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Happily playing my Gibson mando while reading another silly Gibson-bashing thread....

Mick

I never advise against removing part of your instrument's upper range...but that's my minority opinion.

From what I've gathered,they quit making banjos right after the flood...

Hi all - It's not nice to have to post this,but i've been diagnosed with a strong possibility of having lung cancer. As a life long non-smoker,that's pretty ironic.
It's not 100% certain yet,as i...

The maximum I would put on these old Gibsons is 11-15-25-40. I usually use 10 1/2-14-24- 38 or 40.

There are those who would say that these old mandolins can handle the heavy gauge strings that...

I use lights on my ‘17 as a precaution. They play and sound nice.

Thanks Zeiguner. Very helpful. I've always used mediums, and I've always found mandolins pretty difficult to fret compared with guitars. This might wind up being kind of a game changer for me.

Given the fact that I am more of a 'melodic' player, and don't normally 'chop' or 'chord', I find that the pickguard/finger-rest is very helpful for keeping my hand in a comfortable playing position....

It's easy. If the mando lacks a pickguard, use a felt pick. :)

No I certainly do not see that there is any obligatory connection between bluegrass pickers and the need for pick guards. The only difference between bluegrass pickers and other pickers is that they...

"No pickguard" is the correct answer.

The pickguard does not affect the volume or tone. This has been beat to death over the years. There might be three dozen posts about it. It's a personal thing. On the original F5 they weren't called...

I will confirm that Gibson did not use bar frets.

Gibson never used bar frets as far as I know. They are very narrow though, which could give you that impression.

On behalf of repair people throughout the world, I thank you for contributing to our job security.

Mr. Block can argue all that he wants. After having worked on a couple of hundred of these mandolins and seeing what has happened to many that have been heavily strung, I am comfortable with my...

I've worked on many Gibson mandolins made between 1910 and 1930. These mandolins were NOT made to handle either set that has been mentioned. Not only do you risk warped necks, you also risk sunken...

It's from the position of the notes in a scale. The space between any two notes is called an interval, and all the intervals have names.

If we start with the G on a mandolin, a G major scale is G...

G to D is a fifth, D to A is a fifth, A to E is a fifth, as opposed to standard guitar tuning E to A is a fourth, A to D is a fourth, D to G is a fourth, G to B is 3rd, B to E is a 4th. So...

If it is a good sounding mandolin, I don't think where it is made should matter.

I'm typically not one to engage in open letters to the community, but something has been gnawing at my brain for a very long time. A few days ago I was contacted by a buyer with a question regarding...