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Re: Help with upgrade, please
You chose well Jim. I was going to mention the importance of considering a radiused fretboard since you are coming over from guitar (which have radiused fretboards) but you checked that box with the Eastman as they have a nice 12 degree radius. When I decided to take another try at mandolin last November I started with a 505 from TMS and it was a great choice.
Have great fun with it!
Rob
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Play it and enjoy it, Jim! Let us know when it arrives.
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Jim, I would be happy to own that mandolin. Have fun!
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Congrats!... great choice! I had about the exact same migration. Started with a super cheap used Rover off Craigslist and moved into an Eastman 305,... that's a great step up!
Now start saving for that Collings, Silverangel or whatever next step you choose!
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Hello everyone. Took delivery (or rather, found a box in the driveway) yesterday. What a thing of beauty. Sings like an angel, plays like a dream.
As a reminder, it's an Eastman MD504.
Jim
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Nice! Enjoy exploring all it has to offer! :mandosmiley:
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Great choice! I have owned both the Eastman 504 and the Kentucky 272. IMHO the Eastman was the superior mandolin.
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
I'm happy to hear you are so pleased with it, Jim. Enjoy!
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Thanks for joining in the joy, everyone. It really is a whole different world from my $89 Hola off Amazon. It's kind of like ditching your mom's old Fairlane beater for a new Mustang. (I guess you have to be my age to understand.)
I expected to find fretting easier because of the TMS setup, but what I didn't know was that strumming would be twice as easy too. What used to feel like dragging a bark chip through chicken wire is now a nice little glide over the courses.
Now if only I can learn a few new songs. I think my wife and our dog might be getting tired of Brown Eyed Girl and Knocking on Heaven's Door.
Jim
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Well done Jim, I was going to chime in with my routine Eastie-500-series endorsement (I get a nickel from them each time).
You might find the Eastman tailpiece a bit finicky for slipping the loop on. Part of my routine is, with small pliers, to slightly crimp the loop into a narrower oval, and also bend it down about 10o before slipping it on the hook. (Ever so gently so as not to create a sharp corner; have never had a string break at the tailpiece.)
Have fun.
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Thanks for the tip, Bill.
To everyone: I am having one problem, and that is that I'm finding no way to attach a strap to the peghead or under the fretboard extension. There isn't any cavity under the extension, since the carved top comes up to meet it. And the gap between the strings and the peghead is infinitesimal. Can't sneak a shoelace in there. Any ideas?
Jim
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
You might find this thread useful. Or, heck, you might not.
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Attachment 187242
Congrats Jim! Just wanted to share a pic of my 404 with a shoelace strung under the strings at the headstock. It is tight, but the screw for the trussrod cover helps to keep it away from the nut and helps to not interfere with my left hand. It works for me. Good luck!
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Thanks, Steve. That looks like what I should do. I'll have to tune down the strings tomorrow to provide some slack, then get some kind of twine in there.
Jim
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
You can also drill a small hole on the bottom (treble) side of the neck heel and install a strap button there.
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kevin Winn
You can also drill a small hole on the bottom (treble) side of the neck heel and install a strap button there.
Thanks, Kevin. I think I'll ask my favorite luthier/guitar tech in Grants Pass to do that for me. I've had him do that to several guitars and he only charges me $5.
I tried Steve's method and decided I'm just too used to straps being out of my way to get accustomed to having it tied to the head. It seems to interfere with my left hand.
Jim
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Re: Help with upgrade, please
Congratulations on the new mandolin!