There are two kinds of posts about the RM-1. Instructional and devotional. This is devotional. What a time I have, every Monday evening. The RM-1 has become my contradance band instrument. It can be heard all the way in the back without an amp, it has a beautiful non brassy sound, out of the box my action was very nice, not too high, very comfortable for fast fiddle tune melodies, and a knock out for chords, it looks cooler than anything else being played, (I suppose thats arguable). I have to play out in front. Not because of my assertive personality, but for quite practical reasons: nobody wants to stand in front of me. One of the great things - this instrument is loud, but blends well with others. Its not just a loud brassy vuvuzela breaking through the cacophony, its a support to all the melody instruments and brightens up the entire band. Oh, and its so cool looking.
OK - its only an RM-1 - get over it!
I am with you JeffD. When I go to my local Irish session, I take a tenor banjo and my RM1. I leave my other wonderful and more costly mandolins at home. They are great for small ensembles but if I am playing with 8 other folks, the RM1 gets the call. And at the session, if one flute and I play a beautiful slow air, the warmth of the RM1 shines. I don't HAVE TO play loud, its just that I can. As a side note, my action was way too high for my tastes out of the box, but I was able to lower it just fine, although I had to bend the tailpiece(!) down to keep a reasonable break angle and retain the sound it has with the originally higher bridge. The RM1 is my public mandolin.
Ditto what liestman said... the RM1 and a tenor banjo are what I take out to sessions. liestman said: As a side note, my action was way too high for my tastes out of the box, but I was able to lower it just fine, although I had to bend the tailpiece(!) down to keep a reasonable break angle and retain the sound it has with the originally higher bridge. Eek-a-mouse! I also had to lower the action from new to my taste but didn't try and bend the tailpiece (it's pretty solid anyway!). I just glued a strip of hard leather to the underside of it which works fine at improving the break angle with a lowered bridge.