Can anyone help me with some advice on mandolins?
I am looking for a used one - preferrably flat back/acoustic - and want to know what to look out for i.e. good/bad makes, price range, brand names etc…There are some on Ebay but I have no idea if they are good value or not.
If there is a web site that someone can direct me to that would be great.
Cheers 
Gerry
Mandolins have a wider price range than most any instrument. Gibsons are among the more expensive and desirable. Run anywhere from 1200.00 to 7,500.00,. Two handmade mandolins are Deerstone and Ratliff. I know both luthiors and speak for their exquisite quality.
Fender makes a decent learning mandolin fro around 250.00 or cheaper. I’d but offline, yes, put on shoes and get out of the house to buy a mandolin. Believe it or not you might want to know how easy they are to play or if it is tastier than others in it’s range
Check out http://www.mandolincafe.com. It’s a great website for mando players, almost as good as C&F is for whistlers. They have a classifieds section and a message board where you can ask advice.
I put a dozen or so Mandolin’s through hell a year or so ago when I was looking to upgrade. I think too many people don’t look at the long run when buying an instrument and spend too little (This might explain why I’m always broke). I ended up going with a Rigel Mandolin made in Vermont. It offered the best combination of sound, playability and affordability ($1000 on ebay) out of all the mando’s I tried.
As someone else already mentioned, you can get alot of good info from Mandolin Cafe. Go to their discussion area: http://www.mandolincafe.com/discus/
and click on Celtic Mandolin. There is a thread going now on ‘seeking advice on celtic models’ which should be a good place to start.
I second the advice not to spend too little.
I have a Fleetwood which I got new for £140 Stg (no case, needed new strings), which I keep at work, and a similar made in Germany which I bought in Galway for £290 Irish, with a hard case. Both are as good as I need for the foreseeable. A third one I got intended for travelling, at £70 Stg, is good for hanging on the wall, or firewood.
If you’re playing Celtic Music, a pear or teardrop-shaped flatback body is nice. If you plan to play bluegrass, an f-shape body is favoured, but a great deal more expensive.
MandoCafe would indeed be the best place to follow up, though not having Mando-Acquisition-Syndrome so bad, I don’t recognise all the types & makes that get bandied about on the various boards.
Thanks to everyone for all the great information. I’ll check out that site later today. I guess whistles - even the good low ones - will seem really cheap now, compared to a good mandolin.
Cheers
Gerry
Look at Weber mandolins (these are the folks that used to make Gibsons in Montana and stayed when Gibson moved its shop to nashville). They make great mandolins, and have good ones for Celtic music too.
Elderly caries them for one.
Tres
We picked up an Elloree last year on Ebay for under $200 and have been having a blast with it. – N
little pink electric mandolin
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