I’m the designated shopper.
Wife is a violinist (professional). She’s going to take mandolin lessons (Irish style) this summer. Wants an instrument that balances economy and sound. She definitely doesn’t want to spend $1,000, but doesn’t want something that sounds unpleasant, either. It definitely needs to be in tune with itself.
You could buy this board member’s Fullerton
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/fs-beginner-level-mandolin-and-case/70620/1
I have a Fullerton Gloucester F-style. It’s
quite nice. And you can’t beat the price
with as stick.
In addition to that Fullerton, I suggest checking the classified ads at MandolinCafe. Look especially for good deals in the Kentucky and Eastman lines. They seldom disappoint. No matter what you settle on, allow enough in the budget for a proper set up. All mandolins need to be set up before they play their best.
I’d suggest a used Eastman 504 0r 604 from the mandocafe classifieds for an axe which will satisfy someone used to pro-quality instruments for less than a grand. Eastman make violins, too, so your wife may already know something about the company. They’re factory made violins, guitars and mandolins built by a US company in china with some effort at luthier-like quality.
Here’s the first one I found, asking $500 for a used 504. That’s the bottom of Eastman’s line, but likely better than many other starter mandolins. It’ll be playable and sound OK.
Mandolin is my main instrument. I am Cheap Mando Man! There are some good ones about that don’t break the bank.
Some good suggestions already.
Eastman 504 is a nice little A4 style oval-hole, archtop mandolin. I used to have one. Lovely woods, nice varnish. Very, very decent quality for the price. One of the best value mandos in that level.
Kentucky KM-505 is another good Chinese import. My current main mandolin is one of these. It’s an A5 style, f-hole mandolin. Nice tone and good volume. If it’ll be used in a busy session then IMHO the f-hole sound does cut through a little better than the Eastman oval hole.
NB, personally, I wouldn’t bother with any of the cheaper Kentuckys. The more pricey ones are great though, the KM-1000 and the KM-900.
If you have a Hobgoblin store nearby you might also like to check out the new Ashbury folk/celtic mandolins designed by Phil Davidson. I’ve had a go and they’re pretty nice.
The Fullerton Gloucester is now only available second-hand. I had one of those too, and I wish I’d kept it. They are a cheap-as-chips copy of a Gibson F9, but solid wood, good build quality and very nice sound. A real bargain. A lot of the other Fullerton models were laminates, but I have no real experience of those, so I can only speak for the Gloucester.
Plenty of choice, and some really nice instruments available at very reasonable prices.
I checked with this member, and this is not a Gloucester. I was seriously thinking of buying it as my SECOND Gloucester because I like mine so much. Still for the price it might be very nice. Note that this is an F style mando which some trad people don’t like so much.
Paul, I wanted to say that but didn’t. When you see a Fullerton, you have to make sure it’s a Gloucester. That was the special deal that everyone and his brother was excited about. Other Fullertons are good, but the G. was the big deal.
The more I think about it, the more I think the Fullerton posted on this board might be the way to go. It might need a good setup by a luthier to play it’s best. Your wife could certainly start her lessons on this and it would buy her some time to really research what she wants in a mandolin-- maybe get some suggestions from her teacher, other students, etc. If and when she buys a “better” (highly subjective term, that) mandolin, this $100ish mando would still be worth keeping as a “beater” to take on picnics and other occasions where she doesn’t want to risk damaging a more costly instrument. Or, she could probably sell it for what she initially paid. Either way, it sounds like a good deal.
There’s a lot of variance in sound quality between one mandolin and another with some of the brands mentioned, particularly the Eastmans where 1 504 really sings and the other is pretty dead. If your wife is a pro violinist her standards are probably fairly high and with a low budget I would look at a good, solid wood flat top mandolin, particularly for Irish music. The Big Muddy brand (formerly Mid Missouri) makes excellent products in your price range well suited for Irish music. Flat top construction is less expensive than arched/carved top mandolins.
I would also keep an eye out for Weber Aspens, Redline Traveller, Gypsy, and the old Flatiron “pancake” models. If you buy used, you can pick up a real bargain but even new flat tops offer good quality at relatively low prices.
You don’t say where you’re located, so it’s hard to reccomend where to look. If you’re in the UK, there are great flat top builders in that part of the world too. Jimmy Moon, Paul Hathaway, Fylde.
@ Steve L
Thanks a ton. Your post is very informative. I was particularly wondering about variance in the lower end mass produced instruments.
There is a dealer an hour or two from my house with several Big Muddy instruments in stock, so I think we might go for that. There’s really something to knowing there’s a craftsman with his hands on each instrument start to finish.
Glad if I have helped. Good luck and let us know what you end up with. The Big Muddys have a few options for body woods with maple being the brightest and mahogany probably the warmest with a bit less volume.
It arrived.
It’s a Big Muddy. I think it’s an M-0, the no-frills model. I think it was about $700 with a hard case.
It sounds nice, and it looks great. My wife is very pleased. She, too, was really into the concept of a craftsman building and setting up the instrument.
Maybe if I’m lucky she’ll teach me to play a thing or two after she learns. 
Congratulations. I think your wife (and hopefully yourself) will enjoy that mandolin for many years.
By the way, Big Muddy has really excellent customer service should you need it. I had a brace come loose due to exessive weather. The instrument was out of warranty but I wanted to pay the company to fix it as it’s a tricky job taking the back off, etc. I talked to Mike Dulak, the owner and he told me to just send it in and they’d take care of it at no charge; that he wanted to know his stuff was out there in good shape. They even paid the return shipping. Very funny and friendly on the phone as well.