Affordable Mandolin Recommendation

Octavio

Has anyone experience with decent mandolins on the cheaper side?

I bought an Andy Wood course so want something to get started.

Cheers!

Smellyfingers

Stagg seem to make it their business to produce a variety of cheap but OK stringed instruments. The mandolin had was OK on a basic level, and I was able to sell it on.

Epsilon

Mandolins are one of those instruments where, in my opinion, it really isn't advisable to go cheap. Even the best of them can't really be described as easy to play, and some of the cheaper ones are actively unpleasant under the fingers.

Depends what you mean by cheap though. If you want something reasonably affordable but still good quality I'd look for a used Paul Hathway.

Octavio

Affordable is more accurate. I don't want to be spending beyond £300. Ideally want something I'm likely to keep, with guitar still being my main instrument.

springhead

I played a few recently at Hobgoblins London shop. I was after upgrading from the cheap Tanglewood I’ve had for donkeys years. They were all much of a muchness upto 2-3 hundred quid or so and not vastly different to my Tanglewood. Different nut widths and scale lengths to choose from though. What stood out were the Paul Hathaway mandolins. They really sang and had a depth of tone to them. As I’ve joined a band where I need to play a couple of songs on mandolin at every gig I decided to treat myself. There was one with a little mark near the bridge which was reduced in price as a result. However to me it was the one that sounded the best. I then had the pleasure of taking it to Paul’s house for him to fit a pickup. Lovely chap, proper craftsman. He said he dropped that one in his workshop which caused the mark!  Anyway, have a play with a few if you can, they do vary in feel if not so much in tone for the cheaper ones. 

Basher

If you're lucky you might find a used Eastman MD304 (oval sound hole) or MD305 (F holes) for not too much more than your budget. These should be light years ahead of the cheaper stuff and can be comparable with instruments costing thousands. 

drofluf

I used to have a Hathway as well before I accepted that I’d never be a decent mandolin player and sold it. If you can find one in budget that would be my recommendation. 

A thing to remember is that because of the smaller market mandolins are more expensive than guitars; I’d expect to pay twice as much as you would for a similar quality guitar. 

Also allow for a setup, with a shorter scale and higher tension a mandolin is less forgiving of a poor setup than a guitar. 

Stratavarious

Go to a store with several and try them.   Even small differences to neck dimensions and setup mean the difference between unpleasant and near impossible to play, to good.   Anything with a wider neck is generally easier.

Octavio

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Sounds like a Hathway or Eastman is the way to go if the price is right. You never know, I might get lucky and find an Eccleshall!

drofluf

Octavio said:

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Sounds like a Hathway or Eastman is the way to go if the price is right. You never know, I might get lucky and find an Eccleshall!

They’ve got very different tones; the Hathway more Celtic, Eastman more bluegrass. I was able to almost compare side by side. With very understanding staff in both stores I spent an afternoon going up and down Rathbones Place between Hobgoblin and Mairants (where Mak’s Guitars is now) playing an instrument in each store. 

So I suppose I’m trying to say try before you buy.