The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Other Musical Instruments

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #31  
Old 02-11-2020, 07:22 PM
Explorer Explorer is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 601
Default

It's worth noting that certain charactericstics, whether applied to guitar or mandolin, kill off high end and sustain.

F-holes interrupt the plane of the soundboard and help dampen it.

Archtop instruments often lose sustain and "sparkle."

It's pretty common for bluegrass mandolin players themselves to acknowledge the "woodiness" and "chop" of various f-hole archtop mandolins, desireable to them, and the sparkle and sustain of flat-top oval- and round-hole instruments, undesireable to them.

I highly recommend doing side-by-side comparisons, if possible, to hear the differences. The comparative lack of sustain on a bluegrass mandolin might not be to your taste.

Whatever you choose, good luck!
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 02-17-2020, 11:32 PM
M Sarad M Sarad is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Bakersfield!!!
Posts: 2,037
Default

I bought a Gibson F9 about a dozen years ago. Took me that long to learn how to play it.
__________________
rubber Chicken
Plastic lobster
Jiminy Cricket.
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 02-18-2020, 07:09 AM
Chickee Chickee is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: The Garden State
Posts: 2,856
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Denny B View Post
Hey, Chickee...I've just joined a large mandolin site recently and was delighted to see all the folks there who, like myself, lean towards music other than BG played on the mandolin...
Denny, have you found a mandolin yet? The more you surf the net the more diverse mandolin music will be found.
But I have to say, the guy setting the bar way high right now is Chris Thile. He is on another level.
__________________
I love playing guitar
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 02-24-2020, 01:57 AM
otis66 otis66 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 966
Default A mandoilin

Unless you find a crazy great deal on a F Mandolin I would buy an A mandolin.
A good F Mandolin is going to cost you. You will get more for your money with an A mandolin.
I own a Kentucky KM150 and a Kentucky KM500. Both great mandolins.
A Kentucky F mandolin equal to my KM 500 will cost you $1000 or more.
A lot of work goes into making a great playing F Mandolin
Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old 02-24-2020, 03:48 PM
Denny B Denny B is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,136
Default

So, I think I lean more toward the A style...saves some $ and I actually like it better, aesthetically speaking...

From what I read and hear, the oval sound hole seems to be more what I want to hear...a little more sustain and reverb? .. and I wouldn't be going for the BG "chop" anyway...

Eastman seems to get a lot of goodwill here and other places I'm browsing...
I've been looking at their MD404 BK model..."A" style, oval sound hole...black nitro gloss top with mahogany gloss sides and back...goes for about $100 over the basic 300 series...I'm reading that the mahogany gives it a bit more "mellow" tone than the usual maple? If so, I'd be fine with that...

Anyone familiar with this model or a similar one from another maker?

I sincerely appreciate all the comments and advice so far...

404.jpg
__________________
"Music is much too important to be left to professionals."

Last edited by Denny B; 02-25-2020 at 11:24 AM. Reason: typo
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old 02-24-2020, 04:22 PM
Denny B Denny B is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,136
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chickee View Post
Denny, have you found a mandolin yet? The more you surf the net the more diverse mandolin music will be found.
But I have to say, the guy setting the bar way high right now is Chris Thile. He is on another level.

Yeah, I've been familiar with him since way back when he was in Nickel Creek with Sara and Sean Watkins, and I love everything he's doing with Punch Brothers...I've heard him jam with Sam Bush, and I've heard him do a Bach Sonata...the guy is just from another planet!
__________________
"Music is much too important to be left to professionals."

Last edited by Denny B; 02-25-2020 at 11:22 AM. Reason: typo
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Other Musical Instruments

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=