The mandolin arrived in the mail yesterday, and I have to admit that I am impressed with its tone (Old Hickory brand, made in China). It makes the sound of the laminated top mandolin that I had been playing seem tiny in comparison. The gold plating of the hardware isn’t as good as I would like, but I can live with it for an instrument that I plan to play on the street. Also, before I could play the mandolin, I needed to adjust the nut and bridge. However, for a solid spruce top mandolin with flammed maple sides and back, this is a good value for the ridiculously low price. The same mandolin is also available without the sunburst finish for the same price.
Aww c’mon Dale, we’d still have plenty of stuff, it’s just that we’d all need to go get jobs as plastic sugeons to afford our U.S.A. made stuff
I’m just dreading the day when Michael Flatley gets permission to bring Riverdance to Beijing - once the chinese get hooked on “Irish” music, we western whistle and flute makers are done for
I bought a mandolin for the same price off ebay, well, a bit more because of our Canadian exchange rate and customs charges, but still, I was impressed with the fact it didn’t totaly suck. Mines made in China as well, it’s a good mandolin to learn on. Congrats on your new Mando!
Man, for $80, even if you just hang it on the wall you haven’t done bad. Doug-- you could swap out the cheesy gold hardware for better stuff and still end up with a reasonable mandolin.
BTW-- I DID have a Chinese would-be whistle maker visit me a year or so ago. As far as I know, he’s not making any yet. He spent some time with Glenn Schultz too. He bought a whistle and gave me a really nifti Chinese Dizi flute.
