lark in the morning, sobel et al are rather expensive. it is much cheaper to get an instrument from a decent local builder.

where are you?

in canada, both nathan currie, and papazian make top quality instruments for a fraction of the sobel price. i've had people say my currie is better than a sobel.

if you are looking for a decent starter instrument perhaps you can satisfy yourself with an octave mandolin. one less course but you can get many models and they play about the same without the extra string. i started on a greek bouzouki and still love to play them, and they can sometimes picked up cheap.