Great review, Just purchased one of these mandolins, outstanding playability and construction and finish, highly recommend if any one looking for a mandolin.:)
Just purchased this mandolin and it is night and day from my previous mandolin. Sounds beautiful - plays so beautifully - really happy with my purchase.
Good to see another pink planter mando player! I've owned the MD315 (F style version) for about 10 years now and absolutely love it! The area right next to and above the lower F hole is starting to wear nicely from my planted pinky style :)
Thanks for this Ben. I've been looking at mandolins around the £200-£250 range, and after some research and this video, I've decided to take the hit and purchase as eastman at £500 or so. If I lived in the U.S I'd absolutely buy through you, though I will instead be buying through a U.K seller who also provide a full set up
Was in a website thread where a fellow asked if he'd benefit from upgrading from a Rogue. Along with my personal experience playing and thoroughly enjoying my Eastman MD305, I included a link to this video. Hear ye, hear ye! Banjo Ben speaketh true!
I just purchased my first Eastman mandolin in the 500 series it is fantastic I love it it’s so much great quality great playing ability. Much better than my beginner $250 waste of money mandolin.
I'm still at the dabbling stage and bought one of the older model Eastman MD305s..looking forward to developing more proficiency with this instrument...picked it up used for $300
I'm starting with an Ibanez M510EOVS A style just to make sure I'll stick with it, but watching this made me decide what my first step up mandolin should be. Thank you for the review!
Could you do a comparison to the Eastman MD 315 and a Northern Gen. Or Big Mon!!! It would help Buyers compare!!! Thank You !!! I have a wonderful Eastman MD 315 and looking to upgrade!!!
I have a real problem with the tuners that come on this model Eastman ... identical to those you find on the cheapest mandos, at least in design. They bind when you turn the worm gear ... even when removed from the instrument. I had a problem trying to upgrade the tuners, because the post spacing can be an issue ... for my mando, there was NO real upgrade available. Eastman does not post the spec on their string post spacings .... something that I would need to know if I decide to by one. I definitely will not leave those tuners on it.
I upgraded the tuners on my Eastman Md305 for some Rubner Ivory Luxury nickel tuners, well worth the price, and they were a perfect fit*. It was a gamble due to the lack of info on the string spacing and overall dimensions, but you can find the economy tuners for A mandolins on Stewmac and are a perfect match to the ones the 300’s series come with/ economy tuners with plastic knobs AND you get spacing dimensions. * the bushings on my eastman were glued and set VERY tight- I had to defer to my luthier who had to put in a bit more work and extra care to remove them, but the rubner machines just slid right in (May be a smidge slimmer). They work like a charm, that and an Allen tail piece and a full refret and this mandolin plays like a 1k+ mando .
I'm pretty sure they would keep the hole spacing the same between the 300 and 500 series so Schallers should drop right in. After owning dozens of mandolins, including some with Waverly, Rubner and even Italian Allessi hand crafted tuners, Schallers are my favorite. When installed right, they perform as well or better than any tuners out there IMHO.
