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This thread is giving me pleasant flashbacks. Here's a pic from the place I bought my er hu:

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I traveled to China about 20 years ago and I kinda' fell in love with their music, their art and their culture.

The er hu is my favorite Chinese instrument. It's one of those upright bowed...

I second the recommendation by Mr. Garber to attend to the back cracks and leave the pearloid pickguard as is. In fact, I kinda' like the patina. Very cool guitar. It's a design that appeals to me...

Thanks for posting these pix. It's great to see how an instrument takes shape.

I like the method mentioned by Drew above. If you wind the string and then put it thru the hole, only a few turns of the tuner are needed.

After I get the string looped to the tailpiece, up the...

Winter and low humidity and end-pins start coming out of the woodwork :).

Raise the humidity or wrap painters tape around the pin. Or any of the other great suggestions above.

Largely, it's a...

On your 6-string guitar, try using the Freddie Green 3-note chord style. Very effective and easy on the hands.

If you've tried all the remedies offered here with no improvement, you need a real doctor, specialist or pro mandolin teacher. Pete Martin here on the cafe probably has some good advice for you.

I...

I too have had great success with Theraband flexbars. I started with the red until the pain went down and then bought the green one which is slightly denser and larger. Anyone with elbow/forearm pain...

Nice work and an interesting exercise. Here's another view of instruments and their ranges and overlaps - 167857

I was surprised to see that the piano has the greatest range of all instruments.

Low humidity can cause the problem this time of year. First step for me would be to ensure adequate humidity levels. The end-pin tends to shrink and get loose during the heating season. I know,...

My simpleton's approach to chord melody is to make them up according to my ear's desire. If you can construct chords, keep the melody note on top and maintain a pulse you're on your way. My chord...

I'm the lucky owner of a Dawg 'dola from his private collection. It's in near perfect condition and is a pleasure to play.

There's info on the web about the Dawg mandos - I don't know the...

I'm the lucky owner of one of Dawg's personal picks. Trained by him, but apparently only obedient to him. Nevertheless, it's a prized possession.

So I'm not the only one that's sold an instrument only to regret it later. :)

Thanks for posting a great story. Pix are excellent.

Find the moving tones and use 3 note or 2 note chords to facilitate. To me, the movement is more important than the full chords.

Awesome mandolin! I love my Rigel but would like to try one of these. Such a great looking instrument. I'm sure the tone matches the good looks.

That was awesome, both the instrument and the player. Thanks.

. . . and may you have many more.

One Dawg 'dola deserves another. This one from Mr. Grisman's personal collection. I like.
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No glue! Wrap the pin with blue painter's tape and re-insert. Should solve the issue. Lots of other remedies and I'm sure you'll get some great suggestions soon.

You'll probably get a lot of recommendations, so I'll start out with mine: Rigel. No need to compromise on volume and tone (or playability). Sorry to hear about your difficulties and best of luck.

I had tennis elbow in both arms and still have minor problems in my right elbow.

What worked for me in a hurry was using an item called a Theraband (check Amazon). Basically, it's a rubber rod...

I have had the pleasure of doing business with Andy, a world class gentleman. His instruments are all unusual and exceptional. Doing business with him is a delight. We've exchanged several...

The first time I saw Marty Stuart was when he was very young and playing with Lester Flatt at the Watermelon Park bluegrass festival near Berryville, VA in the early 70's. He was in his early teens....