What Mandolin

Alanstrainor

Hey guys, I've been a guitarist for 7 years and i'm relatively experienced, but recently i've been toying with the idea of getting a mandolin. Does anyone know what i should look out for in a mandolin, any good brands? I'm on a tight budget of under €200. I most probably be buying in Dublin, i can't see much point in going the online route on a cheap enough instrument.
Cheers,
Alan.

slipss

Dunnes stock some pretty good ones but I think they're out of season now, your basically looking for firmness and a rich orange colour in a good one.

Dord

slipss wrote: »

Dunnes stock some pretty good ones but I think they're out of season now, your basically looking for firmness and a rich orange colour in a good one.

That has to be the WORSE joke ever. :rolleyes:

Alanstrainor

Any ideas

NoQuarter

hey al, i was a guitarist for a few years then i bought a mandolin myself, on a low budget id basically just tell you to test out the fretboard and make sure its not warped and as you play the higher frets theres still sound coming out

other that that have fun, great little instruments that not many play and youll have no trouble if your a decent guitarist! check out a few led zep songs like the battle of evermore and going to california for a few cool mandolin tunes!

Alanstrainor

king-stew wrote: »

hey al, i was a guitarist for a few years then i bought a mandolin myself, on a low budget id basically just tell you to test out the fretboard and make sure its not warped and as you play the higher frets theres still sound coming out

other that that have fun, great little instruments that not many play and youll have no trouble if your a decent guitarist! check out a few led zep songs like the battle of evermore and going to california for a few cool mandolin tunes!

Cheers for the advice, i'll try to steer away from the led zep cliches though, i want to get some Irish trad down, a bit of a step away from blues guitar but meh, it'll be a learning curve. I think i'm going to head into town tomorrow and have a mooch around walton's. (i usually despise waltons but i dont have to much of a choice with the mando on my budget)
Alan,

NoQuarter

yeah waltons mandolins should be fine, pick up one of the beginner mandolin dvd's they have in there too as the one i got was some bloke just showin some trad riffs

other than that the tuning is GDAE low to high so have a good one!

Alanstrainor

king-stew wrote: »

yeah waltons mandolins should be fine, pick up one of the beginner mandolin dvd's they have in there too as the one i got was some bloke just showin some trad riffs

other than that the tuning is GDAE low to high so have a good one!

I think ill forget the dvds they tend to piss the hell out of me and coming from guitar the main problem will be learning the new chord positions, wait...that wont even be a problem. Yeah, i just want something new to potter about on and figure out some trad stuff on.

Alanstrainor

Oh and thanks for all the replies lads i wasn't expecting this many so quick!
Cheers,
Alan,

slipss

Joe Robot wrote: »

That has to be the WORSE joke ever. :rolleyes:

Yeah sorry about that, couldn't help myself.

Keyzer

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hey guys, I've been a guitarist for 7 years and i'm relatively experienced, but recently i've been toying with the idea of getting a mandolin. Does anyone know what i should look out for in a mandolin, any good brands? I'm on a tight budget of under €200. I most probably be buying in Dublin, i can't see much point in going the online route on a cheap enough instrument.
Cheers,
Alan.

Why not -

http://www.thomann.de/ie/fender_fm52e.htm

Alanstrainor

I saw that but decided not to go for it because it got awful reviews, most said that it was a joke, and the bridge after a couple of years made the body cave in under the strain of the strings:eek:. I didn't get a chance to go into town today but i think i'm might head into town tomorrow and buy one in waltons after checking them out. I saw they sell a Brand Called McBride's, they seem alright and they have the cheaper end stuff as well as the higher.

AckwelFoley

its similar to a violin but smaller with ;less strings i think

Dord

snyper wrote: »

its similar to a violin but smaller with ;less strings i think

:eek:

That has to be the worst description of a mandolin ever!

They have 8 strings and frets! Hahahaa......

AckwelFoley

heh!! i like hip hop music...so its not like id know!

But i thought i was close

Alanstrainor

Wow, that was an amazingly awful description, did you even read my first post?

AckwelFoley

*leaves thread in shame*

Dord

Ya you better! :mad:




*waits for someone to post thread looking for Bazouki* lol