I got a new toy!
It’s Goldtone GM6 Mandolin. Tuned like a guitar but an octave higher…feels like a guitar played above 12th fret, and the sound is in-between a guitar and a mandolin. l always wanted a mandolin but never wanted to learn the new fingering structure 
Tak, the fingering of mandolin is not hard for a guitarist to learn and espicially so if you play guitar in different tunings. DADGAD on guitar gives you a haed start learning chords. Also there are quick and dirty ways of figuring out chord shapes on mando. The tuning is G, D, A, E. This is the same as the bottom four strings of a guitar in standard tuning but in reverse. Just play what you would play on those strings upside down and you will have an acceptable chord shape.
Because the tuning in fifths is consistent, you can move with confidence around the neck when playing melody employing the same shapes with much less to memorise than on guitar.
Plus, this is also fiddle tuning so if you ever get a yen (sorry Tak 
) to learn fiddle, you’ll be halfway there. The other half is bowing…
Toy being the operative word here.
It ain’t a Mandolin,and as Wombat as pointed out,the fingerings are second nature to a guitarist.There would be no problem in learning all the chords and scales you need to play great mandolin music…
You do need a Mandolin though… 
Slan,
D.
Hi!!! What a cool instrument!!! Good choice, everybody I ask tell me Goldtone is great, I played a Goldtone F-style mandolin a month ago and it was absolutely wonderful to play, I’m going to buy one next year.
Do you play the guitar? It’s great being able to play this (as I want to learn to play the tenor banjo Irish style, tuned like a mandolin) with the guitar fingering. Have fun with it!!!
I do think though, that you should get a real mandolin. They are easy to learn, especially if you can play the guitar. And as someone said, if you ever want to play fiddle, you’ll be halfway there. Mandolin is fun! And, actually, much easier to play than guitar.
Get a real mandolin. I just did. It’s a great little instrument, incredibly versatile. The tuning in 5ths is a lot easier to learn than guitar fingering, and once you learn a scale, you can move it to any string without changing it. Just beautiful.
Be careful, though, mandolin is very addictive.
Don’t be discouraged Tak-- I don’t think your Goldtone is a toy at all. Many of these mass produced instruments are quite nicely made and play well if the action is set up right. I’ve got a Kentucky A model from a local antique store circa '75 which I bought for $125. I tinkered with the bridge, cleaned it and put new strings on and I love it. Every once in a while I go into a music store down the block and play their upper scale mandos and start to think about it (especially if I’ve just been paid for a couple of whistles ). then I go home and play my cheapie and darned if I’m not just as happy with it.
IIRC in the 70’s the Kentucky mandolins were coming out of Japan and it was a mandolin-dedicated shop… a lot of the Kentuckys from that era are considered to be superior to the 70’s Gibsons and are selling for decent prices now since the factory moved from Japan to South Korea to (now) Mainland China. I haven’t played a Gold Tone but I think almost everything with strings on it from Korea is made in the Samick factory and everything from China probably coming out of one factory there too. So these days the name on the label makes very little difference – you might get lucky and get a good one but it’s hit or miss.
My advice FWIW if you decide to go with an eight-stringer: if you want a new mandolin, buy a Mid-Missouri if you want a flat top or if you want a carved top a Breedlove (more expensive than Mid-Mo but excellent value).
Best bet: buy used at Mandolincafe.com, i’ve bought and sold several times there and never been burned.
I second the recommendation for Mid-Missouri. You gotta love a company that has the motto “No frills, no plywood”!
I wish you guys would stop bringing up mandolins, every time the topic comes up, I get the itch to have one… like guitar and flute lust isn’t bad enough. (I lust after very few whistles these days, mostly just the better one’s I had to part with in the past.)
Is the action typically crap on all the low priced mandolins? Seems that way based on the few I’ve picked up in stores, where as at least some cheap acoustic guitars are playable, even if the tone isn’t so hot.
Loren
Sugoi!!! 
Looks like fun. I bet it beats the Martin Backpacker all to pieces.
After playing the Weekender’s banjo-guitar, I’m in the mood for one of those, but the modern ones are too heavy and loud.
How’s the action?
I have a Flatiron from the Backporch Productions days (c. 1980). It’s a nice little mandolin, but doesn’t come close to the various carved-top F models. The relatively new [u]Collings MF-5[/u] is causing quite a stir, and it lists for just $7200. 
You know, the newer Martin mini guitar is actually pretty darn good, better than the baby Taylor to my ear.
Now those Backpackers OTH are crap.
Loren
Yeah, usually some setup needs to be done – the bridge doesn’t fit the top right (especially on arch-tops or “bluegrass style” mandolins) or the nut needs to be recut. Most could do with a better set of tuners as well – mandolins tend to be touchy especially on the A strings and good tuners save you a LOT of frustration.
I think it was John Hartford who had a line about mandolin being the Italian word for “out-of-tune”. 
[quote="rhIIRC in the 70’s the Kentucky mandolins were coming out of Japan and it was a mandolin-dedicated shop… a lot of the Kentuckys from that era are considered to be superior to the 70’s Gibsons and are selling for decent prices now …[/quote]
Any idea how I could date my Kentucky? It’s a KM 180s, serial number 11026. The label inside does not indicate country of origin.
Thanks for the info rh.
Loren
P.S. Check you PM’s
i think there are laws against such things
but seriously, you might want to put the question up at mandolincafe
http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi
there are a lot of folks with a lot of knowledge on such arcana. from the details you gave about your purchase, i’d suspect it is Japanese but beyond that i’m at a loss to help. another option would be to contact Elderly or Gruhn or one of the other vintage instrument stores. i’d try MC first though, i wouldn’t be surprised if someone there could give you a pretty accurate date range on the mandolin.
[quote="rh
IIRC in the 70’s the Kentucky mandolins were coming out of Japan and it was a mandolin-dedicated shop… a lot of the Kentuckys from that era are considered to be superior to the 70’s Gibsons and are selling for decent prices now since the factory moved from Japan to South Korea to (now) Mainland China. I haven’t played a Gold Tone but I think almost everything with strings on it from Korea is made in the Samick factory and everything from China probably coming out of one factory there too. So these days the name on the label makes very little difference – you might get lucky and get a good one but it’s hit or miss.
My advice FWIW if you decide to go with an eight-stringer: if you want a new mandolin, buy a Mid-Missouri if you want a flat top or if you want a carved top a Breedlove (more expensive than Mid-Mo but excellent value).
Best bet: buy used at Mandolincafe.com, i’ve bought and sold several times there and never been burned.[/quote]
Just wanted to say that Gold Tone actually is an American company and their mandolins etc are all built by American “recipe” (whereever they are built, I’m not sure where they are built). So, it’s impossible to compare it with Samick for example, there’s such a difference it’s just not believable. I have a Washburn mandolin I bought last year. It is actually built in Korea, but by the instructions from the originial company (which is American), with real wood and real everything. It’s a great mandolin, and the same goes with Gold Tone.
Now, there are probably more expensive ones that have a lot better sound than these ones, but Gold Tone really do wonderful mandolins. I was VERY satisfied with the set-up of the one I played, and don’t think necessarily there are errors in the set-up of all cheap mandolins. It all depends.
What do you think of Alverez?
Can anyone give me some advice on a messed up bridge? I decided to get back to the mandolin and discovered my bridge appears to be bent. It’s a two piece adjustable bridge and the top part is pulled back slightly as if the adjusting screws are bent. I don’t know how that would happen. I would hope I could just remove the bridge and straighten it but I’m afraid I might replace it with the thing too high or too low or something.
it does, as i said you can get lucky and get a really good mando, and Gold Tone IIRC does final setup in Florida. Same with Michael Kelly.
But – just my opinion here and i haven’t played MK but i have played a couple of GT – for about the same money as the highest end GT you can get a handmade carved-top with a radius fretboard, wide neck, big frets, good tuners, etc, from Breedlove… a much better mandolin IMO but very plain-Jane looking (no binding, natural no-gloss finish), and no scroll.
if you don’t care about the archtop or the scroll and you’re on a budget but looking for something new, my opinion still stands that Mid-Mo is the way to go.
just my opinion, your mileage may vary…
Alvarez is like Washburn, etc, made in Asia. As i mentioned in the last post, the quality is variable, they are factory-made and a lot depends on after-market stuff – set-up, tuners, etc. You can get a good’un or not. Older ones tend to be better, or so they say. I have an 80’s Washburn that is a fine player with great tone and beats any new Asian mandolin I’ve played recently.
Advice on the bridge: put a small piece of masking tape at each foot of the bridge to mark the position, and a tiny one to mark the front of the bridge so’s you don’t reinstall it backwards, loosen the strings and take the bridge out. Check and see if the screws are really bent or if the bridge was just leaning back (or the top had sunk). If the screws are bent you probably need a new bridge and the best thing to do would be to take it to a luthier to get a new one fitted. You can do it yourself too, get a bridge from Stewart-Macdonald or Elderly, some masking tape and sandpaper and lots of patience.
Lots of good information on troubleshooting and setup of stringed instruments at http://www.frets.com
good luck!