Hi everyone.
I would like some advice on what mandolin to buy.
Presently I’m playing a cheap mandolin made in china that I bought for about 30 £. Now I would like to upgrade a bit. My budget is about 300 £. I have tried Samick and Ibanez mandolins and they sound alright. I’ve also looked at the Ashbury and Kentucky mandolins at hobgoblin.
What would you guys recommend? Are the mandolins on hobgoblin (within my price range) anything to consider or would you recommend something else? Electric or semi accoustic are not important to me and I dont think I want a bluegrass style.
Any advice would be very welcome.
Regards
Mattias
Of those brands you’ve mentioned, the Kentucky receives the highest and most consistent marks among the experts at MandolinCafe, although all of them offer a couple of decent mandolins in their range. As you probably know, the A style and flat-top style will give you a better bargain in that price range over the elaborate F style. Since you’ve asked on a trad forum, I’ll assume you’re going to play a bit of ITM? If so, the Trinity College instruments are very popular at sessions and excellent values, but about 100 quid more than your budget. Worth saving up though.
Before you upgrade you might want to take your current mando to a luthier and see if he thinks it needs tweaking. A good setup can dramatically change even modest instruments.
That being said, I had a Kentucky that I liked quite a lot.
Thanks for your advice. I thought you’d say kentucky would be the one to go for from the ones I considered.
I dont think I’ll take my mandolin to a craftsman for a tuneup. It’ll probably cost more than the instrument is worth. Thanks for the advice anyway.
/Mattias
I currently play a Kentucky KM-505 and I’m very happy with it. I am in the process of building a custom mando for ITM, but until that’s finished the Kentucky is my main mando.
I’ve also played the F style KM-1000 which is a lovely instrument.
That said, I have tried cheaper Kentuckys in Hobgoblin and have been disappointed. There seems to be a bit of a quality gap between the higher end 900 and 1000 models (and even the 505), and most of the others. I’d give them all a good try before buying.
Thanks for your advice.
I looked at the Kentucky KM-505 and it seems to be a very nice instrument, just above my price range though.
What I want is probably an oval hole style. I think that gives me a more direct sound and I like that (plus, an oval hole looks nicer if you ask me). Kentucky has the KM-172 and it seems nice. I also looked at the Ashbury AM-200. I think I want a falt top. A fellow musician has a Landola flattop and it has one of the better mandolin sounds I’ve heard. What do you guys think?
/Mattias
When I think of the session mandolin sound, I think flat-top or arch-top oval hole. Either of those would be my choice too.
I used to have an Eastman 504 oval hole. To me as a player the sound seemed fuller and more appropriate for ITM.
But…
Listening to other people playing my mandolins has been a revelation. F-holes cut though much better in a loud/busy session. If your session is quiet then oval holes are lovely, but f-holes are by no means inappropriate. Both configurations are fine.
I’d say it’s in a song/ballad session that the sound of an oval hole really is the ideal timbre. Much more sympathetic to accompanying songs.
Buddu’s on the money. What you hear is not always what the room hears. If you’re going to play mandolin in sessions, volume will be an issue. I’m playing a National RM-1 now. No longer an issue. 
About a year ago, I was on your budget, and wanted a mandolin I could take to irish sessions. I ended up buying a used Gypsy Spirit mandolin.
Gypsy Music (http://www.gypsysmusic.com/) make string instruments, and I read good things about this rather small brand at Mandolincafe. I was lucky to find a used mandolin from their middle-range model (the “spirit”), and I couldn’t be happier with it. Looking at the specs, the main difference between their instruments is in ornaments and not much affecting the musical quality of the instrument. The tuning-knobs all feel very high quality, and it really feels like a good piece of craftmanship when you hold it. I don’t know why, but if think it looks very… very cute and pretty as well. (More “pretty” than “manly and good-lookin’”, but hey - it’s a mandolin.)
I try to change strings every few months, and with new D’addario J74 strings I can actually get heard by others in a large session. That was a nice treat for me.
Thanks everyone for your advice. It’s leaning towards a kentucky KM-172 for me. I’ll mostly use it in church and to accompany songs, in sessions I play the flute (my main instrument, night change though).
in the future though, I might buy a proper mandolin, for now I just want something that sounds better than the poorly crafted chinesee mandolin I have.
Thanks again everyone.
/Mattias
Be aware that the Kentucky, despite its name, is also a Chinese mandolin. But as many players of Jade, Eastman or the better Kentucky mandos will tell you, there is nothing at all wrong with a good Chinese mandolin. 
Amen, Buddhu. Thirty years ago the Orient was producing some real garbage and a good mandolin was an expensive proposition, but today if we want a quality instrument for a reasonable price we need to look to China and Korea. The best of the best still comes from America and probably always will, but there are some very impressive mandolins being imported now and the Kentucky line especially is right up there in the running.