Mandolin
Eastman MD315
Price: 1.019 EUR – 1.022 EUR
Price history
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
Availability: 4/10 (Common)
Eastman's step into F-style: the same hand-carved solid spruce top and maple back/sides as the A-style MD305, but in the scrolled, pointed body shape bluegrass players associate with the mandolin's classic sound.
About the Eastman MD315
The MD315 shares its tonewoods and core construction with Eastman's entry-level MD305 - a solid, hand-carved spruce top over solid maple back and sides - but moves to the F-style body: the scrolled upper bout and two points at the lower bout that define the bluegrass mandolin silhouette established by Gibson's F-5 in the 1920s. The extra body cutting doesn't change the top's vibrating area much, but it is more labor-intensive to carve and finish, which is most of what separates F-style pricing from A-style.
Neck, scale and hardware carry over from the MD305 spec sheet - maple neck, ebony fingerboard at a 12-inch radius, 13 7/8-inch scale, bone nut - with the added F-style scroll requiring more precise carving around the tighter curves. Finish is satin rather than gloss, ivoroid binding runs around the top with a maple headstock inlay and pearl dots, and a single-acting truss rod lets the neck relief be adjusted, something not universal on mandolins at this price.
Where to buy
Platforms
Price
–
-
eBay NEU: Eastman MD315 Bluegrass Mandoline F-Style F-Hole inkl. Gigbag 1.019 EUR Best price View details
-
Reverb Eastman MD315 F-Style Mandolin w/Gig Bag - Classic Finish (Serial #N2401566) 1.019 EUR View details
-
Reverb Eastman MD315 F-Style Mandolin NEW 1.022 EUR View details
-
Reverb Eastman MD315 F Style Mandolin All Solid Satin 1.022 EUR View details
No platform selected – pick at least one above.
Some links below are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Sound character of the Eastman MD315
Tonally this sits very close to Eastman's A-style MD305: same solid hand-carved spruce top and solid maple back/sides, so the same bright, articulate, sustain-rich bluegrass mandolin voice. The F-style scroll and points are mostly a visual/labor difference - they don't meaningfully change the vibrating top area - so the extra cost buys the classic silhouette, not a different sound.
Technical data for the Eastman MD315
| Top | Solid spruce, hand-carved |
|---|---|
| Back/Sides | Solid maple |
| Body style | F-style |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Ebony, 12" radius |
| Scale length | 13 7/8" |
| Truss rod | Single-acting |
| Finish | Satin |
Price history for the Eastman MD315
Cheapest seen: 1.019 EUR · Most expensive seen: 1.022 EUR
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
The history of the Eastman MD315
The F-style shape itself traces back to Lloyd Loar, Gibson's acoustic engineer who designed the Gibson F-5 in 1922 - the archetype nearly every F-style mandolin since has followed; Eastman's MD315 brings that body shape and hand-carved-top construction to a price point well below a vintage or Gibson-built F-5.
