Members FretFiend. Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 I bought a $50 Rogue mandolin from MF a few years ago, because I love the sound of a mandolin and I wanted to try one. I quickly gave up on it after it shredded my fingers though. I gave it to my bro in law. He recently gave it back to me. I tuned it up and played it a bit, and again wound up with very sore fingers. I've learned a few things in the years about setups, and after some study, I saw that the setup on this thing is really bad. I leveled the frets a bit, filed the nut slots down, lowered the bridge, and set the intonation, and suddenly this thing is surprisingly easy to play, and, for a cheapo laminate, it sounds decent. It's the first instrument other than a guitar that I could actually make some passable sounding noise on. I believe I'm hooked. I'm a noob at the mandolin cafe, and they don't wanna talk about Rogues anyway. The only noise on the folk instrument forum here is crickets chirping, so I thought I'd see if anyone here plays a mandolin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 I built an F5 a few years ago but never really learned to play it. Know a few chords and a few simple songs. One thing I like it for is travel - it fits the overhead bin, is pretty quiet to play in a hotel room and forces me to take it out and practice. Will never be my main instrument for sure I do know that we have some real players here however Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrHarryReems Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 You know, my neighbor has a Rogue that plays pretty nicely. I've always wanted to pick up the mando, but the fretboards are just too wee for my fingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 I play mostly guitar, but I picked up the mandolin 30 years ago. I wish I could say I was a kick ass Bluegrass player, but I am not. I make do pretty well. I have only owned 2 mandolins in my life. A Flatiron A model performer that I bought in 1989 when I wanted to learn how to play the mandolin. A few years ago I bought a Gibson F5G. Both are very nice, and sound very different. The A model has more of a mid-bark, and the F is more balanced, mellower, but just as loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danocoustic Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 I have a Johnson mandolin, similar to your Rogue. Also bought from MF---buy a cheap acoustic guitar, get a cheap mandolin free deal. UPS punched a hi-lo fork clean through the shipping box, totally destroying the guitar---and delivered it anyway! MF replaced it. Mine also needed set-up work. It plays decently. Sounds all right. I have to admit I haven't played it in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 22, 2018 Members Share Posted October 22, 2018 Several years ago Mrs. DeepEnd expressed an interest in learning mandolin and I bought her a Rover, which is similar in quality to Rogue. She took a few lessons but because she ended up in an intermediate class she became frustrated and gave up. I noodle around on it occasionally but never when she's around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 23, 2018 Members Share Posted October 23, 2018 My "mandolin" is 2 flatpicks glued together with a partial spacer and played with really fast alternate picking. I have always wanted a real one though. Good work resurrecting yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 23, 2018 Members Share Posted October 23, 2018 Years ago I bought one for my son, who plays violin, but he never really took it up. Ended up with me. I can't play it. My hands are too big. One fingertip covers more real estate at the nut than a mando has to offer. I can't play a guitar cleanly with less than a 1-3/4 nut. A mando's 1-1/8th is a laugh. So, it sits in the case with the strings slackened waiting for my son to rekindle his curiosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 23, 2018 Members Share Posted October 23, 2018 Years ago I bought one for my son' date=' who plays violin, but he never really took it up. Ended up with me. I can't play it. My hands are too big. One fingertip covers more real estate at the nut than a mando has to offer. I can't play a guitar cleanly with less than a 1-3/4 nut. A mando's 1-1/8th is a laugh. So, it sits in the case with the strings slackened waiting for my son to rekindle his curiosity.[/quote'] I find it cool to be able to fret two pairs of strings with one finger but yeah, there's not much fretboard real estate is there? I respect anyone who can play one well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted October 23, 2018 Members Share Posted October 23, 2018 12-string guitar can satisfy that easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 24, 2018 Members Share Posted October 24, 2018 It's also much harder to tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted November 1, 2018 Members Share Posted November 1, 2018 I got the bug a while back and the critters have multiplied. I have an oval, f, resonator and a 5-string electric. Then there are the tenors... I find 5th tuning quite addictive and blame the mandolin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted November 1, 2018 Members Share Posted November 1, 2018 You can never appreciate the mandolin without playing a good one, for those that are very guitar-centric. A Rogue or old Stella won’t do, really. Once you lay hands on a well setup ‘20s Gibson A (1-¼”) or one of the newer crop you can read all about at manolincafe.com, but have to actually purchase, you may find a greater appreciation. An old (teens-‘20s) Gibson A is and always will be the benchmark. The F5 of that era is another topic entirely, one that most of us wouldn’t understand, least I don’t... There are those special multi instrumentalists that simply loooved it at first strum on those 100$ Rogues and eBay Stella’s, and moved up to nicer ones, or not, but it’s definitely a niche instrument, not for all souls. Verne! Reso!? Gawd the noise! . But I feel ya. Addictive. I’m over mine, but still kinda wish I hadn’t sold off 2 Gibson A models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 1, 2018 Members Share Posted November 1, 2018 Dennis Vance at the Mandolin Store is a wealth of knowledge. He carries a lot of nice stuff, both new and used, American and Imports.As far as imports go, Eastman makes a decent mandolin. I met the sale rep at the Fresh Grass Festival here in town back in September. They do all the setups in California. Weber and Collins make a mandolin with a slightly wider fretboard is you have bigger paws. So the normal 1-1/16 fretboard is wider by and 1/8 of an inch. Might be comfier. I think even Gibson does a wider fretboard now too. There's a lot of work that goes into a hand build mandolin. I bet a good builder can carve out a top in 30 minutes and then spend the rest of the day honing it out. Gibson still has what I call that signature bark. I like Webers and Collings stuff too, but they sound slightly different than the Gibson, but not in a bad way.I played an A model Flatiron for decades and just recently got myself a Gibson F5G. Those 100 year old gibson are really nice, if they have been taken care off. A lot of times it's something folks had sitting up in their attic for 50 years, and they could be a little dried out and need work. I'll never be a traditional blue grasser, I just don't spend that much time in the saddle with it. The Portland Fiddle and Contra songbooks are worth having and feature a tone of old fiddle reels, breakdowns and jigs https://www.theportlandcollection.com/ I also recommend New England Fiddler's RepertoireThe Fiddler's Fakebook: I have 3 Waltz books too. Watch out for Amazon, as their prices are not always the best. This is a great site too, free songsJC's ABC Tune Finder at trillian.mit.edu http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind And what mandolin player wouldn't like to learn Jay and Molly Ungers' Ashokan Farewell. I have that one played at my funeral. My wife and I got married some 9 years ago, after living together for 14 years. I had all my fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar, and flute buddies play at the wedding ceremony. They wanted to do it for free, but I paid em all rather nicely for there work. I love acoustic string instruments as much as I love rock and roll. Music is made for people to get together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted November 2, 2018 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 When I started playing a guitar many moons ago, I lived with a cheap laminate, and at that time, I couldn't have appreciated a real solid wood guitar anyway. Same with the mando. I can live with the cheap laminate until such time as my ability to play it rates a better instrument. All I'm currently trying to do is get comfortable with a few two and three finger major and minor chords. The nut width on a mandolin is only 1 1/8, but, since there are effectively only four strings to fret, the amount of space between strings (sets of two) is only about ten thou less than that of a six string guitar with a 1 3/4 nut. The small space between frets is what is hard to get used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted November 2, 2018 Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 ask Mikeo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted November 2, 2018 Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 I really struggle with the scale length too. My fingers get crowded playing past the 14th fret on a Les Paul though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members crustoleum Posted November 2, 2018 Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 I like mandolin things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 2, 2018 Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 I like mandolin things sent you a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 2, 2018 Members Share Posted November 2, 2018 Here's a nice piece called the Ashokan Farewell played by Dennis Vance of the Mandolin Store.You may be familiar with the song from the PBS Civil War documentary by Ken Burns.[video=youtube;Ii8RdceRUJs] Another fav of mine is an Irish tune Called Inisheer.It sounds nice on the mandolin, but even better on the fiddle, flute, or concertina. [video=youtube;Wuqns1ioXKE] See what I mean. I wish more piano types would pick up the concertina, or button box.[video=youtube;ktzJc1IhS14] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted November 6, 2018 Members Share Posted November 6, 2018 Here's a vid when I owned a mandolin...they're fun, but I could never really get into it. And I messed up at the end! Props to real mando players, it's a tough nut to crack! Edit: '20s Gibson A, no longer with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted November 6, 2018 Author Members Share Posted November 6, 2018 Well damn, Neal, now I don't feel so bad. You've done given me something to strive for. Seriously. Nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Neal Posted November 6, 2018 Members Share Posted November 6, 2018 And that’s the easy stuff! That tremolo on a few of those vids above? Whew...I just didn’t have the “feel” for it. Slide playing, harmonica, and mandolin are instruments and techniques that require a feel for them, aside from the muscle memory and 1000s of hours of practice.. (imo) and thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 7, 2018 Members Share Posted November 7, 2018 Here's a vid when I owned a mandolin...they're fun' date=' but I could never really get into it. And I messed up at the end! Props to real mando players, it's a tough nut to crack! Edit: '20s Gibson A, no longer with me.[/quote'] Nice classic mandolin tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted November 7, 2018 Members Share Posted November 7, 2018 Here's a vid when I owned a mandolin...they're fun' date=' but I could never really get into it. And I messed up at the end! Props to real mando players, it's a tough nut to crack! Edit: '20s Gibson A, no longer with me.[/quote'] Nice Whiskey before Breakfast is a classic mandolin tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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