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It’s like what happens on the fretboard of a mountain dulcimer, where the wider frets give you a whole-step jump, rather than a half-step jump.

Let’s say that you take out the 13th fret on your...

Maybe you're subconsciously showing your Canadian pride, thinking of a song written by a Canadian songwriter. :)

Good point, but I also wouldn't want to chug a vintage cabernet.

I saw Michael Cleveland with Flamekeeper back when Jesse Brock was in the band. I was in awe of Cleveland's talent, but I didn't...

I second Charley’s recommendations of the mandolin and the store, although if there is a non-chain instrument store within driving distance, you could look there first. (Eastmans generally go for...

Tony boldly took the bluegrass guitar where no bluegrass guitar had gone before --- a cause and effect of his participation on the first couple of David Grisman Quintet albums. I still find his...

Congratulations! That's really the great thing about the used instrument market. People who need/want the instrument and people who need/want the money and/or space all get what they want. I got...

I think that you've hit on the key distinction in your phrase "organizing principle." I agree that a collection does have an organizing principle, whereas an accumulation doesn't. You collect...

That's a really good distinction, although I think that buying "instruments with reputations [or] pedigrees" borders on collecting. Everything else that you mention seems like the musical equivalent...

I agree completely about Tim O'Brien, and I'd also add Sarah Jarosz and Sierra Hull to the list of contemporary players who have done some great things on the OM.

The biggest difference you're...

If you're up for a longer day and a better story, you could stop at Gryphon, play the Pava, and then head down to Sylvan to play the Girouard. That won't give you a side-by-side comparison, but at...

These are very helpful comments. With instruments in the top half of your price range and beyond, magnificence is in the ear of the beholder, and you clearly are dialed in to the subtleties of tone....

With that budget, I would suggest in normal times using part of it for a trip to Nashville for visiting Gruhn's and Carter's --- two stores that have a phenomenal selection of mandolins in the top...

The tunes on this album sound like 1.5 mandolins, because Zenkl used a variety of split tunings.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Hw5rK_dwQ

Agreed on both counts! He plays for expressiveness, rather than speed.

I discovered that back in the goodle days when musicians could work together in a studio, he made a video for the last song...

When my son was starting out as a luthier, he was doing the French polish work at the shop of a well-established, highly regarded classical guitar builder. My son was taking longer on each guitar...

That's why the sets of great musicians and great music teachers overlap in the Venn Diagram. I'm sure that plenty of us have taken disappointing workshops from phenomenal musicians who can play, but...

Like instrument tops, veggies really pick up flavor when they’ve been torrified.

As a vegetable, Brussel sprouts are an A model, not an F model. Slice the Brussel sprouts in half vertically,...

That reminds me of Olympic diving and gymnastics. A judge will give a 10 to more than one dive or routine.

That said, here is a quick exercise:

1) Make your personal list of all the players...

Tuttle recorded a full-band version of this Rancid song from last century on her new album, but this is a great duo version. Scroggins rocks the rhythm backing her up, and then both of them totally...

The big game changers here have been the dry lightning, the stronger winds, and the trees that are drier than usual from the many drought years over the past decade. Multiple fires have become major...

You might stop by Dusty Strings and ask there. Beware of the mandolin and guitar temptations, though. 😃

“The Mando Chronicles” is a tremendous collection! You’ll get a wide variety of musical styles, all played with great spirit.

This is a really interesting and fun offshoot of Daniel's weekly interview podcasts. His first one was with Don Stiernberg a couple of months ago, going through his new album, Straight Ahead, and he...

Either way, your instrument will contain an OM. The question is whether you want to expand it into the range of a mandocello —- making it a cittern —- or a mandola. Basically, your 5-course...

I don’t know of any OM series, but David Surette and Robin Bullock are great players who often teach at festivals. So, they might also give Skype lessons. Surette’s website is pretty sparse, but it...