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It's already been noted that a mandolin is not a little guitar played upsidedown. Hand position is also not the same as guitar. Good guitar technique is to have your hand perpendicular to the...

There are certainly dogs out there, but i think a small portion are actually fine instruments that just don't work for a specific player for one reason or another, or as Chuck Leyda said, a dog at...

I'm like Tim Logan, I look at the music and my fingers are where they need to be. But that's how I learned to read music. You can't find patterns or look at your fingers on a flute, say, you look at...

We lost a great one. So sorry to hear this. Condolences to his family and friends.

And to add a contrarian to the lists ... depending on where your arthritis is may play into whether a wider neck works for you or not. I have osteoarthritis in my left thumb and found that holding...

just a caveat -- if you find the instrument really hard on your fingers or hand and really tough to play, get the setup sooner rather than later. there's no reason why you should suffer because the...

because somehow i can't seem to add this to another string. sigh.

lute?

I'd think that any archeological dig should include more than just sociologists. This story shows why. it's too easy to just dismiss stuff you don't understand with "oh, it was just garbage that...

I don't know about Dagger -- he'll chime in on which pick he uses -- but most of the celtic mandolin players i know use a medium weight relatively thin pick with a point since ITM mandolin is a...

also, although it's nice to have a single pick you love with your mandolin, some picks just sound better with whatever string/instrument combination you currently have and that can change at any...

Lovely! it made me channel my early 20s and my dip into medieval music and dancing.... so you need someone in the band to do some fancy footwork, as well as matching hat bands.

i'm no help identifying it, but use ultra light strings when you string it up. just putting that out there.

i think there's been discussion in the cafe (and other places) about the place of arts in society as a whole, especially linked to COVID-19 and how that's affected public performances and people's...

Or so says this article. Thought I'd toss it out there.

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what kind of mandolin do you have? bowlback, flat-top, carved -- just checking you have a playable mandolin and not a mandolin-shaped object. Not that that helps with string changes, but it shouldn't...

You had asked about whether the intonation could change with different strings -- it certainly did with mine. I normally use ej74s but in the summer i'll put on coated strings (normally elixirs) and...

I own two bandolims, one i picked up from a small independent music store for under $500 and the other from what amounted to a second-hand store for $85, so they are out there. The younger Giannini...

welcome to the mandolin and the cafe!

i think the advice to wait on opening a new instrument is to make sure the inside of the package is the same temperature as the room (someone correct me if...

What a lovely reason to have to wait!

also, on the difference between oval and ff hole versions, iirc oval hole sound is easier heard by the player and ff by the audience. also, the eastman does have a truss rod (I just checked) in...

I, too, am lucky in my spouse, normally referred to on here as my-husband-the-guitar-player. We started playing duets together while we were dating back in the 1970s and picked up ITM as a pair back...

welcome!

welcome to the mandolin and cafe! if you want specifics on what to look for in a well set up mandolin, shoot an email to rob meldrum and he'll send you his free guide to doing your own setup -- it...

Depending on the case ... extra picks, wire cutters, string winder, Oasis humidifier too dried out to use, band biz cards. i keep the tuner on the mandolin(s) and a pick in the strings. I believe one...