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I was made aware of this band that I have never heard about. They are the Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee. They obviously play traditional bluegrass in a very good way. I have only been able to dip into the...

Well, SOLs are "handmade". And indeed it´s unfair to do a comparison of an SOL with f.ex. a Duff or Kimble A-5 (though I liked the tone of my SOL better than the one of an Ellis A-5 when I tried it...

I am an avid promoter of a certain style of Strad-O-Lin mandolins. They have the comma f-holes. The body is slightly smaller than the average A shaped Gibson mandolin and - as far as I know - it was...

I hope that Norman Blake is doing well (and Nancy Blake also of course). Yes, happy birthday!

While he excels on pretty much any stringed instrument I am particularly happy with his guitar...

It does not allways have to be bluegrass. Nicely done. Yet the song is called "Nine Pound Hammer". I just found out that the first recording is probably by Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters (May 13,...

Adendum:

Go and look for Jimmy Bruno on youtube. His mantra is: "Learn to play in all 12 keys".

I think that it is fairly limiting to be able to apply a universally valid fingering system only...

I thought long and hard before replying to this thread. Maybe I am just not able to understand what the teacher told you. Maybe it is a wording problem. And I do not want to bash any teacher...
...

This super funny (the other funny) story actually shows several possible facts.
- How limited can one be to believe certain instruments are limited to certain styles (has the praise band guy never...

Since everyone unloaded their ideas about picks on you, one more post does not matter.

When I started out playing an instrument it was very difficult for me to find a pick that I could actually...

"The Ban" touches upon two topics and a general thought:

1. Is it okay to play musical pieces that could offend? Or should they be banned?

2. Is it okay to play musical pieces even though...

I just wanted to give a shout out for DataNick who has this on Bluegrasstoday:

https://bluegrasstoday.com/california-report-san-diego-mandolinist-b-k-nick-nicholson/

I miss his quality posts...

I felt the need to come back to this topic due to the fact that so many opinions voiced in this thread come from personal preferences/experience only.

I think it is necessary to see the bigger...

14 years ago Lawrence Smart´s name has certainly had more exposure in mandolin circles as did Fletcher Brock. I played a Brock F-5 once that was a nice instrument.

Your post makes one thing...

The list ist centered around F-5 and A-5 style mandolins. Neither are luthiers in the list that build classic mandolins (Kerman) or "folksy" mandolins (that are played by our irish/scottish etc....

Yes, happy new year!

And what a project to boot.

May I sugest "Glen Rock" from the Tone Poets CD (which has the most awesome right hand downstrock and tripplet ideas):
...

This is probably the essence of singing right there!!!

I had a quiet moment today. I grabed my guitar and in the spirit of the moment recordet what I was feeling and thinking about:
on earth peace, goodwill toward men

I´ve been thinking about folks...

That´s a builder you don´t hear to often about. Is it a new one? If not, what year? (Enjoy it in good health)

There are multiple suppliers, depending on how much you would like to spend.

Prucha in the Czech Republic is a supplier for tuning machines among other things...

I understand the question of "why is there a principle of DUDU picking". I asked it myself many moons ago. But nobody that wants to prevent sloppy picking will defend the opinion that DUDU is an...

This is an interesting question.

I would say that it is up to the negotiating parties to settle this question.

I bought two instruments "online", one used banjo on banjohangout.org and my...

This thread really got me thinking about how difficult it is to define your own preferences for sound and how difficult it is to respond to someone with a recomendation concerning a description of...

I have a 30ies Strad-O-Lin without truss rod (obviously). I have had it almost since Christ was a cowboy. It never had a neck reset or anything else concerning the neck. It still plays beautifully...

I do not doubt that the Black mandolin is duely enjoyed.

I dare you to do a comparison of your
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2018 Vessel TM5 and
2019 Hogan F5.
I´d like that very much.

The OP has indeed indicated very nicely what he expects from a mandolin, namely resonance, harmonics and overtones are more important than punchiness/loudness for a man with big hands who prefers the...