actually the hot mando right now is ellis.....everyone's getting on that wagon. as for the kimbles, the two two pointers have been at cotten for over a year.

not sure about that. kimble still has a wait list for his wait list and there are a number of Ellis F-5's around. carmel sold a kimble A-5 tobacco burst for 4500 earlier this year. the ones at cotten are near 6 and blackface so..i played one of the ellis at smokey mountain a couple months ago was good but..not that i would rush out and get a 10k kimble F-5 either... you could get alot of mileage out of a MT2 for much less than all the above and hardly know the difference tone wise..imho

people keep saying that kimble is not taking orders, which i have heard from him several times that it's not true and i have to tell you if pressed most of these guys will tell you that the 2 year wait list is a thing of the past.

that said, i'd have to be really really wanting something right now to pay $10k as most of these builders are undercutting themselves. nothing worse than paying big bucks for a mando and then have the builder selling them for much less all over the cafe classifieds.

to be honest i have not communicated with him in a couple years. i had an early A which was outstanding. he needs to update his website if his list is shorter, or maybe not (marketing?). I was once on the gil list and when i finally got the awaited email it included the fact that the new price was around twenty k. so i had to pass. they had gone from about 7.5k at carmel to 20k in a couple years! i have heard his list is also much shorter. not sure about prices. again with mandos i decided, when the prices went crazy, i could get as much mileage from a good A and sold my nice randy wood at a nice profit and eventually ended up with a Daley A. which i think compares very well with my pals MT2 (mentioned above). the F's have a nice strap hanger and a nice little hook for your leg otherwise you can save some dough and get a good sounding....

check the gruhn's website, gil does not seem to have a list. and if you believe these builders selling $30k mandos over on the cafe board in a matter or hours, yeah, i was in that marketing class too.....

lotta folks backing out of their orders......not only on mandos, but guitars. i've been able to "catch" a few this way. always good to have a wide net and timing is everything.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: marymary,

It's definitely an interesting time for instrument purchases. I've missed a few great deals because I waited too long. Then there are the folks that want close to retail for their used mandolin.....ahhh, the joys of internet buying/selling! ;-)

As mentioned in the past few pages, you've got lots of choices. For sure you can get more bang for your money with an A-style. I really tend to buy instruments for tonal voice. MT2V are out there used at pretty much give away prices. The Ellis's I've heard were a little darker sounding which is my preference. Another under the radar builder is Stan Miller. John Resichman played a Miller for a long time before getting his Loar. Jody Stecher plays a Miller A. Tom Rozum whose main mandolin is a Loar told me he was just waiting on one. Stan's A models are 4500 currently. If possible, I'd try to get to play a Daley, Kimble, Ellis, Miller and decide on tone. One of the very best sounding mandolins I've ever heard was Andrew Collins Heiden A with an engleman top.

http://elderly.com/vintage/items/90U-5364.htm



I'm sure you have seen this one. I'm glad to help others spend mega bucks on instruments.

As far as another mandolin to consider-Lawrence Smart makes a great mandolin-his Engleman/red spruce mandos are very good,musical,more of a Thile sound than a Monroe sound if you will but he will taylor according to sound you want. I have owned one before,again, one of those instruments you wish you never had to sell but had to. When I buy another, I will get a Collings though, since they are a better deal and I am primarily a guitar player. If you can settle for an "A" model, the Smart is at a good price point but the "F" models are higher-worth it but higher, Collings is a great mando for the money!

Keith Sadler