<p>Not really a "Music Major" question, but . . . so, over the past couple of years, my "I hate country music!" daughter has developed an interest in bluegrass. It began when she was camping in Kentucky and people would gather around the campfires with their instruments and play each evening. She's been listening to more bluegrass and traditional music this last (her first year) in college, but I don't think she had seen a professional group until we attended a concert this weekend. WOW-Did that fire her up! Earlier in the summer, she had talked about buying a guitar, but didn't want to spend the money. Now, I'd say, she's leaning toward the mandolin. She's getting in touch with musician friends from school-who plays what, who could give her informal lessons, etc . . . (one of her friends is learning the banjo and I know my daughter's dreaming of a full-fledged bluegrass band) and she and I are going this week to a little shop an hour's drive away to look at guitars and mandolins.</p>
<p>So, what are my questions? As a beginner, she's not going to spend a lot of money-the shop promotes Greg Bennett guitars and mandolins for beginners on its website so any opinions on that brand would be appreciated. (And we do want to buy from this particular shop-it is a Grandmom and Grandpop sort of place that we've shopped at before for my Celtic fiddling son.) Any other advice for getting my daughter started would also be appreciated. By the way, she does play the cello and has a lovely singing voice.</p>
<p>Uhhh, hmm well I don’t now too much about mandolins but ask her what she really wants because mandolin is not just a mini guitar, the strings are essentially backwards i correlation to a guitar so it’s all different shapes/patterns to play a mandolin as opposed to a guitar. as for guitars a nice big steel string would do nice, taylor, epiphone, yamaha have great beginner/cheap ones</p>
<p>If you go to facebook and search for “Jake and the Burtones”, they might be able to assist you with some of your questions. It’s my nephew’s bluegrass “garage band”, and they are all teens who are basically self-taught.</p>
<p>If you ask here about beginner bluegrass mandolins I bet you’ll get some good suggestions:
[Mandolin</a> Cafe Forum](<a href=“http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/]Mandolin”>Mandolin Cafe Forum)
For most any instrument, you get more quality for your money by buying used.
Big Muddy mandolins, old Flatiron “pancake” mandolins, and yet older “Strad-O-Lin” mandolins have reputations as being good values, but still may be over your budget. These guys will know.</p>
<p>Watch out for the celtic shop, many mandolins used for that music have oval soundholes and more sustain, whereas the bluegrass boys typically prefer f holes and more “chop”.
Same issue with some of my suggestions above actually too, now that I think about it. But maybe at entry level it doesn’t matter much, ask those guys.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would try to buy off of the classifieds there, once I knew roughly what should work for me. Those guys tend to know what they’re doing, I think.</p>
<p>My H’s retirement plan is to build mandolins. He is gradually buying all the tools. Has already started building the molds to bend the wood. He is a self taught player, but he was a violinist, and the strings/fingerings are the same.</p>
<p>There are occasionally mandolins for sale on Craigs list being sold by guitarists who thought it would be cool to learn mandolin, and were surprised at different they are. Keep a look out there and maybe you’ll find a bargain.</p>
<p>"There are occasionally mandolins for sale on Craigs list being sold by guitarists who thought it would be cool to learn mandolin, and were surprised at different they are. "</p>
<p>Ain’t that the truth, mine would be for sale too, if I cared to bother. It’s an old martin ovall hole though, not a popular choice for bluegrass.</p>