Mandolin Buyer's Guide

The Loar LM-600-VS Hand-Carved All Solid F Style Mandolin

Mandolins come in a wide variety of types or styles including A-style, F-style, bowl- back and solid body electric types.

A-style and F-style mandolins are by far the most popular types. The A-style mandolin is a simple oval shaped instrument. The F-style is the mandolin with the fancy scroll (pictured to the right). All things being equal there is little or no difference between the two tonally. The only advantage of the F-style mandolin is that the scroll provides a convienient place to attach your strap.

With regards to sound the major consideration is the shape of the sound holes. You will find mandolins with either f holes similar to the violin, or an oval sound hole at the base of the fret board. Mandolins with f shaped sound holes offer a crisp clear sound favored by bluegrass musicians. Instruments with oval sound holes provide a rich mellow tone preferred by many Celtic musicians.

Bowl-back mandolins are popular with baroque players and are often seen at renaissance fairs. Bowl-back mandolins are also frequently used by classical musicians.

Solid body electric mandolins are a perfect fit for the guitarist looking to increase their range.

Rover RM-75 F Style Solid Handcarved Mandolin

Kentucky Artist A-Model Mandolin Model KM-350

Epiphone Mandobird-VIII 8-String Electric Mandolin

This may sound like a salesman's trick but I assure you it is not. When I bought my first mandolin I was enticed by the $39.99 special what a fiasco. For my $39.99 I ended up with a dull sounding laminated mandolin with a hard sound deadening lacquered finish, an action too high to play comfortably, and a bridge that could not easily be adjusted low enough to fix the problems with the string height. Learning to play on an inferior mandolin can be very discouraging not to mention hard on your fingers. I can guarantee you will be happier and more likely to continue practicing if you can upgrade to an entry level solid wood topped mandolin.

The goal when purchasing a mandolin is to get the best instrument you can for the money you have to spend. As I mentioned before all things being equal there is no tonal difference between A-style and F-Style mandolins. With F-style mandolins you are simply paying a lot of extra money for fancy scroll work that adds nothing to the sound. The quality of the instrument does influence the sound so I recommend investing your money in a higher quality A-style Mandolin.

Before you buy your mandolin you need to visit your local music shops and play as many mandolins as you can get your hands on. Try the different types and brands, listen to the sound, and look at the fit and finish. If you find a mandolin in your price range that looks and sounds good buy it. The tonal quality of mandolins even those of the same brand and model vary widely especially at the entry level.

Yes, you can purchase a good quality mandolin online. I purchased my second mandolin online and I have been very happy with it. Online musical instrument dealers don't have the same overhead as brick and mortar stores so in general their instruments are cheaper. Online dealers often provide a wider variety of mandolins than your local musical instrument dealer.
There are a couple of things to consider when buying a mandolin online. Not all online dealers set-up your mandolin for you in fact, most do not. Plan on $75-$125 for a professional set up once you receive your mandolin. The dealer from whom I purchased my mandolin did do the set-up and it was spot on. If you purchase your mandolin online you will not get the chance to play or hear it before buying so it is luck of the draw. Ask the dealer to pick the best of the lot many will.
Do your homework; consider the pitfalls, add in the possible extra costs and if it still looks like a good value buy it.

No matter if you buy your mandolin from the local musical instrument shop or online plan on laying out the money for a professional set-up. A well set-up mandolin is much easier and more enjoyable to play. Any money spent on the set-up is money well spent. Trust me your fingers will thank you.