My New Big Muddy M11 Arrived Today!

  1. BillC-PA
    BillC-PA
    I started playing the mandolin last year at age 65. I started with the Trinity College Octave, and decided it was time to get a standard mandolin. (for various reasons I wasn't able to play for approx 6 months, so I'm kind of back to square one) After much research, and positive feedback on the Big Muddy's, I decided on the Big Muddy M11 - wide. I as surprised how much more pressure it takes on the strings (fingers sore tonight), and my instructor will take a look at it on Friday to make sure it is setup right. (I'm sure it is). It is a really nice looking instrument .... mahogany, and I upgraded the hardware - Golden Age Tuners with black knobs and Golden Age Tailpiece.
    Bill
  2. Dave Weiss
    Dave Weiss
    Very nice! I really like the M-11's. Have fun with that one.
    >>>===> Dave
  3. bratsche
    bratsche
    Have lots of fun with it - I love the sound of mahogany (and the look, and the smell... )

    bratsche
  4. FatBear
    FatBear
    I had a lot of trouble with my MW-0w when I first got it. I took it back to the store, which had a well respected repair shop in it, and they lowered the nut. That obviously did nothing to improve the problem. So I took it to an independent luthier. He raised the nut back up to where it was originally and put on some J73 strings. That was MUCH better. I could have changed the strings in the first place all by myself, but I was too new to know anything. He said he was tempted to lower the bridge but was worried that he'd take too much off of it and it would buzz.

    I've learned some more about mandolins since then. Apparently people who really pick hard need more room under the strings than people who are less aggressive. Too little room and the strings buzz. Ick. I'm less aggressive, so last winter I was messing around and decided to sand the bottom of the bridge. I don't remember how much I lowered it. It was noticeable, but it takes a lot of sanding to really remove much wood. It did help the finger pressure a little bit, but I stopped before it started buzzing so I don't really know how much farther I could go. Some day I'm going to get a new bridge and see how far I can take it.

    Another thing I was told was: get used to it. Mandolin strings take more pressure to fret in the first place and then there are two of them. I don't know how much that is fact and how much is bluster, but it does make some sense to me. I know that over the 2.5 years I've been playing my fingers have become stronger and I've got some good callouses on them, so it doesn't seem that hard anymore.

    Oh, a couple more things my instructor told me. First you don't need to push down way out in the middle between the frets, you can put your finger just barely behind the fret and partly even on it, as long as you don't hang over. That requires more precise placement of your fingers, but precision is probably a good objective, anyway. And you don't need to push nearly so hard when you do it that way. The other thing helped me, but you probably already know it: push the string down before you plink it, not at the same time. That has also helped me.
  5. BillC-PA
    BillC-PA
    Thanks everyone. FatBear - thanks for the tips. I'm taking lessons from an experienced mandolinist and a Luthier. He has also given me some good tips. Speaking of tips - my finger tips sure are sore tonight - practiced chords today
  6. richieb
    richieb
    Congrats on your new mando, it's beautiful. I take it you ordered it directly from Mike at Big Muddy. Tell us about that, he's great guy to deal with.
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