sons have finished college and a 3rd is there now. Let me repeat: don't go into debt.

And as others have said, you don't need to upgrade that high. A Weber A model or Kentucky 900 is quite a step up from the Epiphone. I certainly understand you wanting an upgrade. Hopefully there's a good local music store so you can try some out and can set one up for you. The mandolincafe sponsors are good, too.

If you do your work diligently you'll finish college before you know it and then be worried about finding a job (midway through your final semester panic may strike). If you prepare yourself now, you might one day be considering whether to buy a Gilchrist or Nugget. Or maybe you'll be happy with that Weber, Collings or whatever. For now patience, my son. Patience.

[chriss]

I gotta tell you ... not criticizing - just being honest ... until you have a SOLID income, and until AFTER you have a year's worth of living expenses in the bank, and until AFTER you've started a retirement savings program ...

in all honesty, I am at a COMPLETE LOSS to understand the word "need," as opposed to "want." In fact, unless and until AFTER you had created an established, sustainable, growing career playing mando, I think the word "need" is just really really hard to get to. Being honest with yourself.

For <$500 you can get something that sounds great. For <$100 you can get your current mando set up beautifully.

Ask yourself - what do you think generates this "need" ... or supports or justifies it.

Is it an economic need? Are you going to be able to earn SO much more with a $3k mando than your current one, or a $500 mando, to create a real return on this investment?

Is it an emotional need? Or is that a want.

I'm not trying to sound mean. I'm just trying to be really really honest with you. Everybody and everything is subject to the laws of subtraction ... of economics. When you run outta money, you are outta money, and in real trouble. There is a very likely outcome here that you need to come to terms with, for your own benefit. That is:
- you go out and overcommit to an instrument you don't really need - and on which you can not earn a real return fast enough to earn it back or pay it off
- REAL NEEDS in life (food, rent, cell phone bill, gas, clothing to interview for a job, etc etc etc etc ... ) arise
- you find yourself in REAL NEED of CASH for those REAL NEEDS
- you wake up to maybe your "need" for an expensive instrument isn't a real need after all
- you sell what you bought, quickly, to raise cash, for a lot less than you paid for it ... you lose a lot of money on the buy-sell
- you come out of it poorer but wiser
- maybe you get in real trouble on a credit card, or a payment plan, and spend YEARS digging yourself out of a hard, harsh lesson.

"Experience is a very harsh teacher. Wisdom is somewhat more gentle."

Really ... think about this before you spend (waste?) money you don't have. Or if you have it, money that you can and should be investing in other things at this stage of your life.

Just one guy's view.
You're presumably over 18, so "you get to drive." But PUUUHHH-LLEESSE don't act surprised, or ask anybody to feel bad for you if + when a $3k purchase starts to bite you in the ... uhhh ... wallet ... wherever it bites.

[vipp6017]

So far some helpful things, getting a general consensus of not blowing everything on a multi-thousand dollar instrument, exploring more practical options, saving, priorities, and not going into debt. For anyone who may have thought this to be a "poverty" cry, far from it. Just a student trying to get a well versed opinion from what I assumed would be a credible source. So think what you will, bottom line its about now in a persons playing career that he begins to desire the instrument he is going to have for the rest of his life. Whether that be filling emotional or physical NEED. As a mandolin player if you do not see where I am coming from.....

[Jim Garber]

So think what you will, bottom line its about now in a persons playing career that he begins to desire the instrument he is going to have for the rest of his life.

Most of us have all been in your place at sometime. I have been playing stringed instruments for decades now and gradually worked up to multi-thousand dollar ones (or the equivalent). it was a process that is parallel to the evolution of my playing. Certainly nothing wrong with going for an upgrade but you can prob see from a multitude of posts on these forums that it is prob unlikely that even if you were to spend a ton of money you may not immediately find the instrument for the rest of your life. You will change and so might your needs over time.

[Earl Gamage]

Very helpful! I don't really want to do a payment plan right now, it seems like a really big commitment, saving does seem like a good option and as well as gigging. If not a $3000 instrument, what would you suggest? And I can certainly tell you are a college dad! ha

This is a very wise decision. Take your time, save your money and stay out of debt.

[Bill Snyder]

vipp6017, I just Googled you to see if you might have any videos on YouTube. I thought if there were we could get an idea of your mandolin prowess. Nothing there, but I did see you have a glowing review of a $400 electronic version of Playboy at Amazon.com. If you put purchases like that off for a while you could save the money for a better mandolin much quicker.

[Rob Meldrum]

Several people have suggested getting your mandolin set up. If you want to do it yourself, email me at Rob.meldrum@gmail.com for a free copy of my Ebook on how to set up a mandolin. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in playability. Rob

[Mock Schimock]

I went through a bad period of trying to get a better mandolin, but the one's I always kicked myself for selling/trading were my precious Kalamazoo KM-21 and KM-22's! I agree that the Kentucky's and The Loar-700's are a sweet deal, but if you wanted to spend $3000, keep checking the classifieds here. Sometimes things just happen for a reason!