Bad Mando

  1. RickMo
    RickMo
    Hi all,

    Against all common sense, I decided to learn to play the mandolin at age 75. Quickly discovered it's not as easy as faking it with a guitar like I did in the old days! A Mando will shred guitar fingers in a heartbeat!

    Didn't want to commit to a nice instrument until I determined this was a feasible endeavor,
    so bought a cheap Chinese knockoff to start with. It sounds OK but I suspect it's hard to fret compared to quality instruments. I'm making progress but was wondering if any of you went a similar route?

    Been having trouble with my right arm placement, keeps putting big dents in my arm, so bought an armrest. Big mistake, as now I get more dents as the holddown hardware digs in as well.

    Looking for instruction here in the panhandle of Florida if anyone knows someone.

    Thanks

    R W "Rick" Morrison
  2. NDO
    NDO
    First thing to do is get a copy of Rob Meldrum’s free e-book (email him here) and check the setup on your mando. It made a huge difference on my first cheap mandolin-shaped object.

    And welcome to the forum! This is a great place to learn.
  3. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    You and I are the same age. I started with mandolin a few years ago and my first one was also "a cheap Chinese knockoff". I can confirm that you can shred your fingers on one that is not set up properly, which almost none of them are as purchased. I highly recommend you contact Rob Meldrum and ask for his free ebook on mandolin setup. Or you can take the mandolin to a reputable mandolin luthier and pay for a setup. A typical Guitar Center or music shop probably will do it, but do a lousy job unless their repair person really knows mandolins better than most. You can do it far better.

    Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy of his ebook for free (free to all mandolincafe members).

    I can also confirm that you can make a cheap Chinese knockoff play just as easily as a very expensive instrument using Rob's ebook as a guide.

    Welcome to the Newbies, Rick. Keep us up to date on your progress!
  4. Stacey Morris
    Stacey Morris
    Welcome to the Newbies group, Rick!

    I am no help comparing a mandolin to guitar, since I was never a guitar player. I do know that it takes a while to get your fingers toughened up to play mandolin.
  5. BadExampleMan
    BadExampleMan
    Welcome Rick!

    My first mando was likewise a "cheap Chinese knockoff" except I think the cheap Fenders are made in Korea, I forget. Anyway, even though I bought it from a music store it desperately needed a setup and I didn't know enough to know that was the problem so I spent several months wondering why I couldn't get a decent tone out of it.

    Mind you, mandolin strings are higher tension than a guitar so it takes a while to get a calluses built up. But even without callus - take your time, place your index finger perfectly on each of the first 12 frets on each course and play a single note. If you can't get a clear tone then the problem's not you.
  6. JeffLearman
    JeffLearman
    These days, cheap instruments are incredibly good, especially compared to cheap ones back in the 70's when I started buying them. A cheap instrument back then was say $150 (over $600 in today's money) and vastly inferior to today's crop.

    One of the things they do to make it cheap is to skip setting it up properly! So, Meldrum's free e-book is definitely the first step.

    The second and third steps are to set the bridge height and nut height appropriately. On cheap instruments (as the book says) they're intentionally left high -- because better too high than too low. You can easily fix too high; you have to replace too low (on the nut anyways.)

    One problem that Meldrum doesn't mention much is that bridge and nut height affect each other. That is, if you lower each of them both as far as possible, the last one will make the other one too low. So, plan to make two adjustments to whatever you do first, and don't go for the "full monty." Personally I'd start with bridge.

    But with those two very simple adjustments you can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse and your fingers will love you for it.

    Meldrum goes into a lot more stuff, but those are the first two and really make a difference. If the frets are uneven you'll have to have the action higher than you want.

    Finally, don't be afraid to take it to a luthier for setup. Not sure what it costs today, but my guess is that $100 spent on a good luthier will be money well-spent.

    I've done my own guitar setup for 5 decades now. But I still occasionally take them to the luthier and am always impressed by how much better a job they do than I can. And IMHO guitars are easier than mandos.

    Oh, another tip about the nut: don't glue it! I have a couple instruments where the nut isn't glued (mando, uke.) It's because neither is quite right yet. It makes it a lot easier to adjust the nut or level the frets if the nut is loose. The concession is that when tightening the strings from all loose (such as for a bridge adjustment) to in tune, I have to tighten the strings outermost first (or innermost first) and work in (or out) so that the nut doesn't slide to the side. Once these instruments are in ideal shape I'll probably put just a small spot of glue on, just to avoid this.
  7. Felyx
    Felyx
    Wanted to thank HonketyHank for posting Rob's email, and NDO for recommending the book as well! I just emailed him for a copy and I'm looking forward to getting my cheapo Rogue hopefully properly set up!
Results 1 to 7 of 7