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  #31  
Old 09-14-2010, 11:30 PM
theotigno theotigno is offline
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I have a 1915 Gibson A-1 (two years younger than zombywolf's).

I had a 5-string banjo, but I had a hard time getting the hang of it.
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  #32  
Old 09-15-2010, 06:06 AM
drive-south drive-south is offline
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I've bought and sold many cheap mandos over the years and none of them inspired me to play. Then I tried a Mid Missouri mandolin at the Music Emporium and was hooked. I eventually bought a Mid Mo M11 all mahogany mandolin. After messing with that for a while, I decided I wanted to get either a mandola or octave mando. I ended up buying a Mid Mo octave mando as I can use a capo and produce the same range as the mandola.

Mid Missouri mandolins are all solid wood and made in USA. The company changed it's name to Big Muddy Mandolins after a shop fire and law-suit. The Big Muddys are essentially the same instruments with a differant name.

I'd love one of those National Mandolins, but my playing is not at the level where it would be justified.
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  #33  
Old 09-15-2010, 06:45 AM
martinedwards martinedwards is offline
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I've made myself a bunch of other instruments.....

electric & acoustic mandolins
bouzouki
tenor banjo
acoustic & electric 4 string bass guitars
electric 5 string bass guitar
currently working on a 6 string guitar/banjo

I find the more I play OTHER things the better I get when I come back to guitar
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  #34  
Old 09-15-2010, 09:23 AM
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Bruce Sexauer Bruce Sexauer is offline
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I have a couple of Mandolins, and Eastman 815 I've had for several years, and a more recently acquired F style by Bill Schneider which is a wonderful instrument. Because I can get around OK on both a guitar and a fiddle, the mandolin is a no-brainer as it combines the guitar right hand with the fiddle left hand.
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  #35  
Old 09-15-2010, 09:56 AM
ptalbot ptalbot is offline
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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. As a non-ambitious beginning to taking up the instrument I decided to learn Bach's Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1. Took a few weeks to fully memorize, but the guitar skills clearly help with the mechanics somewhat, more so on the picking hand than the fretting hand, but it's not a huge jump really. I'm enjoying the journey with it so far.





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  #36  
Old 09-15-2010, 10:52 AM
Fliss Fliss is offline
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I have three mandolins - a Phil Davidson flat top, a Keith Newell A5 style, and a 100 year old Neapolitan bowlback made by Raffael Calace. MAS really is just as bad as GAS

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  #37  
Old 09-15-2010, 11:22 AM
shawlie shawlie is offline
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I bought a second-hand Vantage mandoline quite a few years back, and it is fun. It has some problems (always a buzz/deadnote on the fretted C note for some reason), but is fun to try sometimes. Admit, I haven't really played it for a year or so, though. It is so tiny...
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  #38  
Old 09-15-2010, 12:37 PM
MJScott MJScott is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent Hutto View Post
I have a mandolin as of a few weeks ago. It's a blast to play, particularly with a couple books of Balkan and South American tunes (plus a Christmas song book) that Allan Alexander has arranged for either mandolin with guitar accompaniment or as mandolin/guitar duets. I schedule extra sessions with my guitar teacher just so we can play some of those together.

One of my favorite small ensembles to listen to is guitar+mandolin, with or without a bass player. They are extremely complementary sounds to each other in my estimation. Much moreso than guitar+fiddle or mandolin+fiddle and even moreso than two guitars.

P.S. And to Woody and Wade...Put Down the Banjo, Step Away and Nobody Will Get Hurt!

Hi Brent,

I see you sold your Redline - you had it all of what a month. What are you currently playing?
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  #39  
Old 09-15-2010, 12:41 PM
jmcc jmcc is offline
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Yes, played mando for the last 30 years. folks seem to LOVE hearing it (on occasion) during a set in my acoustic duo. Always seem to get cheers when i pick that up...
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  #40  
Old 09-15-2010, 12:50 PM
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Brent Hutto Brent Hutto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MJScott View Post
Hi Brent,

I see you sold your Redline - you had it all of what a month. What are you currently playing?
I have a "The Loar" LM-400 now. The little flat-top was literally the first mandolin I had ever played a note on so buying it was sort of a blind purchase. It has a really cool sound but to my ear at least I couldn't get much of a variety of tones and dynamics (probably says more about me than the mandolin).

At at guitar show a couple weeks ago I had a chance to play some different mandolins and discovered that I really prefer the sound of ff-hole to oval hole instruments. And in particular a couple of "The Loar" models there were really impressive. So I came home and sold the Redline Traveler and am very happy playing my LM-400 instead.

Loud, soft, bright, warm it seems to give different sounds with slight changes in picking hand position or what pick I use. The Traveler had a default sound that was sort of happy, loud, bright and sweet no matter what I did. I think it would be make a better second mandolin than first one for a beginner, personally.
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  #41  
Old 09-15-2010, 01:27 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brent Hutto View Post
I have a "The Loar" LM-400 now. The little flat-top was literally the first mandolin I had ever played a note on so buying it was sort of a blind purchase. It has a really cool sound but to my ear at least I couldn't get much of a variety of tones and dynamics (probably says more about me than the mandolin).
No, actually, most North American mandolin players tend to gravitate to the archtop models. Flattop mandolins are plenty loud, but you're correct about the archtops having more tone colors and dynamic capabilities.

The main groups of musicians on this continent who favor flattop mandolins seem to be those playing old-timey music and those playing Irish music, and even within those groups there are strong contingents who favor the archtop mandolin designs over the flattops.

Until I literally stumbled across the power and the glory of wood-bodied National resonator mandolins, I was firmly in the archtop mandolin camp myself.

I prefer the tonality of the oval hole versions, though. The F-5 style instruments definitely cut better in a loud bluegrass band or jam situation, but the oval hole A models and F-4's sound sweeter to my ears.


Wade Hampton Miller
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  #42  
Old 09-15-2010, 01:34 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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PS: I should mention that there's a significant third group of musicians who also gravitate towards the flattop mandolin's more guitar-like sound: guitarists looking for a second instrument to double on.

The problem with many flattop mandolin designs, like the Tacoma mandolin, for instance, is while they may seem richer in tone when played by themselves than archtop mandolins will, they won't project and cut through an ensemble nearly as well.

While they might be more satisfying to sit and play while seated alone in a music room, in a bluegrass jam they'll barely be heard.

So guitarists need to learn to listen with a different set of ears when selecting a mandolin, if playing with other people is the ultimate goal. Archtop mandolins that might seem a bit cold and sterile-sounding when played in isolation can sometimes really sound marvelous when played in a group, and it takes a while to be able to pick out which mandolins will sound best in that situation.

Hope that makes sense.


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  #43  
Old 09-15-2010, 01:48 PM
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Brent Hutto Brent Hutto is offline
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Wade,

I'm purely a living-room player. Although it's fun to invite someone over to my living room when I get a chance I don't aspire to playing in jams or whatnot.

What probably made the difference for me is that all my mental tone references for mandolin are studio recordings of closely miked high-end ff-hole archtops. There was just something missing in my flat-top that was supposed to be there.

And speaking of living rooms, mine is a pretty darned "live" space to play with hardwood floors, sheetrock walls and ceiling and not a whole lot of upholstered furniture. So I think some of that "cut and project" sound comes back at me from the room and I enjoy the clarity. Related to why OM/000/L-00 type guitars always sound better to me in that room than dreds, jumbos or even my classical guitar. I'm like my own ensemble because of the live room!
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  #44  
Old 09-15-2010, 01:48 PM
TomHB TomHB is offline
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I just picked one up a couple days ago for $50. A Schafer, which I believe is a Washburn/OS OM-10 with a different headstock (a local piano chain sold these as their house brand line of stringed instruments, Vern Shafer was the owner). I put some new strings on and filed the nut slots down a bit, and it's really a kick to play! Has a really nice action and sings with the new strings. I know it's a beginner-level instrument, but I am a beginner on mando, so...



Got some chords down, and can play "Losing My Religion" halfway decently already. Reminds me of playing uke, the way you can invent chords, and play chord melodies fairly easy.
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  #45  
Old 09-15-2010, 01:51 PM
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Brent Hutto Brent Hutto is offline
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Quote:
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Got some chords down, and can play "Losing My Religion" halfway decently already. Reminds me of playing uke, the way you can invent chords, and play chord melodies fairly easy.
That combination of two frets per finger and tuning in straight fifths feels like cheating to a guitar player, doesn't it?
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