Quote:
Originally Posted by Br1ck
It is also going to depend on your use. If you don't play bluegrass you might not want the Gibson tone. If you play with people a lot, a bright Collings might be just the ticket. A friend has a Pava that is beautiful, but he loves my very bright and loud homebuilt F for how it cuts through a combo.
A lot of this is going to be based on use and experience. Even the exquisite Ellis I played didn't do everything well, but what it did, oh my! Knowing what you want only comes from playing a lot of mandolins, and each is worth playing, even if you have not liked them in the past.
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Well I had a new Gibson F5G years ago, which I got as a gift but I traded for my first National resonator, a Custom Western D that turned out to be the National reso that I play the most (I got an artist deal with the company and got 3 more resos). That Western D National is still giving up the goods! And I've written plenty of songs with it so I don't regret doing the trade.
The reason I traded away the F5G was that it was too loud and slightly abrasive sounding with the Phosphor Bronze strings, so now I'm dying to try one with the Thomastiks which I thing can help me get the tone out of one! I found one that a guy is going to let me audition, and it should be to my house shortly. Of course I will make recordings.
BTW I have played many mandolins but never something so grand as an Ellis!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon Currie
I agree that the Breedlove FF sounds nicest in this setting.
Funny thing, I have a Breedlove OF that sounds EXACTLY like this example. I hear the same things that bug me about it when I try to record with it.  |
When I record the Breedlove OF I know how to get a good sound out of it with creative EQ, but for the test recordings, I wanted you guys to hear exactly what was getting to the microphones, except that I added a same bit of hall reverb to all three tracks because I always do that to mandos. Tomorrow I will be putting Thomastiks on it too
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulHintz
Another vote for the Breedlove FF. Really an interesting test. I’m a guitarist of looong experience but only started on Mando 4 months ago. Not a lot of in-store samples to try in this metro area, if I ever outgrow the Eastman MD605 I have. Won’t be thinking of trying a Collings although I do hope to graduate to something with a wider nut and more string space. Ah…maybe a Breedlove! Thanks for the splendid post and sample.
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Thanks you, If you can find a used USA Made Breedlove, they are consistently good! I like the FF as an all around-er. And they have a wide nut 1 3/16" which makes for easy crossing over from guitar.