Can't believe that someone hasn't mentioned this yet, but you clearly need to buy another mandolin... so you can A/B them and find out what's wrong with the first one.
Can't believe that someone hasn't mentioned this yet, but you clearly need to buy another mandolin... so you can A/B them and find out what's wrong with the first one.
huge weber fan here, purchased a dandy Gallatin F for my wife years ago, it was killer! I currently own a Yellowstone with fern appointments and it just rocks my boat. I've owed around 3 others....
This is Dan from the Mandolins and Beer Podcast. Hope everyone is well! I just uploaded the newest episode that features none other than Scott Tichenor, the man behind the Mandolin Cafe!
This...
This^^ IME, the tuning machines are almost never the problem. Usually, the nut slots are too tight or are binding at the back edge where the angle changes. Changing them for aesthetic...
It is my belief that tuners are the least likely cause of tuning issues. Think about a company like Eastman. Do you believe they really make a decision to put tuners that don't work on their...
Sierra has much smaller hands than Mike Marshall. I'm only throwing this in here because the comparison was made between the way these 2 professionals (masters) grip the pick. I do not mean to...
I find it interesting that no one disputes when someone says `I can hear that the strings I put on two months ago are dead' but if they say `my mandolin sounds better a month after I got it' no one...
It's possible to really overthink a question like this. John has a simple interface and a modest budget. If you're interested in the one mic performance thing, give it a try. This is a mono recording...
I’ve never believed there is any “right” or “wrong” way to hold the pick. Just use whatever is the most efficient way to get the tone and speed you are trying to achieve. While I see lots of great...
I'm glad folks like their blue chips. I bought a couple a few years back and never really "got" what was exceptional about them. They were fine but I liked the feel and tone with my Wegen M200's...
It is worth mentioning that the some makers of musical instruments and some salesmen routinely conflate the possibility of their used products rising in value with the very much more remote...
As a mandolin builder, I see no reason to ever not use a 2" wide wooden fingerboard. They are cheap and readily available, regardless of your wood choice. When mandolin fingerboards are no longer...
If you aren't doing so, you should play chop chords rather than a muted strum. Same space isn't so much the problem as the fact that you could get the same effect by whacking a table with a...
Sounds like you like the mandolin, but wish it were in better shape. It also sounds like you like the mandolin, but don't like the way it was described. So, you can look for a nicer one and get a...
I like flat. Doesn't make sense to me reaching the G string on downhill. Especially with pinky. I'd prefer an opposite radius there :)
Extremely misguided answers? Well, ok then, maybe you could offer some real guidance.
1. What strings did Gibson recommend for the H1 in 1905? I can't find that information anywhere. So, how would...
I guess this raises the question of what constitutes "first" vs. "second generation." Leaving aside Bill Monroe's and Flatt & Scruggs well-known timelines, the Stanley Brothers started recording...
The best mandolin players I have heard were not famous. Fame is a choice. There are great famous mandolin players out there but some who are very good do not want fame. It does feed the ego...
If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. (Henry Ford, attrib.) If you want to progress your playing by playing by ear, and learning more difficult parts, then do so. After a while,...
I can't remember whether this has been pointed out yet, but one benefit of working on 4-finger (not just 4-string) chords from the beginning is precisely to stretch your hands so that you'll be able...
Two finger, three finger, four finger, five ... Okay, so you've really only got four fingers among your five digits, I only wrote that because it sounds like a nursery rhyme. Starting over ...
Two...
I would never go back. Life is too short to support people like that.
Since the September dust-up in which I was involved, I've been "lurking," as they say, and not posting on the Cafe. I must confess to some hurt feelings; whether deserved or not, up to others to...
That's what I thought when the spectre of newbies taking over the session was raised as a possible reason for an exclusive jam. How common is this scenario really? I can only say that I've never seen...
Inspired by sbhikes and this thread, I headed down to the "Celtic Kitchen Party" this afternoon, only to find a group of confused people standing outside a locked pub. My sweetheart called the...