Samick mandolins- Decent or junk?

[Clockwork John]

Found a Samick mandolin on my local craigslist, wondering if it's worth snapping up. I kinda have a thing for cheap instruments- I've got a Galveston, a Trinity River, and a Kentucky KM-140s.
Here's the link: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant...800541027.html

What do you think?

[EdHanrahan]

I also have a thing for cheap instruments or, at least, I have my fair share of 'em! While I've never actually played a Samick mandolin, I've messed with plenty of their "economy-level" guitars.

But the bigger picture is that you have to understand the reasons that some instruments are, in fact, cheap:
1) they use less-than-wonderful materials, meaning laminated sides and back (if not also the top), and marginal quality fittings like bridge, nut, tailpiece, & tuners, and,
2) nobody has bothered to do the last two or three hours of precision & painstaking manual labor, that we normally refer to as "setup".

If just slightly better materials had been used - like, say, the $12 bridge instead of the $3.50 bridge, and the micarta nut instead of the hollow soft plastic nut - AND the proper measure of manufacturing effort had been applied (like properly fitting the bridge foot to the arched top), we'd no longer be calling it a "cheap" instrument and it would cost $350 instead of $100. Oh well!

BTW, I do believe that most factory-built instruments today are at least reasonably-well constructed. The glue can be expected to hold for a quite some time, and folks are no longer making "metal-reinforced" necks by embedding a used hacksaw blade under the fingerboard.

If you can do the setup yourself, and can identify the deficiencies of the other parts and fix or replace them as needed, then a cheap instrument can be a reasonably good player. It may never sound, uhmm, "wonderful", but will likely sound okay AND be a lot of fun. And you'll learn a lot.

That's my experience; YMMV!

[mrmando]

The Samick won't give you anything you're not getting from the mandolins you already have.

[Clockwork John]

I most certainly can do the setup work (shy of fret leveling and dressing) myself. I did the setups on the 3 mandolins I have already.

And mrmando, I do believe you're right. About the only thing I'd be getting from this Samick that I don't already have is an oval hole with an adjustable bridge. My Galveston is an oval, but it has a weird solid bridge with a brass bar embedded across the top.

[Jim Adwell]

Chances are good that with a cheap mandolin the frets will have to be leveled and re-crowned. You should be prepared for that, just in case.

[Jim]

Great way to learn fret leveling & dressing.

[Clockwork John]

Another thing I hadn't considered is that purchasing another mandolin would give me a spare I could leave at my in-laws. My father-in-law and I jam occasionally. He plays harmonica and stick dulcimer. We usually jam at my house, and he keeps a set of harmonicas here. But, I we do spend a fair amount of time out at their place, which is just across town. I've already got a guitar out there. Adding a mandolin would mean I could have more fun... So, bottom line, is this worth the $100 the guy is asking for it? Should I go look at it, then offer him $50 or $75 if it's gonna need some work?

[almeriastrings]

I would not pay $100 for a Samick.

$50 tops.

[EdHanrahan]

... another mandolin would give me a spare I could leave at my in-laws.

MUCH to be said for that, even without the jamming. For the last year that my mom was in her house, along with my Rover, I'd say over with her one mid-week night each week, commuting the opposite direction out of NYC. The Rover was gonna go next go to my sister-in-law's in Florida except, now that I'm retired, we drive there and visit friends alone the way.

[allenhopkins]

...is this worth the $100 the guy is asking for it?...

Not in my book.

[Clockwork John]

Thanks for all the input guys. Sounds like I should let this one go. While I would like to get another oval hole mando, I don't think this one is different enough in terms of materials or construction from my Galveston to make it worth picking up. I'll take that $100 and put it toward a pickup, or a hard case, or maybe I'll just (try to)save it so I can get a solid top oval hole down the road.

[mrmando]

I think it is likely to be better than the Galveston, although not a lot better.

[EdHanrahan]

I'll take that $100 and ... just (try to) save it so I can get a solid top oval hole down the road.

Do that 8 to 12 times and you can have an original 'teens-or-so solid-top oval-hole Gibson that'll REALLY put a grin on your face! There's something electrifying about playing (in my case) a 96-year-old instrument.

[vegas]

Do that 8 to 12 times and you can have an original 'teens-or-so solid-top oval-hole Gibson that'll REALLY put a grin on your face! There's something electrifying about playing (in my case) a 96-year-old instrument.

That would be my recommendation too. The first time I played one of those, I got to learn how a real mandolin should play and sound. It's also a real good starting point for judging the sound of the better but still affordable imports which are going to sound differently, but at least you will have some idea of what quality sounds like.

[Russ Donahue]

I'm with Vegas and Ed Hanrahan. I have a Loar 500 which was fun to start with, then was given an Arches Flat Top oval hole that just blew me away with tone and sustain. That was followed by a Gibson '16A that has awesome tone and sustain and is a real joy to play. All three get played, and each has a unique voice, but I play the two oval holes more frequently, and I know a large part of what I am enjoying is made possible by the better materials, better construction and better design. Of course, I'm also getting better with my playing at the same time....

[vegas]

I'm with Vegas and Ed Hanrahan. I have a Loar 500 which was fun to start with, then was given an Arches Flat Top oval hole that just blew me away with tone and sustain. That was followed by a Gibson '16A that has awesome tone and sustain and is a real joy to play. All three get played, and each has a unique voice, but I play the two oval holes more frequently, and I know a large part of what I am enjoying is made possible by the better materials, better construction and better design. Of course, I'm also getting better with my playing at the same time....

Our introduction to mandolin was nearly identical. After reading and researching this site for about a month, I bought a Loar LM-400. I'd never held a mandolin in my hands before but had many years guitar experience. It was a good starter but when I held my first Gibson A 1919, I, too, was blown away by sound quality and since that acquisition, the Loar has mostly stayed in its case. I've since purchased several more expensive mandolins but that first Gibson A experience taught me what a mandolin is supposed to be.

[bmac]

I think there may be some quality mandolins out there for sale for the eager, and willing to work at it, mando buyers... I look for damaged ones which most buyers are afraid of. Ones where the finish is hopeless, missing parts, frets gone, tuners hopeless.... any or all of these problems can be found on ebay instruments. and sometimes these instruments have lots of potential. One of my Stradolins was literally broken in half with the back and neck being the only body parts intact, It restored to a wonderful sounding instrument. These wrecks show up in any brand and, in fact most are restorable if you have the time and interest. Normally they can be purchased for a little more than the value of their parts.