Hypothetically speaking

[TonyT]

If a guy was thinking about taking a beginning mandolin class, how much might he expect to pay for a no-frills, not junk, nothing fancy but playable mando?

 

[Scratch]

Calling MandoSquirrel....

 

[TonyT]

Prolly ought to do a little research on my own before tossing this uber generic question out here. I'm off to a mandolin forum. This here interweb is a handy tool.

 

[Scratch]

How's the ole 'F' chord coming along Tony?

 

[TonyT]

Good about 90% of the time. Once my hand gets tired, it gets a little iffy sometimes, but mostly it's not awful. I practice probably 20 C-F-C chord changes to warm up each time I play. I think that's been pretty helpful.

 

[dreadnut]

You should be able to get into something for under $200, maybe even under $100 to get started with. Lots of inexpensive "potato bug" style mandos out there. Might someone have one you could borrow for a little while?

Good luck, the Mandolin is lots of fun and adds nice voicing to accompany guitars

 

[cjd-player]

Lots of good beginner info here: http://www.folkofthewood.com/Acoustic_Instruments_Mandolins.html

 

[chazmo]

Man, I saw two really nice Ibanez mandos hiding out in a corner of the music store the other day.... Very tempting!

I wouldn't even know where to start.

 

[kitniyatran]

You should be able to get into something for under $200, maybe even under $100 to get started with. Lots of inexpensive "potato bug" style mandos out there. Might someone have one you could borrow for a little while?

Good luck, the Mandolin is lots of fun and adds nice voicing to accompany guitars

True, but if you want something that's good, start around $500 new; used you can find some great underappreciated mandos in the $50 to $200 bracket, if you know,or know someone who knows, what you're looking at.
For instance, there are some wonderful old Stradolins, around $100 & up; my 1906-07ish Washburn bowl back("potato bug") was around $70 from e-bay shipped, & almost good condition(needed a slight file touchup on the bridge); my "Victoria" was about $45 and needing a tailpiece.

 

[TonyT]

You should be able to get into something for under $200, maybe even under $100 to get started with. Lots of inexpensive "potato bug" style mandos out there. Might someone have one you could borrow for a little while?

Good luck, the Mandolin is lots of fun and adds nice voicing to accompany guitars

True, but if you want something that's good, start around $500 new; used you can find some great underappreciated mandos in the $50 to $200 bracket, if you know,or know someone who knows, what you're looking at.
For instance, there are some wonderful old Stradolins, around $100 & up; my 1906-07ish Washburn bowl back("potato bug") was around $70 from e-bay shipped, & almost good condition(needed a slight file touchup on the bridge); my "Victoria" was about $45 and needing a tailpiece.

Thanks Mando,
I'll take a look. If you run across anything, please give me a holler.

 

[kitniyatran]

Always good to watch the classifieds at Mandolin Cafe, reasonable prices, & unlikely to get ripped off.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin...y&category=Mandolins&results_format=headlines

 

[West R Lee]

Or you can get one like Steven Stone of Vintage Guitar brought to Arlington last year. Seems like it was an early 1900's to 1930 or so Gibson......worth about $70,000 :shock: I believe he said. Sure sounded good. And our very own fearless leader in the foreground, Don. And the guitar Don is playing....well I might not take $70,000 for it...........................but then again? :wink:

Mr. Stone sure could play that little thing.

West

 

[TonyT]

Or you can get one like Steven Stone of Vintage Guitar brought to Arlington last year. Seems like it was an early 1900's to 1930 or so Gibson......worth about $70,000 :shock: I believe he said. Sure sounded good. And our very own fearless leader in the foreground, Don. And the guitar Don is playing....well I might not take $70,000 for it...........................but then again? :wink:

Mr. Stone sure could play that little thing.

West

Thanks, but I've already got one of those.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Saga has a Mandolin line called Kentucky Mandolins.
I have one that's all solid wood and sounds great.
They start at about $400.00 for an all solid model and you can find them on ebay for half that.
If you want to step up a little,
Recording King/Loar has some very respectable mandolins.
I don't like the sound of a Washburn. They look nice though.