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OT, sorta. Anybody have a mandolin?


FretFiend.

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I'm another guitar guy, but a few years ago someone offered me a like-new Fender electric A-style mando for $50. I bit.

 

Turned out it was a lot of fun. But my pick kept clicking on the pickup. Sold it and have bought two more so far: a used Mid-Missouri (now Big Muddy) spruce and rosewood flattop and a used Red Line A5 with a K&K pickup. It's a cool little axe. There are a couple of shots of the Red Line on this page:

 

https://www.thefullertons.net/the-la...well-show.html

 

I use the Red Line when I need to plug in and the Mid-Miss when I don't.

 

Don't give up on Mandolin Cafe. Started going there when I got that crummy plywood Fender and found that (a) there were a lot of other beginners there and (b) the pros there respect players who are just getting their fingers wet. Unilke guitar players, they want everyoneto play mando. (And buy more mandos. You think we get GAS? It pales before MAS. And when they get started on best picks? Oh, man.)

 

They'll especially respect that you took an unplayable instrument and turned it into a real working mando. One word of caution, though: They HATE it when folks call a mando a little guitar!

 

And here's the one video every new player should watch weekly:

 

Enjoy it! Mandos rock!

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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.

 

I have also found that 5th tuning addictive. It's a more logical, orderly world, compared to the 4th/3rd tuning of a guitar. So far, it's been fun to explore.

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I also started on guitar and migrated to mandolin. In an effort to mind-meld playing in 4ths and 5ths I've been using my looper to play with different ideas. My son suggested I record the sessions which is how the following originated.

 

2 Mandolins

[video=youtube;BCVT7id-ArU]

My Paris Swing acoustic mandolin through the looper. I have several pickups installed so I can use it through my rig.

 

Heavy

[video=youtube;BCVT7id-ArU]

On the Heavy one I used my Les Paul Pee Wee (my avatar) for the riff and the lead section, Paris Swing for the mandolin and a p-bass for bass. The Pee Wee is also tuned in 5ths (Eb Bb F C G D) which makes for some interesting tonalities. This one is quite popular.

 

Resonator

[video=youtube;BCVT7id-ArU]

Cause you asked this is my Republic resonator mandolin through the looper. There's nothing else that produces a sound like that thing. I particularly like it because it has a longer 15" scale neck and a wider fretboard.

 

 

 

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I had surgery a few years back, and bought one to do something while recuperating. A Kentucky KM-100 for $200. Fast forward, I play occasionally in church and my dog knocks it over and breaks the neck. I bought an Ovation, and I really like it, but you don't bring that thing to a bluegrass jam. Those boys are all Wayne Henderson's friends and they got Hendersons and Loar era Gibsons, and don't you bring that plastic mando around here, boy.

But it does sound great amplified.

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I understand exactly what you're talking about! Those bluegrassers live in a world apart.

 

The absolutely most awesome mandolin I've ever played was an Ovation Adamas limited edtion at NAMM a number of years back. Huge tone and volume and a pleasure to play. I think it was selling for around $40K or something silly like that.

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