What's made him go for a mandolin in particular?

(Wish I could offer some actual advice but sadly I'm a mandolin-idiot)

but might be worth looking at a Womandolin. It's like a mandolin but smaller, lighter but very difficult to master.

or else he'll cut his fingers. I prefer to use a food processor, it's less risky. :)

I play a bit but also play in a duo with a bloke who is a good player. I think Ozark are generally considered to be good entry level ones. Body wise there are loosely two types - F style which have a scroll on the top and usually appear in bluegrass, and A series which are more folky, though obviously you can play either on either. The bowl backed ones are really orchestral and not usually used for folky stuff.

My sister in law just bought a nice one on eBay for 120 quid.

What's his budget looking like? Small I imagine.

Thomann have them at all prices:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?sw=mandolin&pg=3&oa=prd

but for a limited budget you'd be better looking second hand. Usual rules apply - check for cracks, whether the action is OK (the distance from the strings to the finger board). Solid wood construction will sound better than laminated wood for the body.

Something like this might be good:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ozark-European-Mandolin-All-Solid-Wood-Superb-Valu...

if you are near enough to try before you buy.

they are great fun and quite addictive.

This is web home for mando players of all levels

http://www.mandolincafe.com/

Being a cellist, I've always fancied a mandocello, but I've tinkered about plenty of times on a mandolin and been able to get a lot of fun out of it.

I'd say that £80-90 is a reasonable price point to aim for. Aria do a fairly nice little entry-level range starting about there.

One thing: there are 4-string mandos available, without the doubled strings. Don't do it! Get an 8-string, which is the proper sound, despite being more work to tune. Oh, and remember it's tuned in 5ths (G-D-A-E from bottom string up), like a violin.

Apart from that, Twang covered it nicely.

I have a Stagg M50E it is an acoustic electric so you have the flexibility of sound. Not bad for around £75 and it looks nice. I have found the mandolin quite difficult to sound musical and feel I could do with some lessons. I can knock out something that sounds like a folk reel by belting out some chords but actually playing songs quite difficult, even for something like Norwegian Wood which should suit the instrument well. I have taught myself the ukulele over the last few years and found that much easier. I think the mandolin needs a fair bit of perseverance. For a beginner's instrument I wouldn't worry about solid woods and the sound too much, playability is important which is why it is best to go a shop and try a few. How does it feel to play a few chords? Does one need model need more pressure on the fingerboard than another? Is strumming hard work? Playability is something that can only be defined by the individual but it can make the difference between taking up the instrument seriously or leaving it on a shelf.

He's be far, far, far better off with a six stringer.

The mandolins use in popular music is pretty much limited to The Battle of Evermore and Losing My Religion. Once he's knocked off those - and they're both very simple, being played by guitarists who both know roughly 3 chords on the mandolin - he'll be bored shitless with it.

With a guitar he can make an altered tuning on the bottom four strings and stick on a capo and he's pretty much got a mandolin anyway. Albeit one other people can actually hear.

The other advantage to a six string will be his ability to play every crowd friendly party song ever written. No-one ever got a woman through their mandolin ability. Even semi-competent guitar playing will make him a very popular young man.

Get the boy a proper instrument. A guitar.

I have a mandolin.
I play it all night long.
It makes me want to kill myself.

'!00,000 Fireflies' by Magnetic Fields

Make of that what you will.

and is very easy to play. I had a friend who used to work in a music shop and who let me try out various mandolins when I was thinking of getting one, and with the aid of a mandolin chord book I was able to teach myself the song fairly quickly what with it only being 4 chords. However I had severe difficulty progressing beyond this to more elaborate tunes - not least Losing My Religion which may be the seminal mando song (Stonehenge by Spinal Tap excluded of course) So I stuck to my uke.

Is this one

http://www.djmmusic.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=ML-002

I got it for my niece as she was also interested in learning to play. Like most things, you get what you pay for. But for about 50 quid it sounds good and plays nicely. Perfect for a first timer especially if he is unsure he will stick with playing it :)

good starter mandolin. Better to go for an arch-top mandolin with round sound hole rather than f-holes, to start with.

In terms of music/tutors, you could do a lot worse than to get hold of (British Player) Simon Mayor's books/CDs/DVDs. Lots of interesting links on his website too.

If you think the instrument is limited - listen to Chris Thile: -

or