N
The more i play the happier i am
When i first got the mandolin i would say i was pleasantly suprised. I think the colour and finish of the body was bright, and it had a fair amount of depth.
The hardware, mainly the tuning pegs feel and look a little cheap, but they do the job. I'm sure you could upgrade these if you really wanted to.
Whilst tuning the top e strings they broke, on both Harley Benton Mandolins i have bought. I urge anyone buying one to invest in at least 2 sets of spare strings, as i think there is a high chance of strings breaking , when you first tune. If you don't you'll probably wish you did, when it does break. There are some Martin strings @ around 5 euro, so it's not going to break the bank.
I would like Thomann to ship with better strings, and just charge a couple more euro, to save hassle and time changing strings. I guess the only positive thing about the strings breaking was that it made me change strings, investigate the instrument, take off tailpiece,basically get to know the instrument more than i would have done.
I think the acoustic sound of the mandolin is pretty good. Quite woody, and sparkly, especially when the strings were changed.
The amplified tone of the instrument is again not bad. I plugged in and played into my soundcard without issue. As it's a passive pick up the gain has to be turned up lots, but that's to be expected.
Overall i would say for the price it is pretty good. I don't think it's fair to compare this to mandolins which cost 5 or 10 times as much. Of course they will be 'better'. One problem i have had with both mandolins is the tailpiece keeps falling off. It was really annoying. To solve the problem i put tailpiece on the ground, and hammered it on the edges/side, to close it up, and now it's super tight and not going anywhere.
I think if you want to try out a mandolin, and don't want to break the bank doing it, this is a good product to start with.
PROS_Cheap, not bad acoustic tone, good introduction to mandolin....
CONS_Tailpiece constantly falling off, bad strings, cheap hardware.....
The hardware, mainly the tuning pegs feel and look a little cheap, but they do the job. I'm sure you could upgrade these if you really wanted to.
Whilst tuning the top e strings they broke, on both Harley Benton Mandolins i have bought. I urge anyone buying one to invest in at least 2 sets of spare strings, as i think there is a high chance of strings breaking , when you first tune. If you don't you'll probably wish you did, when it does break. There are some Martin strings @ around 5 euro, so it's not going to break the bank.
I would like Thomann to ship with better strings, and just charge a couple more euro, to save hassle and time changing strings. I guess the only positive thing about the strings breaking was that it made me change strings, investigate the instrument, take off tailpiece,basically get to know the instrument more than i would have done.
I think the acoustic sound of the mandolin is pretty good. Quite woody, and sparkly, especially when the strings were changed.
The amplified tone of the instrument is again not bad. I plugged in and played into my soundcard without issue. As it's a passive pick up the gain has to be turned up lots, but that's to be expected.
Overall i would say for the price it is pretty good. I don't think it's fair to compare this to mandolins which cost 5 or 10 times as much. Of course they will be 'better'. One problem i have had with both mandolins is the tailpiece keeps falling off. It was really annoying. To solve the problem i put tailpiece on the ground, and hammered it on the edges/side, to close it up, and now it's super tight and not going anywhere.
I think if you want to try out a mandolin, and don't want to break the bank doing it, this is a good product to start with.
PROS_Cheap, not bad acoustic tone, good introduction to mandolin....
CONS_Tailpiece constantly falling off, bad strings, cheap hardware.....
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Z
Good for a beginner
Good sound considering the price (nice and bright and not very tinny), neck and strings fell nice in the hand and under ones fingers. Keeps its tune very reliably. However, the tension on the tuning heads is far from even and can be a little off putting. Furthermore, the action felt a bit high and took some getting used to (compared to a guitar - not sure if its a general mandolin thing or specific to this instrument). Despite these slight minuses its been a lovely instrument to introduce me to the mandolin and great for messing about with. Also, it’s portable and cheap (aka easy to travel with). All in all I’d definitely recommend this to a beginner.
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A
Very Nice!
This is a handy little instrument for a first time Mandolin buyer: good price and nice sound.
The sound is good and for the most part the quality of the build and the features were well made - all in working order.
Many hours of enjoyment.
Only drawback were the strings - broke almost immediately. So, good buy and very nice instrument, but be prepared for poor stings.
The sound is good and for the most part the quality of the build and the features were well made - all in working order.
Many hours of enjoyment.
Only drawback were the strings - broke almost immediately. So, good buy and very nice instrument, but be prepared for poor stings.
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A
Not bad at all to noodle around with.
I purchased this just to tip my toes into the mandolin world and see how I liked it. Ultimately, it is a cheap mandolin, but it does the trick if you want to try mandolin out without sinking a bunch of money into it. I'm happy enough.
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c
Nice mandolin
Bought this for my home studio to put on tracks. Great price and sounds good.
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A
Great product for a low price
By buying this product you will be getting great value for the price you have paid. The only thing wrong with this mandolin is that the string quality is terrible but after the stings are replaced it really is a top quality instrument
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T
very cheap but good
This is the second mandoline that I bought and is half the price but better sound quality that the other one that i own. Be careful when you tune because most probably one of the strings will brake.
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