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  #16  
Old 07-21-2012, 01:15 PM
chinmusic chinmusic is offline
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1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?
Just one- a Collings MT with a gloss top. Probably more mandolin than I'll ever need but that certainly won't stop my GAS.

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?
Sheer curiosity. I like the sweeter tones that they can produce in chamber music, orchestral pieces and folk music. So, when I graduated from college, I pooled all of the monetary gifts into my first mandolin.

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?
A Kentucky KM 805, which was a fine instrument that got me into my first year of playing and then was sold to help fund my current mandolin.

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)
As with anything, I tend to make instruments do what they ought not to do and so I play a lot of what I call "folk pop" using the mandolin in equal parts for its percussive qualities, as well as its melodic ones. It's also been a huge boon to my songwriting, allowing me to form and shape chords that I would've never come across on the guitar.

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?
Because I'm a young punk, Chris Thile was the "gateway drug" to the mandolin world for me, though I now find him to be a bit garish. My tastes tend to be simpler players and a few stick in my mind right now, as I've been listening to them a lot- Cahalen Morrison of Morrison and West, Ben Hodges of The Austin Steamers and Alex Rueb of The Lost Pines.

I look forward to more answers! Thanks for the great thread!
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  #17  
Old 07-22-2012, 07:44 AM
franchelB franchelB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post
...


1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?

....
1 and 3. I've owned 2: a no-name brand that I don't even remember the name, and a Kentucky KM-150. I still own the Kentucky mandolin.
2. I just wanted to learn how to play the mando...I guess I was influenced by living in Arkansas.
4 and 5. My style is more rhythm, because I'm a acoustic rhythm guitar player first, gig as a bass player, and play percussion. And I mostly play at home, but occasionally play at church. I've only heard about Chris Thiele, and the guys to who played "Maggie May", and "Losing my Religion", but I'm not familiar with the "mandolin world". I don't consider myself a "mandolinist" per se, but other people like the way I play my mando.
To an actual mandolin player, I'm probably a "hack". I'd like to think created my own style. And as a side note: I'm applying the same principles in learning the banjo.
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  #18  
Old 07-22-2012, 06:32 PM
rgregg48 rgregg48 is offline
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I started in 1985

I wanted to play in bluegrass jams,, that already had too many guitar players

Purchased a nice Flatiron F... for 1500.-- a friend of mine tried to talk me

out of it, because HIS friend had a Gilchrist F for sale for 1600.00

I figured,, Flatiron was a known name,, who ever heard of a Gilchrist?
if i ever wanted to sell one , the Flatiron will hold its value better..

of course i was dead wrong.

Now i have an Eastman, and its enough for me..

Rick
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Last edited by rgregg48; 07-22-2012 at 10:51 PM.
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  #19  
Old 07-22-2012, 06:36 PM
HHP HHP is offline
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Originally Posted by rgregg48 View Post
I started in 1985

I wanted to play in bluegrass jams,, that already had too many guitar players

Purchased a nice Flatiron F... for 1500.-- a friend of mine tried to talk me

out of it, because HIS friend friend had a Gilchrist F for sale for 1600.00

I figured,, Flatiron was a known name,, who ever heard of a Gilchrist,,

if i ever wanted to sell one , the Flatiron will hold its value better..

of course i was dead wrong.

Now i have an Eastman, and its enough for me..

Rick
Wow, shrewd analysis. What's a Gichrist these days, $25K? I can't talk, I turned down a '58 Porsche Speedster for $1200.
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  #20  
Old 07-23-2012, 12:19 AM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Well, any of us who've been around the high end musical instrument market for a few years have got stories like that. A number of years ago I found a late 1980's vintage brochure with a price list from the great guitar and mandolin builder John Monteleone, where the price for an oval hole A-style mandolin was listed as $2,700. I called him up and told him what I'd found, and said: "I don't suppose I can still get that A model for the same price now..."

He laughed and told me the price had gone up to $27,000. His instruments are so sought after he simply added a zero to the end of all his prices.

Oh, well...


whm
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  #21  
Old 07-25-2012, 08:37 AM
Tony Burns Tony Burns is offline
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I have about 7 or 8 of them . my favorite is a Washburn model 175 ( from around 1915 ) its a very fancy and ornate Bowl back
( thou their is one slighly fancier -think its called the 275 -which im betting they never made more than a few of them-( the 275 model number means they sold for 275 dollars new ) a washburn model F ( from around the same era ), a messed up martin bowlback , a Kay A style, all mahogany ( which is one of favorite playing instrument ) a few assorted bowl backs ( probably from Sears and roebucks early 1900's ) 2-3 banjo mandolins , and a couple i cant remember , that i have stored away for a rainy day to work on.
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Last edited by Tony Burns; 07-25-2012 at 08:43 AM.
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  #22  
Old 07-26-2012, 10:23 AM
TerryAllanHall TerryAllanHall is offline
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How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?
2 - a Goldtone GM50 oval-holed A-style is my "acoustic" mandolin (it has a pair of SBTs installed, so I can plug it in). And my "Poorman's EM150", a laminated-topped Rogue that I installed a P90T into, for electric mandolin work. Also have a mando-banjo, one of the most harsh-sounding musical instruments ever created, so I kindly leave it hanging on the wall!




How did you get started playing mandolin?
My grandfather, who aided and abetted my musical plans, found one at a swap meet and gave it to me, when I was about 10.

What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?
A "Ward" which is a mail-order catalog instrument. Sadly, I foolishly traded it off about 30 years ago.

What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin?
Folk, blues, jazz, Gypsy, old country, rock, whatever else comes to mind...mandolin is ONE versatile instrument!

Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing? In no particular order: David Grisman, Dash Crofts, Rory Gallagher, Red Rector, Kenneth "Jethro" Burns, Peter Buck, Sierra Hull, Levon Helm, Tiny Moore, Yank Rachell, FRank Wakefield and Mike Marshall. and yes.

Last edited by TerryAllanHall; 07-26-2012 at 10:28 AM.
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  #23  
Old 07-26-2012, 05:47 PM
mike_s mike_s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post
There have been many threads on the main guitar forum here about the various guitars forum participants own, but I've never seen an "inventory" thread about mandolins here. So I thought it might be fun.

So answer as many or as few of these questions as you like:


1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?


I have my own answers to these questions, but I'd like to read some of your posts before going on in detail.

Besides, I'm actually just about to leave the house to drive into Anchorage to look at a mandolin that's for sale. So if I end up getting it, my own mandolin collection will be one instrument bigger when I get back.


Wade Hampton Miller
1. I have 3-a Kentucky KM1500 - Unbelievably nice import great tone and chop; a Silverangel A style the best chop with pretty great bluegrass tone (fir top, myrtle back and sides) and a Big Muddy MW-0 - sweet tones and great old timey vibe.
2. Just bought on and started in on it after (then about 12 years of guitar playing.
3. I don't own my first one. I have a love hate relationship with the instrument and every so often purge them out. My first was a Kentucky KM1000-it was awesome-I wish I had never sold it.
4. Bluegrass, old timey, and some pop stuff (Beatles tunes, etc). Home use and jams.
5. Favorite players-Dawg, Sam, Butch, and recently Jake Joliff and Sierra Hull.
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  #24  
Old 07-26-2012, 06:30 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Originally Posted by TerryAllanHall View Post
Also have a mando-banjo, one of the most harsh-sounding musical instruments ever created, so I kindly leave it hanging on the wall!
Terry, a lot of the problems of harshness and impossible intonation issues on mandolin-banjos are caused by one thing: the banjo-style bridge. What works immensely better is to use the sort of bridge used on flat top mandolins, like these:


It's counter-intuitive, because it places more mass directly onto the banjo head. But it provides the stability that a high tension mandolin-banjo NEEDS.

There's a gentleman named Alan Ede in Corvallis, Oregon who's probably the leading serious mandolin-banjo collector. He wrote an article about these instruments in a mandolin publication that I happened to read. He was the person who showed that it's really the bridge that's the key element with these instruments.

The bridges Ede makes are maple, in more or less the same configuration as the second picture in this post. It's been so long that I can't remember whether he uses bone on the top edge or not.

An all-maple bridge will give you the loudest sound, but what I did on the mandolin-banjos I own (and owned) was to take this flat top mandolin bridge design and experiment with the materials used in it.

What my repairman and I ultimately came up with was something closer to the first photo. The bridge on my Gibson Mastertone mandolin-banjo is intonated and has two pieces of bone (one for the G and D courses, one for the A and E courses) set into an ebony middle section. Which in turn is glued onto a fairly long maple base, which is perhaps 10%-15% longer than the base on the bridges pictured.

The sandwich construction and additional width necessary to provide adequate intonation on the bridge we ended up with makes my mandolin-banjo a bit less loud than an entirely maple bridge makes it. But it also makes it considerably less harsh and raucous, and it's STILL the single loudest acoustic musical instrument I own.

So it's a win-win situation: improved tone, vastly improved intonation and tuning stability, and it still has more more volume and projection than is polite to use within fifty feet of another human being.

So my suggestion is that you consider picking up a couple of different flat top mandolin bridges, and begin experimenting with them on your mandolin-banjo. You might be surprised at just how musical you can make it sound.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller
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  #25  
Old 07-27-2012, 02:37 PM
Wolf Wolf is offline
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I have two, one tuned an whole step down, to suit my voice, and one tuned ADAD for folk, county and so on purposes. An tuning i ripped of Irish bouzouki players. But i hear it in some country song now and then.
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  #26  
Old 07-28-2012, 02:25 PM
shortymack shortymack is offline
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1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?

I received my first mando about three weeks ago for a birthday present. Its a Michael Kelly A solid, nothing fancy but it does the job nicely for a starter.

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?

Just wanted to learn from hearing all the great bluegrass tunes/players that play one. Am teaching myself.

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?

See #1

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)

Mostly bluegrass, some blues stuff. I wish I had a band or people to jam/play with so for now its just me and myself.

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?

David Grisham, Bill Monroe, Mike Marshall, Chris Thile (who doesnt like those guys?). I dont try to play like them just admire their talent.

Heres my first song written on mandolin, just did it yesterday, have a listen if you'd like!
http://soundcloud.com/shortymack/tum...-wind-original
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  #27  
Old 07-29-2012, 05:50 AM
jmagill jmagill is offline
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1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?

While I appreciate having a variety of voices to choose from, I'm not one to keep more instruments than I can play regularly, so at the moment, my mando instruments are a 1920 Gibson A-model and my 1980 Sobell 10-string cittern.

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?

When I was in college my girlfriend had a plywood mandolin she bought for $6 at a yard sale, and when we'd go on trips, she'd drive while I sat plunking away at it in the passenger seat. I was already a guitarist, and I was fascinated by this dinky little thing that let you reach 7 frets without having to change hand positions. It appealed to my innate laziness.

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?

I play a number of instruments, and when I was learning, my strategy was to buy something eminently playable as cheaply as I could, to try it out and decide if it was an instrument I wanted to stick with. If I decided it was, then I'd go buy the best I could afford. So, my first mandolin was a 2-point Japanese brand (Aria, I think), that I paid $100 for in 1977. A vintage Gibson A model was next, followed by a 'teens F-4, and eventually custom mandolins by Monteleone and Sobell, all, sadly, gone now. After lying dormant for a few decades, my interest in mandolin has resurfaced with a vengeance, hence my current '20 A-model, and a custom F-4 by Stephen Holst due in October. If the Holst is everything I expect, the A-model may be replaced by an f-hole of some flavor.

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)

I play mainly Celtic, though I'm revisiting bluegrass & some early 20th century styles like ragtime, old-time & swing. I made a living for seven years as a mandolin player, but even though I still gig regularly on guitar, these days I'm still just woodshedding on mandolin, relearning what I knew, and attempting to adapt some of the features of harp-style fingerpicked guitar (finding melody notes on adjacent strings rather than up the neck, to provide multiple ringing strings) to the mandolin.

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?

David Grisman, Jethro Burns and Mick Moloney were the ones who inspired me initially, and there are lots of great players now (Thile, et al.) that I admire, but if there's any one I'd want to play like, it's Mike Marshall. His touch, taste, the musicality of his solos and wide-ranging musical interests make him, in my eyes, one of the most influential players in the history of the instrument. When I decided to develop a new Mando & Banjo Week for the Swannanoa Gathering, the workshops I direct, Mike was the first guy I went after, and next week, I'll have him here along with Mike Compton, Don Stiernberg, Seamus Egan, Caterina Lichtenberg, Marla Fibish, Radim Zenkl and a host of banjo and fiddle greats also. Do I have a great job, or what?
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Guitars:'07 Circa OM, '09 Bashkin 00-12fret, '10 Circa 00 12-fret, '17 Buendia Jumbo, '17 Robbins R.1, '19 Doerr Legacy Select, '12 Collings 000-28H Koa. Pre-War guitars: '20 0-28, '22 00-28, '22 000-28. Mandolins: '09 Heiden Heritage F5, '08 Poe F5 , 1919 Gibson F-4, '80 Monteleone Grand Artist mandolin, '83 Monteleone GA (oval),'85 Sobell cittern.

Last edited by jmagill; 07-29-2012 at 08:46 AM.
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  #28  
Old 08-04-2012, 10:23 AM
jim farmer jim farmer is offline
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Wade, I enjoyed your answers (to your own questions, but still ) ... it was particularly touching to hear about your godmother and her special gift to you ... those sorts of things are treasures regardless of the object being gifted ... and yes, I have enjoyed Dash Crofts playing which reminds me of a lot of good mandolin playing back in those days ... how about the still un-named player that provided mandolin for Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" (and "Mandolin Wind" from that same album for that matter) ...

Thanks Wade. Good thread. Fun and very informative.
Great thread. I have ny first and only, a Johnson that I bought about twelve years ago just to use when my wife's cousin and I "jammed" on the porch.

I also love Dash Crofts playing as well as most anybody on the Mandolin Cafe Forum. Also Jesse McReynolds.

The fellow that played mando on "Maggie May" was Ray Jackson of the old group Lindesfarne, check the out on You Tube.
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  #29  
Old 08-07-2012, 10:35 PM
Old9600 Old9600 is offline
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I own a BRW F5. I started five years ago because after 40 + years of playing guitar, I was tired of being a one trick pony. My first mandolin was a piece of junk that wouldn't stay in tune....it was a lower end model.

I love newgrass, some bluegrass, acoustic jazz/swing.. Unfortunately, I am a much, much better guitar player than mando player.

Top two favorites are Mike Marshall and David Grisman. Both are very good, very melodic players. Chris Thile is up there too. For fun, you have to go with Sam Bush. After that, Flinner, J. Staats, M Cleveland..there are others if I thought harder about it.

Last edited by Old9600; 08-07-2012 at 10:43 PM.
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  #30  
Old 09-07-2012, 11:00 AM
cu4life7 cu4life7 is offline
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1. How many mandolins do you own? What kind are they?

I have two, but only play one. I was gifted a sammich starter a-style by my father in law because I was playing with him and his friends and I brought up that we had too many guitars... My second is a big muddy mw-0w, which is a round hole flattop with walnut back and sides. I really love it!!

2. How did you get started playing mandolin?
I was interested in getting proficient on other stringed instruments since everyone plays guitar and I was tired of jams with 4+ guitars.

3. What was your first mandolin? Do you still own it?
Yes, the first mentioned above.

4. What style (or styles) of music do you play on mandolin? Where do you use it? (In a bluegrass band, at church, in a country band, at home strictly for fun, etc.)

I play mostly at home, but sometimes with others. I am a backup player for a singer-songwriter friend who writes her own Christian music and play with my father-in-law and his buddies.

I like roots Americana music and Irish influenced tunes. I am primarily a rhythm player but am looking to learn some lead soloing. I've only played about a year so it is a work in progress... I love the roots/bluegrass/Americana flavored acts like Mumford and sons, the avett brothers, old crow medicine show, and the lumineers. I'm mostly a strummer but I'm in the process of learning proper chop chords.

5. Who are your favorite mandolin players? Do you try to play like them, play any of their compositions, or do you just admire one or more aspects of their playing?

I've admired Sam bush and the like, but lighting fast soloing isn't really what I'm after with mando. I use it as an accompany instrument for my voice and backup others. I can't even name a mando player I really admire because the nickel creek guy just doesn't do it for me.... I think eddie vedder is the guy that peaked my interest in playing with his work on the "into the wild" soundtrack. Anyway, that's about it. great question wade.
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Last edited by cu4life7; 09-07-2012 at 01:41 PM.
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