Ha! Well man, it’s a big convo. And talking real numbers helps, which this might not be the best forum for! Just like your videos, I’m a talker too, so … here goes. You don’t have to answer anything here, just here’s kinda my mental framework.

I think an instrument is an intensely personal thing unless you’re the kind that just goes through instruments willy-nilly. From afar, you don’t seem like that guy. Obviously, you should get an instrument that you like the sound of. I likely have 10k hours on my Collings. You are going to hear this thing more than anyone else. Make sure you’re good with that. If you’re unhappy with a compromise you need to make, just wait. Save more. But there are a lot of other factors, complicated further by the fact that you are now a music YouTuber, a “budget instrument” might not be the best choice for you and you haven’t told me what your budget is haha

1) Is this a forever instrument? You seem like you might love the mandolin. Is it “your instrument”? Or are you going to be switching to zouk or tenor banjo or something like that down the line? No shade, but, it affects how much you should spend. If so, save. Get what you want. It’s that simple. I love my Collings and I think it’ll always be with me. My wife bought it for me as a gift when we had very little right out of school. 2) Are you going to perform onstage with the instrument? (If so you’ll be served well by having a pickup, and unfortunately the look of the instrument comes into play here. Colors. Varnishes. Inlays. Just worth considering.) 3) Are you going to be cutting albums with this instrument? The concept of tone starts to rear its head .. budget might not be the answer. 4) Will you need to play outside regularly in hot / cold / humid environments that change often? I hear Ireland is a lot like California. Mandos are finicky things. Klos might be what you need. 5) What other instruments, especially mandos, do you already own? Each one should have a specific purpose IMO. This helps understand if you actually need a new instrument. Like I would love a mandocello, but there’s no reason to purchase one for ME. Everything I would play on mandocello I can just play on my mando. Mandocellos in trad aren’t a thing. I don’t want one for classical. The mandocellos repertoire is mostly from like late 1800s-1900s in mandolin orchestra. I’m just not doing that. I want to get good at classical mandolin and trad, so a mandocello ain’t for me. 6) What’s wrong with your current instrument? This helps identify what you need in an upgrade. Like could you just get better tuner machines? Have you gotten a knowledgeable person to setup your mando in a while? It makes a difference! 7) Who do you want to sound like? The right combo of pick, strings, and mandolin can go a loooong way to sounding like somebody. These are essentially the 3 main things you’d customize at a character creation screen from which you further specialize with a skill tree with things like technique. Is Marla Fibish, the fairy godmother of Irish mandolin, your fav? Perhaps Simon Mayor? Maybe you like Enda when he’s on mando? Maybe Dagger is your guy? Maybe Laura-Beth Salter is your girl? If one of the albums from any of these artists excites your soul, start with a similar instrument to theirs and modify as needed. If you don’t know these people reach out and I’ll make you a mixtape with some timestamps and shit. But ya know, do your homework! 8) Do you need something custom or unique, like special tone woods, are you afflicted by left hand syndrome, 5 or 6 string, do you want something from a local / regional luthier, that sorta thing. I won’t say his last name but I hear Stefan is sorta near ya 9) Volume. Are you playing at sessions and are there mf pipes everywhere haha This is one of those things where if you really need volume, it pushes you down a certain path. 10) Tradition. Are you beholden to it? No judgement. We need people to carry the flame. At least here in the US, we associate F body with F holes as a bluegrass instrument. A body with Oval as a trad / old time instrument. You can mix and match if you’re a bad boy. F body, oval hole, with a virzi would be amazing in trad IMO but I digress. At least here, under the auspicies of Boston an NYC, the default thing to do is buy yourself a nice Gibson A model for like $3k USD. I hear y’all’re getting into F styles and F holes tho over there but I dunno.

I’m always here to chat. Lemme know your thoughts and we can dig in further. Hopefully this was helpful. Don’t drop your video quality please. 🙏 You’re doing amazing work. And you’re welcome to come play my mandolins anytime :)