The only real answer is its the one that makes you the most satisfied. What makes one of them "best" is such a subjective thing. There are many very excellent mandolins, at many price points, some manufactured, some hand crafted by an individual luthier, some made over here, some made over there, and the differences between them are not near as important as the OPs question would hint at. I think "the best of the best" is kind of a loosy goosy concept. :))īrentrup, if you can find one these days. As has been mentioned on the Cafe many a time, this is a golden age of mandolin luthiery.Īlso, the mention of a Schmergel is a bit misleading, since the price is such a closely guarded secret, though some say that only a deed to your soul, signed in blood, begins to approach the cost. The point of the thread was to answer the OP's question about the top of the line builders known for bluegrass cannons, but it is worth noting again that there are many, many, many, terrific small shop builders making great instruments for much less than the price of a Dude or a Gilly. You can still get Ellis A models used in the $2-$3k range, though the prices on his F models have been rising a lot in recent years as his rep continues to grow. A used Ratliff F will run you in the low to mid $2k range and his A models typically sell used for under $2k. Long time builder who has always kept his prices very low. One of the many things going for Collings is that they have a great rep and are usually sub $5k, with the A models in the $2k range. Spend a few months (or years) casually watching the4 Cafe Classifieds and you'll get a surprisingly good feel for builders and prices.Įllis, Collings, Ratliff etc priced at something over 10K for one of their top model F styles.Īctually, that's a bit misleading. I guess it's also worth noting that when I think about prices, I tend to think of what they tend to priced at in the used market. In the $4k-$7k range you might have your Ellis, Brentrups, BRWs, Elkhorns, Collings, and many, many other small shop builders making great mandolins in both A and F styles that are great for bluegrass. All of those tend to sell in the $10k range and higher. That said, it was in a bluegrass setting, and the guy who owned it bought it for playing gypsy jazz type stuff.Ī short list might include: Gibson Master Models and selected vintage Gibson F5s (Loars and stuff from around that era) Dudenbostels, Gilchrists, Nuggets, Duffs, Red Diamonds. I've played a couple and wasn't impressed. They are in a class of their own for tone and versatility. I would say the Rigel mandolins are seriously underrated because they don't have the Gibson look. I edited my first post above to reflect that. I guess I was thinking mandolins used primarily in bluegrass music. I would tell you to look at Brian Dean's Labraid bowls and Grand Concert, Rolfe Gerhardt's Phoenix mandolins (not just the bluegrass model) in addition to the usual suspects (Dude, Gil, Brentrup, Brock, Lewis, Hamlett, Etc etc etc.) Honestly, there are too many really good builders making consistently solid perfroming mandolins with a variety of great voices to try and peg them all down! It's a pain to get them there so he brings over interesting things. Since he's in the UK, he brings over mostly really good mandolins for sale over there. If they weren't good enough to command the price they wouldn't get it right? To a certain extent, you can base your survey on how much a certain builder's instruments sell for. What specifically are you looking for? FStyle arch tops, bowlbacks, flat tops/backs, traditional look, new design, cost, tone (for a specific genre)?
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