Will be 57 this year, trying Mandolin for the first time, tried guitar for many years, but, never put enough time into it, still trying though. Being a lefty can be a little challenging, which is why I've been so discouraged with guitar for so many years, but now have a decent guitar, and learning lefty, actually, quite a bit easier so far. Went to the Pickin at Parson's Bluegrass Festival in Parsons WV, and fell in love with the Mandolin, my first Mandolin will be here soon, a Kentucky KM380, ordered some new strings as well, D'Addario EJ74 strings, seems to be a popular consensus for decent strings here on the cafe. Also started watching some online lessons after reading a recommendation on another newbie thread from "HonketyHank" for a free resource, from Baron Collins-Hill at www.mandolessons.com. Thanks Hank! Question, not a controversial "pick" question....but, any preference in material for the pick? Reason I ask, is I make picks from time, out of silver, brass, bone wood and was wondering, if anyone found any of these materials suitable, or best to stick with a fairly decent pick purchased from one of the known choices mentioned throughout the cafe. Open to any helpful "how to get started" comments, I'm a long time woodworking craftsman(30+ yrs), amateur guitar luthier(5+ yrs), currently restoring a Lead Belly H912 12 string Stella guitar, when the Mandolin comes in, was considering making an arm rest, either from oak or walnut. I also do my own setups, making my own nuts/saddles bridges etc when the need arises, but I emailed Rob Meldrum for his setup techniques, the cafe is so full of info, I love it. enough from a chatty Kathy, I welcome any and all advice/critique Rich p.s. I'll be playing this right handed unless I have too much trouble
Welcome to the asylum Mr. (Ms.?) Dean.
also a lefty, I play all instruments right handed (guitar 40 years, mandolin 3+). Good luck enjoy the journey
picks: I would vote for the 'travelling pick sampler' to get some ideas -- see Mark Gunters thread from a couple years ago here in the Newbies threads. As an absolute beginner, though, don't obsess about the best pick, just get a decent cheap one and go from there. The main thing is that you will probably like a thicker pick for mandolin than for guitar. For a really good pick relatively cheap, I like the Dunlop Primetone smooth large triangle or the D'Andrea Proplec large triangle. Somewhere around 1.2 to 1.5 mm thick. Homemade picks tend to be nice novelty items unless you have the experience of working with them to get the shape and bevel right. I think we all have a jelly glass full of picks we have tried. Some, we hate and will never use again; some look cool but sound weird; some sound great but feel clunky; etc, etc. And we still dig through them all every now and then and find a new old favorite.
It's Mr Dean, was just referring to an old saying when referring to Chatty Kathy, blah blah-ing too much
Thanks everyone
First-off, welcome aboard! To be as brief as possible: Despite what some people will tell you, there is no 'proper' way to learn or play the mandolin - everyone learns and/or plays a little bit differently. My advice is to give serious consideration to all of the advice that is given to you, try out that advice, and then decide what works best for YOU. It all may be a little overwhelming at first, but in short time you will find yourself getting into the groove. Another important thing to remember is to start slow - don't try to learn to play the mandolin by jumping straight into licks by legendary players; (trust me, I have seen that happen) . . . it's like learning to drive by racing the Indianapolis 500. Play, learn, enjoy and keep us posted.
Thanks Mike, after I get some of the chords down, probably start with 2 fingering chords, what would you say are maybe 3 easy songs to work with, to aid in practicing chords and chord changing.
RH, welcome aboard. There are no dumb questions here. All good information to be shared. The only natural pick I own is made from coconut shell. As Henry said Primetone and Proplec are popular and for good reason. Also, like he mentions, most of us have a large collection of picks cuz the one I luvved last week aint no good today! As for easy beginner songs, perhaps look back for the thread of "Song of the month index" . Simple suggestions might include 'Old Joe Clark ' 'Cripple Creek ' or 'Shady Grove '
Thanks for the song suggestions, I think I'll get a pack of DAWG pics for now, maybe a couple Dunlops, just got Rob's setup pdf, got to go thank him in the other thread. Rich
How soon will the instrument get to you?
Monday 21st
Welcome, Mr. Dean. You can get information overload when it comes to advice on starting out. Just remember to have fun. On the pick question, I'm of the Primetone persuasion. The pick sampler sounds like a good idea. It surprised me how much tone difference a pick makes.
Hi, welcome. If your Kentucky has an D'Addario swing ticket on it, it's already got EJ74's. I emailed them to ask which strings were fitted and two months later they told me EJ74's!
As far as the pick samplers go, I read somewhere that you have to be a member for a while, some post under your belt, probably to assure them your not going to vamoose with the pics lol. It will be a while before I'm going to worry about tonal perfection out of the instrument, I'll be basically working on the fundamentals for some time, clean chord-ing, learning at least a bulk of the 2 finger chords, handling it, setup, switching between chords, and strumming/picking cleanly. I will take a little bit to get use to 8 strings.
I put new strings on any instrument, regardless of who done what before, I've already ordered new strings, I make sure they are strung and wrapped properly, I'll do a complete setup, this way I know its done right, not trying to play with someone else mistakes, may only compound difficulty learning. This Kentucky hasn't been played in a while I'm getting.
Wahoo, my new strings came in today, and.....UPS updated their delivery from Monday to today by end of day. edit; crap.....UPS sux! now it's Monday again
My personal guideline is to have 2 extra sets on hand. Of course I am a packrat also. GHS for 2 of the herd and EJ74 for the others. No comments on UPS other than I saw 3 of them drinking coffee and bs'ing this morning at the truck stop.
I've had better service with USPS and Fed-X than UPS.
Unless you just love making your own picks, I would think it's a better use of your time to buy them. Which is cool if you do make your own, but then it becomes a question of do you want to play or craft? I haven't used many picks but I love the Wegen M100. Probably medium thickness (1.0 mm), but stiffer than you would expect. I've used Golden Gate as well but it doesn't sound as crisp and loud as the Wegen. I think the thicker picks tend to have a more rounded bevel which makes a difference. Then again, I haven't used that many picks, so take this with a grain of salt. Also, Wegen makes left handed picks.
Got it today, posted some questions/pics under general Q's
