Crafter M-70E Mandolin

Korean made Ovation-looking mandolin.
Bought mine in Dublin 2004.
I am a 10%-professional danish mandolin-player (90%-pro physics teacher), and have 2 other mandolins (a worn-out electric/accoustic and a metal-mandolin for playing unplugged but loud enough on the street), a mandola, 3 banjos (tenor, irish and 5-str), acoustic and electric guitar. In this company I am very satisfied with the Crafter. It stays fairly in tune in spite of temperature and humidity changes (I use it often for outdoor concerts).
If I play many tunes in a row with this instrument standing up, the rather big body can bother my ribs. Not much, but a bit annoying.
Tuners are OK.
Good instrument, considering the price.

I play country, folk italian and old danish, bit of irish. Suits well to these styles, but you can't play with others without an amplifyer on the Crafter. Unplugged it won't give enough sound in the company of accoustic guitar, bass, harmonica etc.
Powered up, there is a weak buzzing noise from the system. I have managed to reduce this almost a 100% by leading a copper-wire through all balls at the lower end of the strings and connecting this wire to the ground inside the mandolin (the metal-coat of the wire from the piezo-pick-up to the volume/equalizer-box). So now, when I touch a string, the noise disappears.
The equalizer is not good. In the middle position the sound is far too bright. I am forced to turn the equalizer almost completely "bass" or better: to connect a "real" equalizer before the amplifyer.
But when this is done, it has a good sound - the price taken in consideration.

I have had no problems here.

It seems very reliable to me. It plays as well, the neck and mechanics are as good, and the sound as good as when I bought it two years ago.

If my Crafter mandolin was stolen, I would probably buy me another Crafter. Or better: one, where I could ajust the neck, with I can't here. But such a mandolin would probably cost the double. On the other hand: So far I have not had the need to adjust the neck, even after two years of playing it live approxymately once every fortnight, and after it often being left i my outside standing car (in a case) for several days.

Not easy to see if the spruce top is solid or laminated, most probably laminated, but very well disguised! :-)
The Ovation-like back seems indestructible, the neck is nice, the mandolin is in tune all over the register, and the tuners work pretty well , particularly if you consider the money this thing costs. Pity the VERY cheapo plastic binding, a little more attention to detail would make this mandolin look a lot better, but we get back to the money issue, so I can live with it.
The preamp isn't the most naturally sounding you'll find, but then again, for the money it's great, and with some EQing it's prefectly usable.
Overall this one is pretty well finished, with no visible flaws.
Active electronics would be better, though.

Honestly, I'm not a mandolin player, I just play mandolin on some tunes. I'm not as picky about the sound as a real player would be. My impression is that the sound is OK for this kind of instrument. It has a little more volume, and a more rounded one than the other mandolins I played, including some italian style (lute shaped), even a couple arguably made by luthiers. It's still a little thin compared to the sound I hear in good recordings, but it's OK for the style I play and my needs: it's a colour we use in some speceifica parts of our shows. It stays in tune all along the neck.
The amplified sound needs a little EQ, but it's, as I said before, perfectly usable, and part of the decision of getting this one had to do because of the preamp: most other mandolins I played were more expensive, didn't sound better, and didn't have a preamp. Evaluating just the sound I would rate it, say, a 6, but considering the price point, I think it's great, it gets a 10, you get a lot from what you paid.

Action is OK. The idiot at the store told me it was calibrated, then asked me how was it tuned, go figure.
No complaints. Again, for the money, everything is OK. The finish is very well applied, the wood is very well filed and so are the frets. this one is almost perfect, a couple of samples had bad frets. I mean, as always with cheap instruments, you go and try as much as you can, there are some excellent, some good, some bad, and some that are absolute garbage. This one is excellent, with no flaws at all.
As I mentioned before, the plastic binding substract from the look, with a better binding it would look a lot better.

Can't comment because I had for little time, but it seems solid, the back is indestructible, and the materials and workmanship for this money look more than OK. I trust it will withstand live playing perfectly.

Didn't have to deal with them, expect not to. I wouldn't depende on them: their website features "News" from... 2004...

It deserves a 10 considerind the price, but I'll rate it with an 8 so the overall rating doesn't mislead anyone into thinking it's a great instrument. It IS great when you factor the money, itherwise it's just OK. But hey, money is a factor, and I'm absolutely happy with it.
I live from playing music, and I need instruments that I can (sort of) abuse, play in tune and sound good. This one fits the bill.
It's currently used as part of an acoustic setup that includes a Yamaha guitar and fretless bass, a Takamine "lawsuit model" EF340S, Fishman amplification, it's played with first class instrument like a Godin Multiac and luthier guitars, and it works. I thought this Crafter label was a cheapo, but for what I've seen, it looks like if you have the patience to try some of their instruments, you can get pretty good ones for very little money, and that, in a country like mine, is really really great.

its not very warm!! too much treble! the pickup seems cheap? its sensitive! u pick up buzz etc.!! bot great, ive tried so hard to like the sound but its not that great! my electric uke sounds loads better!! eventhough thats a different instrument! it doesn't have the heavy treble and buzz sounds! ashame about this product!

its very nice to look at! nice finish! its just whats inside that bothers me! but a BIG major issue!! this thing keeps going out of tune far too much!! its frustrating! just when u think u have it right and start playing! a string goes out?? the tuners look great!! but something is wrong!! no wonder this Mandolin is not seen about much anymore?? 8 for finsih! 2 for staying in tune!! makes u want to smash it

it feels solid! with quailty

great to look at! horrible to play!! :(

- Large rounded black plastic backing
- Volume and tone slider dials
- Round central sound hole
- Guitar shaped body
- Dual drink holders...just kidding.

Good luck trying to find a gig bag that will this beast of a body.

I like the sound that it produces by itself. The electronics are weak but what do you expect for under $200? Really, unplugged it has a wonderful range in tone. I bought the mandolin with old strings on it and plan on putting new ones on but for now it sound great. The "8" grade is for the electronics. It think that a good Fishman preamp or a great mic will help clean that up.

Good action, nice finish and everything else in this area are a plus.

The thick plastic backing makes this mando a tank. So far it has held up.

N/A

I like it but I am looking to buy a Kelly. This is great mando for the money but I think that it is discontinued. So, if you see one and want to learn this is great choice. I teach guitar and have been playing guitar for at least 10 years. I play Jazz and improv type stuff but since I got this mando I have not picked the guitar up. I love it. Good times.

2003 Korean-made 8-string acoustic/electric mandolin with an Ovation-type "plastic" back. It has a beautiful bubinga orangey-brown top with a gloss finish. Two slider controls: one volume and one tone. Passive bridge pick-up. Guitar-shaped mandolin with a cut-away and an oval sound-hole. Case was extra.

The plastic back is deeper than a regular mandolin, but it has a nice sound unplugged. Playing through a PA or mini acoustic guitar amp reveals a thin, trebly sound. I have to cut back on the tone control all the way and boost the low end on the amp. I'll rate it a "6" because "unplugged" - it's fine; plugged in it's just "okay."

Action fit and finish were fine - it's a pretty instrument and made well enough for an inexpensive mandolin. I was sent a blue maple tiger topped one by mistake and I almost kept that instead because it too was a nice looking instrument, but I wanted the bubinga-topped one so I sent it back.

I've used it for over a year now without a back-up. I'm only playing it on 6 or 8 songs per gig. I did mount a strap button on the heel of the neck - there was originally only one at the base of the mandolin and I detested tying a string around the top of the neck. I also had a "shorting" problem with the volume/tone control assembly, but I was sent out a new one promptly after contacting Hohner (who was distributing Crafter in the U.S. last year).

See above.

I was a rock 'n' roller. Now I'm in an acoustic duo and was wanting to "expand my musical horizons" by taking up the mandolin. It's a great buy. I liked the fact that the mandolin was not a traditional-looking one (like a teardrop shape or a F-style). After adding that extra strap button on the heel of the neck - it was just fine. I also wish it had active electronics; like I said above, it was a little thin sounding plugged in but any amp with good tone boosting capabilities should be able to compensate. What do you want for $180?