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Now we know why he started wearing big hats ��

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like when I purchased my first mandolin back in the early 2000s that there was a lot less to choose from at all price points. Both models and inventory. So it's all...

https://www.thesoundpost.com/en/store/accessories/violin/peg-dope

Speaking as a fiddler first, and mandolinist second, 110 bpm is a perfectly reasonable tempo for fiddle tunes. I can play faster but don't care to for the most part. As RobP alluded to, the...

I know that Wayne Benson has one and likes it. I think it's featured on a couple of his youtube videos.

Sure looks like Ebony to me. Even stained rosewood is usually a little lighter shade of black and looser grained looking, for lack of a better term.

I agree. Medium gauge is typically the go-to reference point for mandolins. Violins as well. There's a number of affordable medium strings that should be a good reference string. 11-15-26-40 is the...

That certainly makes sense with the numbering. Looks like a nice find!

I really like them on my (carved) oval hole. I liked them enough on the f hole ones too but they really seem to pair even better with the oval and I'm using those exclusively on that one.

The guitar community IS different alright 😂
Anyhow, the change makes sense to me. This IS a mandolin community after all.

I know a lot more about making violins and all that goes into it from that perspective, than making mandolina, but there are parallels. One of the best violin makers I've known (actually a talented...

I can't afford that stuff either. It IS priorities. 18 yr old sedan and pre-owned 20 yr old bicycles is how I roll. So, humble $1000 instruments are a big investment. Good thing I was able to rent to...

Ideally, any crackdown on Pernambuco will be seen as the red herring it is. Brazil was all over it as a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that they're trying to destroy rainforest as...

I was going to counter as well, with all the violinists that want their soundpost adjusted every time the barometric pressure changes etc., separate bridges and posts for winter and summer, neck...

Nate Lee just moved to RI, I'm pretty sure he's still taking students. "Playnately" on FB..

Agreed. There are plenty of well-vetted used violins that one can buy without concern and would probably be a better purchase long-term than the Eastman and a plastic bow (not there's anything WRONG...

The advice about starting higher up the neck with the chop chords is sound. I have large hands and long fingers, so the reach wasn't hard when I started out, but getting good tone and making smooth...

I think you'll find that many regard the Kentuckys equally or better, so it's not always clear cut. I owned an Eastman years ago when I first started playing mandolin. It was ok, but not on par with...

One of my mandos is a KM756. It's my BG axe as my better instruments are more suited to other styles. I think it's great for the price point. That being said, I've never played it with the original...

Not to be overly contrarian, but I have to disagree with the notion that there's automatically a different setup. You don't *need* a different setup to play the same stuff, it's player preference. I...

He had quite an interesting life. He also was a merchant sailor for a little bit as well as a school teacher out west somewhere. Truly one of the biggest contributors to keeping ITM going here. On...

Don't be afraid to buy used if you can have that fiddler friend evaluate. Nothing against the Eastman you mentioned, but you can get a lot more fiddle for the same money (or less) if you branch out....

Chief O'Neill's Hornpipe

I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole here, and I have no scientific input to offer. But, as a fiddler first, I've had the pleasure of playing many different instruments of different ages...

Eastman or Kentucky tend to be the better bets in that price point. Some feel that Kentuckys have more of the "traditional" Gibsonesque sound and the Eastmans more "modern". Some Eastmans are...