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I've always tried to find ways of economizing pick direction on triplets. As an example, take the notes e-g-bb-g on strings 4-3-3-3, the first three forming a triplet. On that figure I might play...

Yeah, I and several other forum regulars played an old school 815/v up at strings & things in Concord NH and everyone who played it said it sounded awesome. Broke my heart that I couldn’t take it...

I use both

Strum machine is great for bluegrass tunes mostly though other genres can work (not as well though). Being able to use the same app on your desktop and mobile device is a big plus IMO....

Bending notes might be part of it. I think the root of my problem is finding comfortable finger patterns, double stops etc to pull out that blues sound. Thanks to this thread I’ve had a few...

The mandolin has been a blues instrument for as long as blues has been around. No one's breaking new ground here, except perhaps in one's own playing. There are plenty of blues mandolinists to listen...

This is my arrangement of Agnus Dei, No.26 from the Mass in B minor (Messe in h-Moll) BWV 232 by J.S. Bach, an introduction to an aria.

https://youtu.be/LDcYWRW8_yc

and here are pieces from the...

Mandolin Method Books

Except where noted in the descriptions, all of these are available from Amazon.

MANDOLIN PRIMER
By Bert Casey. I don't own this book so I can't make a comment, but it...

Hey, it's a just few notes here and there, right? Yeah right...This was deceivingly difficult to play for me. A true tongue twister for my fingers! After literally 40+ takes, this is what I got. ...

I don't have a very fine ear but I like this:
Behringer VD400 delay into TC electronics HOF into mixer into ZT Lunchbox. The HOF is a great inexpensive toy to play with a wide range of...

Clean: AER alpha
Not: Epiphone valve jr

I use the clean channel on a Quilter MP200 with a touch of reverb.

Lots of love here for Quilter amps like the (admittedly pricey) MicroPro. I played through one at a jam with my electric and was impressed. I used the overdrive channel for a smidge of clipping,...

I just bought an Eastman El Rey. Great little mandolin by the way. And I'm playing with a classic rock band and we do some acoustic covers on which I use the mandolin. I have my guitar setup going...

I use a Boss acoustic simulator and TC electronics spark booster with my Dillion eight string semi hollow electric.

I don’t have an electric but I use that little Behringer pedal BoxCarJoe mentioned with my harmonica mike into a PA and it sounds great. I also plugged in my acoustic-electric (Eastman MD605) and...

Depends on your budget. Any small "boutique" tube amp will (a) sound wonderful and (b) cost a lot, with a pretty consistent you-get-what-you-pay-for ratio. That said, I've found that the single best...

Right now just a Tube Screamer clone set lightly enough to thicken the tone.

I've watched a million YouTube videos but every demo is about shredding so it's hard to judge.

I have this on order:...

I use the Acoustic Image “Coda” in the same way. It’s a bit clean for electric instruments so I’ve recently added a Strymon “Iridium” pedal which simulates a whole range of classic amps and cabinets.

I use an Acoustic Image Contra combo for electric guitar, electric mandolin, and double bass. It's very clean and flat, works great for all three.

I beg to differ Autumn Leaves is often played in the key of G or you can say Em. The Real Book version is in Em (or G major). One sharp F#.

And I find G/Em to be an extremely friendly key on the...

I still got a strap on mine - the kind with a shoestring at the end. The end of the fingerboard is enough of an edge for the shoestring to work ok.

No, My 1922 A4 is like that & its just Fine..

Eastman has gone with a more "retro" or "traditional" design with their ovals. Also notice where the fretboard meets the body at the 12th fret instead of the 14th.

Compared to the modern...

Agreed - my 305 F hole type looks like it has a wedge glued under the end of the fingerboard, with just enough fb overhang left to fit a strap bootlace. That overhang looks to be over the soundhole...

Do you want an oval hole mandolin modeled after the early Gibsons or a f-hole mandolin made with an oval? The former traditional, the latter modern. I've had both and prefer the former.

I do...