Search:

This story reminds me of my dear friend Virgil who passed away from cancer this past year. In his dying days he was divesting all of his personal possessions. I had built a couple instruments for him...

(there have been several threads about this already) I've made and installed my own for all three of my mandolins and they're very similar in size and style to the stringworks ones. They function as...

Good answers here already. Even though it looks fancy, to me the protection factor is more important, especially for the spruce top. It seems like the edges ended up take abuse when instruments get...

In 1980, I was working in a shop in the Kalamazoo area and was able to get a reject F4 top out of their bargain basement. Somebody had nicked the top with a bandsaw in the area that's under the...

If you had the fingerboard radiused and new frets installed, it should play like butter now. The only real advantages of a newer ($$$$) instrument would be a slimmer neck and better tuners.

But...

Awesome! and you say this is your backup mandolin? You should have trouble if you're stuck using it in an ensemble situation.

The 515 is an exceptional deal. A LOT of sound for that amount of money. The one I worked on and set up was a very loud mandolin. Perhaps lacking in the subtleties of a pricier mandolin but tons of...

Yes Grovers are a great bargain. I've put 309s on several of my A style builds and they are nearly as smooth and predictable as Rubners. If only they had replaceable knobs or at least other options....

I've used poplar for self made linings on many instruments. It's inexpensive, relatively light weight, machines beautifully, and is strong. After repairing top cracks on instruments, I would be...

You might try some tuner cleaner on the contacts first, De-Ox-it (sp?) is popular in the electric world.

Playing with a strap solves that issue for me, even when sitting down.

TC Polytune- the full size one is switchable between true bypass and buffered. The TC is quite bright and very fast to nail the pitch

Hey Joe, congrats on making your next step up the ladder. Hopefully the Morris will keep you satisfied for a long time. In tiers, it seems the next step up is about $3k (gulp) that's where mandos...

K&K is a hot pickup and mandolins are already very sensitive and percussive so yes, it's going to pick-up any extraneous noises from contact with the top. It's part of why I prefer a small diameter...

Hi Sherry,

With "several guitars" it will be very easy for your simple chording to be overrun. Tom makes some very good points in his post above. If you haven't learned some closed chord shapes up...

K&K makes the double helix magnetic sound hole pickup which Molly Tuttle uses live for a good tone. Of course she's got some other pick-up or mic in the guitar also and runs them a Grace Designs...

If you invest in another tuner, I would recommend a TC polytune, especially for tuning mandolins. It nails the pitch instantly and is very accurate- helpful for getting both strings in a pair in tune...

I haven't tried these, but they are designed to lop off the extra decibels without muffling the tone....

I had the opposite problem with my left index finger not closing down enough to play certain chords on the guitar. I had the first injection into a joint and that helped but dissipated in a few...

I tried the XS strings on my D18. To me they have a smoother feel than the XT. I got about 2 months out of them (as opposed to 3 weeks). Interestingly, they didn't sound like coated strings when...

I have a friend who has an older Collings. He has small hands and the V hurt his fretting hand. He had a luthier round the V to a softer V and had it speed necked at the same time. No change in tone.

1) TC UniTune is more $$ but superior for Mandolin IMO. Fast, decisive, accurate. If you want strobe tuning for setting intonation, go with the Polytune.

2) I have one mandolin that produces...

Just low enough to hold a CT55 between the strings and 12th fret. But then, I'm not a heavy chopper.

I haven't tried Waverly mandolin tuners, but of the other brands I've used on my instruments, Rubners are a clear winner for smoothness and predictability with, (believe it or not) Grover 309s being...

A violin post setting tool can be helpful in getting pressure on the sensor while the CA glue sets. Those little f holes are not finger friendly.