MA-500 VS Bluegrass Series : Exactly what I wanted and a bit more!

I am an infrequent but experienced player of mandolins and what I was looking for was a reasonably priced instrument which I could use on the occasions (writing, playing, performing) when I needed to. What I got for the price of a good night out far exceeded my expectations.

Firstly, it looks stunning and the build quality is, without qualification, excellent.

The instrument was playable out of the box, a pleasure to play and, importantly to me, after a good half hour noodling my fingers were still good.

It looks stunning and the build quality is excellent.

Plugged in you have a good basic sound. I don't understand why reviewers say it doesn't sound like a mandolin. It's electric you can make it sound how you want.

Obviously it hasn't an acoustic sound but it is pleasant and quiet for practicing.

I did lower the action at the saddles after a while because it was easy to do (and lower is always better) and will set it up some more when I have the time. Having experience of acoustic mandolins I was particularly surprised at the scope and ease of adjustment. String length, saddle height, neck and pick ups are all easily adjusted and have loads of range.

A big thumbs up for this type of mandolin and for this particular model.