Mandolin

February 23, 2007 at 6:41 AM

I am considering buying a mandolin. I was thinking of the Shar one because it's in my price range. What are your thoughts on it. Is there a different site you would recommend? It needs to be about $200. No more.
Should I get Acoustic or Acoustic-Electric?

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on February 23, 2007 at 3:30 PM

My mom would have made me tune my ukelele like a mandolin and then audition for a mandolin.

From Bilbo Prattle
Posted on February 23, 2007 at 4:09 PM

Uke tuned as a mandolin is actually pretty cool. You have to raid the baritone or the classical guitar strings to get the right gages and it works better with would strings below the top two, else it sounds really flabby. The scale length of a std uke is nearly the same as a violin. A "concert" uke is close to a viola scale, and tenor is quite a bit longer. Mandolins are slightly longer in scale than a violin, but not quite to a viola scale.

Some cheap mandolins suck. Poor setup on a mandolin is the bane of learning to play. Even if you get a cheap one, you should get it set up correctly. Look at places that cater to bluegrass players. There are a bunch out there. You stand a better chance of getting it set up correctly. Shar doesn't necessarily know anything about Mandolins. Try to buy from a person rather than sight-unseen. It is worth the extra effort.

A colleague bought a used Chinese made one (Johnson) F-style that was retailed originally for $450 (MF-350). He paid about $120 and had it set-up for about $100. It plays quite nicely--much closer to a brand new Rigel than to a brand-new Johnson MA-100 (pretty much Junk. we have one).

There are two basic styles of fingerboards on a Mandolin: flat, and radiused. A radisued fingerboard seems to make it easier to keep your fingers from interfering with neighboring strings, but some people prefer the flat. You can find a discussion of this at folk of the wood and other places. Good set-up trumps flat versus radius. Poor setup on either is bad news.

From Bilbo Prattle
Posted on February 23, 2007 at 4:26 PM

Acoustic.

Electric mandos are a shadow of an electric guitar. Even with Sam Bush on an electric, it isn't anywhere near as wonderful as the acoustic.

Get a straight acoustic, with no pickups or piezo, so that all your money goes into getting a quality instrument, rather than some wires and jacks that have no influence on the playability and response.

From Patricia Baser
Posted on February 26, 2007 at 2:30 AM

I have a Mid-Missouri which cost about $600 (A style). It's a very decent basic model. They're motto is "no frills, no plywood"(you have to be a Missouri native to truly appreciate it). Paying $200 or less will not get you a very good instrument. Maybe you can find that grand piano for $200 :)

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Mandolin

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