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It's an F style Gibson Loar copy, all solid wood and truly an amazing mando for the money ($400). I was also kind of afraid to womp on it so for a learning instrument I bought a Rover RM-75. I bought a army/navy 1930's Kalamazoo that is really terrific but a bit on the sweet side and not really very loud. It is so much easier than the guitar and much more intuitive (tuned in 5ths, upside down guitar, no B string anomoly, etc.)
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Like others have said - its really addictive. They will be in the sub-$2,000.00 range unless you find a good value in the used market. The Collings MT are great A5-type mandolins. I've owned several Kentuckys that were real nice - check out the KM-180S, KM-250S or the KM-380S. I've played a few Eastmans that I liked and a few I didn't. I recently played a Michael Kelly and didn't like it. The F9 (identical in all other respects but for the scroll) will cost you almost a grand more - not worth it, but for the "look". Look at used Gibson A9s, which may be right at this price point or maybe a couple hundred higher. In the sub-$1,000.00 you can get a real nice mandolin (expecially in the used market) that will last you a lifetime. An arched top, A5-type mandolin with tone bar bracing will sound very similar (identical) to an arched top F5-type mandolin with tone-bar bracing (all woods being similar). There is practically no difference in sound, especially in the sub-$1,000.00 price point (sub $2,000.00?). F-mandolins are more expensive to build than an A-model.