I'm a guitarist, of over 40 years now. I have more guitars than any sane person probably should have (don't tell my wife I said that!!). Until I bought this instrument though, I didn't own any mandolins. I decided to buy it because it wasn't expensive, and I wanted to learn how to play it.
I've owned it for a few months now. My initial impression is very good. The acoustic sound is very loud for such a small body! Plugged in, the sound is quite lovely. I love the bell-like quality of the instrument.
For the price-point, the build quality is everything I had hoped it would be. My only real complaint is a small bit of blemish in the binding, around one of the F holes. To be honest, I have to put my glasses on and go searching for it, to be able to spot it. Otherwise, the fit and finish are good and I have no complaints.
I did have to do some setup, on the instrument. By that I mean, I adjusted the bridge to fix the intonation, which was noticeably off when it got to me. I also adjusted the bridge downwards because I thought the action was a bit too high. Also, the tuners feel a bit cheap, to me. Maybe that's common on a Mandolin? I don't know. In any event, I may change those, at some point.
Otherwise, it's a great first Mandolin!
