mandolin for beginners

[randythoades]

Slightly random question, but has anyone got any experience on the Harley Benson mandolin offerings (or any other beginner brand really)? The reviews of the HB look pretty good and the price certainly tempting. I have always wanted to play mandolin, but as a complete beginner I don't really know how good they are or how much I need to spend.

There seems to be quite a jump in cost between the beginner end and intermediate instruments.

I am trying to get more into bluegrass and could just stick with either the upright bass or flat picking acoustic, but I have friends that do those too that I could call upon, and fancied a challenge of trying a new instrument.

Similarly to a guitar, I don't want to get a box of crap and give up in a matter of days, but on the other hand, I don't want to spend a fortune on a solid carved model to leave it sitting on a stand for months at a time (like my beautiful Flight ukulele that for some reason I just never play).

[EdwardMarlowe]

No direct experience, but I have my fingers crossed they do a left handed version of the 12 string Bendoline. 

[Graham50]

I’ve no experience on the HB mandolin but have had a Tanglewood and a Washburn which were both pretty good. Like most instruments you get what you pay for. As a bassist and guitarist I found the mandolin neck really tight and therefore difficult to fret. In the end I bought an Octave Mandolin (usually known as an octave mandola in the U.K.) which is the same tuning as a mandolin only an octave lower and with a lot more fretting space.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Graham50
Added photo

[randythoades]

14 hours ago, Graham50 said:

I’ve no experience on the HB mandolin but have had a Tanglewood and a Washburn which were both pretty good. Like most instruments you get what you pay for. As a bassist and guitarist I found the mandolin neck really tight and therefore difficult to fret. In the end I bought an Octave Mandolin (usually known as an octave mandola in the U.K.) which is the same tuning as a mandolin only an octave lower and with a lot more fretting space.

Thanks Graham, that's really helpful. I have ended up buying a used budget one (Stagg) in the hope that it will give me enough of an experience to see if I will like it, should be here in a few days. I am also a little worried that my guitarist sausage fingers will struggle on the smaller fretboard, they certainly did on smaller ukuleles.

According to one of the manolin forums, anything under £1000 seems to be classed as budget and I am not prepared to spend that much. I will have a look for the mandola, that sounds like it could be a good option too.

Edited September 5, 2023 by randythoades

[EdwardMarlowe]

Tanglewood are great - I've played and owned Tanglewood guitars, banjos, and a couple of their electrics at one time and another. All good stuff. The electrics were "impressive for the money" in their original 'budget brand' days, but I think they've dropped them entirely since they took off with the acoustics as of about twenty years ago. HB I hear good things about. There's also a bit of buzz about an American brand called Orchard, though I don't know if those are distributed over here yet. 

[murphybridget]

Thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds like you've explored a variety of mandolin options. It's true, the tight neck can be a challenge, especially coming from bass and guitar backgrounds. The octave mandolin sounds like a great alternative with its lower tuning and more spacious fretboard. How are you finding the transition?

[randythoades]

On 30/05/2024 at 07:39, murphybridget said:

Thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds like you've explored a variety of mandolin options. It's true, the tight neck can be a challenge, especially coming from bass and guitar backgrounds. The octave mandolin sounds like a great alternative with its lower tuning and more spacious fretboard. How are you finding the transition?

In all honesty I just couldn't gel with it. I worked through about two thirds of 'Mandolin for Dummies' but struggled to play almost any chords at all and just started concentrating on melody and double stops. But ultimately it just didn't float my boat as much as I though so moved it on and went back to my ukulele and flat top acoustic.

[murphybridget]

On 05/06/2024 at 04:18, randythoades said:

In all honesty I just couldn't gel with it. I worked through about two thirds of 'Mandolin for Dummies' but struggled to play almost any chords at all and just started concentrating on melody and double stops. But ultimately it just didn't float my boat as much as I though so moved it on and went back to my ukulele and flat top acoustic.

Well congrats on trying your luck, I guess not everyone does well in playing mandolin. You're very lucky you can still play ukuleles instrument though.