How many acoustic guitar players here also have a mandolin ? - Page 5

Wade Hampton · #61 09-15-2010, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DetMorris

Mando seems to irritate the wife a little more. You don't realize how piercing those high notes are projected when you are sitting behind it!

I've always said that when played solo, the mandolin is the thumbtack of musical instruments:

"Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!"

Yep. It gets wearisome when it's all by itself.

That's why the vast majority of my mandolin playing is done within the context of a group, whether with the choir I lead at church or in a jam session with other instruments.

By the way, Patch, nice collection of Ovations there. I'd be particularly interested in playing that mandocello.

I used to be in an Irish music duo in the Midwest, and the other guy in the group played the mandolin family instruments. I'd been playing mandolin for a few years before meeting and forming the group with him, but he really opened my eyes to some of the more exotic members of the mandolin family.

He bought a cherry red 1916 Gibson mandocello in excellent playing condition for something $500 or $600, and we used it in our act. I played it on several songs.

Years later, when I looked into getting a nice old Gibson mandocello for my own, the price, naturally, had skyrocketed since he'd bought his. That $600 'cello was now worth five figures, easily.

So I got a modern Weber Absaroka model mandocello and enjoyed it for a good five or six years. What I found once I owned one, though, is that any low register music I could play on my 'cello I could do several times better on my McAlister acoustic baritone guitar. So ultimately I sold the 'cello to a friend in Michigan who plays in a mandolin orchestra.

What sort of music do you play on your Ovation mandocello, Patch?

Just curious.

Wade Hampton Miller

TomHB · #62 09-15-2010, 10:03 PM

One interesting thing about playing mando... just got mine a few days ago and have been playing it exclusively, trying to learn "that" REM song we all know... Just grabbed my Tele and now it's fretboard seems a MILE wide and and it's even easier to play than before! Playing that narrow mando fretboard with those tense double strings may be a great way to warm up for guitar!

mrkrgr · #63 09-16-2010, 04:52 AM

2 mandolins, 2 fiddles, Martin tenor tuned GDAE. I find that at home practicing I'll play whatever I feel like, but when I go out I usually end up playing mandolin. I'll take a guitar, but there are usually plenty of guitars. When fly I take a mandolin, fits overhead and I play while waiting in the boarding area. And if I want to play some guitar I go "shopping".

moonmando · #64 09-16-2010, 05:39 AM

I played guitar for many years and decided to try something different.That was when i discovered the joys of mandolin playing.It really is such a versatile wee instrument and complements my guitar so well.
I played in restuarants and small venues for a couple of years,with my mate Andy and we were always very well received.Our arrangements were our own and were more geared towards the folk come classical tradition.
It has also improved my guitar playing so much by having to think in more depth when approaching new material.
Here`s a couple of tunes we covered back then.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=293839

Anand00028 · #65 09-16-2010, 07:27 AM

beautiful melodies and great playing!

MissouriPicker · #66 09-16-2010, 09:15 AM

I've got a Rogue mandolin. Brought it just to try mando for a while. Not a bad sound and it does have me interested in perhaps getting a better mandolin in the near future. Like most anything, mandolin can be fairly easy to learn, assuming you truly make an effort. Likewise, the dobro is extremely easy to learn.

MikeD · #67 09-16-2010, 10:19 AM

I have a Collings MF-5 tobacco burst varnish... quite a nice mando IMO. This little sucker has a one piece back and a sick Adirondack top, and a huge voice to complete the package.

Vornan19 · #68 09-16-2010, 10:35 AM

from Musicians friend and it's so bad it hurts my hand to play. The action was very high and I've done all I can to lower it and it's still too high.

guitarmanrlk · #69 09-16-2010, 12:12 PM

I have a Michael Kelly mandolin. I love the sound it makes.

Wade Hampton · #70 09-16-2010, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vornan19

from Musicians friend and it's so bad it hurts my hand to play. The action was very high and I've done all I can to lower it and it's still too high.

Take it to a guitar repair shop and have them adjust the action and do a setup on it for you. It almost certainly has the action too high at the nut. Most Asian-made entry level mandolins do when they arrive over here, and on mandolin a proper setup is even more crucial than on guitar.

Then MikeD wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD

I have a Collings MF-5 tobacco burst varnish... quite a nice mando IMO. This little sucker has a one piece back and a sick Adirondack top, and a huge voice to complete the package.

Oh, I'll bet is has a huge voice. Those Collings mandolins are superb.

whm

Needles · #71 09-16-2010, 01:11 PM

I've had a cheapie just for playing a few chords for years. Making the leap to the real thing with a two-pointer due next year from Austin Clark.

devellis · #72 09-16-2010, 01:41 PM

One of the cool things about mandolins is the range of options. Yes, there are different types of guitars but the variation across all styles of mandolins seems considerably greater. You've got A's and F's, two-points, three-points, lute mandolins, mando-lutes, mandolinettos, round holes, f-holes, bowlbacks, flatbacks, carved backs, cylinder backs, flat tops, canted tops, carved tops, domed tops, mandolins, mandolas, octave mandolins, mandocellos. It just goes on and on. I just wish more of them had wider fingerboards, like the Sobells.

matonman · #73 12-06-2011, 08:09 PM

i have only had my el cheapo epiphone a style for a few weeks , and just love it .
got it set up by my man, and plays well [below the 12th fret anyway]
as others have said the fretboard is arranged in a logical way , and picking out fiddle tunes by ear is not that hard.
i feel a little guilty playing the mando and neglecting the guitar a bit ,though i think the mando helps with my guitar playing and vica versa.
i have been listening to emory lesters album "crusin the 8" if your lookin for something to listen to.
i have found everyone who see's or hears it likes the look and sound including my eldest boy and even the other half likes it,and she's not a big fan of ,as she calls it "the bluegrass music"
the only downside is i can feel an attack of MAS coming on

coreybox · #74 12-07-2011, 07:21 AM

I have an Ellis F5.

I enjoy playing mandolin more than guitar.

brad4d8 · #75 12-07-2011, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptalbot

Here's my 'The Loar' LM-600-VS. I've had this one for almost a year, and it's my first mandolin after playing guitar for 28 years.
Pat

I, too, have a "the Loar" mandolin, not sure if it's the 500 or 600. I've had it about two years, but only play it occasionally, keep meaning to get it out more, but always seem to stay with the guitar. One trick I figured out early, is that if you think of it as an upside down guitar and invert the chord shapes, it's pretty easy to adapt known open shape chords.
Brad