Quote:
Originally Posted by posternutbag
They say that a mandolinist spends half their time tuning and the other half playing out of tune, and there is some truth to it. I have found Waverly tuners to be an immense upgrade, and I put them on all my mandolins. This might not be practical on a sub $1K mandolin.
But it gets better. The more you play, the more you get a feel for tuning the instrument, like anything else. It took me about a year of dedicated mandolin playing (after years of guitar) before I really got good at tuning quickly and precisely.
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It's not out of tune, it's just a heavy chorus effect
But seriously, I think it has in part to do with the relatively high pitch range of the instrument. Just as frets get narrower and narrower up the neck, the higher tuning means less precision and greater pitch changes relative to tuning key movement. Also probably greater pitch changes relative to wood movement. Then it's made worse by the doubled courses. IMHO mandolins are a good case for very high gear ratios.
Writing this up...I'm glad that I went with a carbon fiber hybrid! (Emerald Amicus)