How Many Would Like to Have a Weber SWEET PEA??

[Nalapombu]

Hey all,

I know this mando gets talked about pretty often, so I hope no one goes off on me for asking about them again....

Ever since I saw these mandos I wanted one. I don't know why, I just wanted it. It didn't hurt that I would read all kinds of opinions saying how nice they felt and played. Since I already owned a Weber Bitterroot, I thought it might be cool to have another Weber. Unfortunately I never did get around to getting one, which I regret.

Well that was quite a few years ago when I used to spend a lot of time on here and I was taking lessons.

Now I am finding my interest in Mandolin increasing again and I am starting to play a little bit here and there and trying to get my fingertips in shape, which is SLOW going.
I still have my Bitterroot and oddly enough, I still find myself wanting a Sweet Pea.

Every now and again I look around and see if there are any for sale and sadly, I rarely ever see one. They had to be a pretty popular mandolin because of how many people look to buy them USED and how many others have them and hold onto them.
I was talking to Weber the other day about an estimate on my Bitterroot to fix a small ding in the top and after that, I asked the guy if they made the Sweet Pea again and he told me NO, they did not and he said he had heard of no plans to do so. Then he happened to add that he wished they would make them again because HE wanted one pretty badly and that I would be surprised at how many people email them and ask if they have them available.
I guess I'm not the oddball after all.....

You'd think Weber would see the popularity of this little mandolin and start making some batches of them to see how they sell. Then again, I don't run an mandolin company.

So, I thought I'd ask and see how many others here like these little mandolins and would also like to have one.
Every now and again I will see one that someone has for sale and I get a bit anxious and then I'll see the asking price and come back to earth. The price is often more than I can pay at the time.
I believe I'll find one someday and see if the wait was worth it. Who knows, I might be profoundly PO'ed at the way it sounds, handles and plays. Time will tell...perhaps.

How about your thoughts on this mandolin? Would you like to have one now?

Thanks for the time.

Nalajr

[Petrus]

I think someone's got one in the classifieds now. They're asking $350. I've seen 'em used about $250-350.

They're cute, but I don't find them particularly compelling. Mandos are small enough already, so I don't see the point of making them ukulele-sized. They can't produce much sound at that size.

[Petrus]

I think someone's got one in the classifieds now. They're asking $350. I've seen 'em used about $250-350.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/80153

They're cute, but I don't find them particularly compelling. Mandos are small enough already, so I don't see the point of making them ukulele-sized. They can't produce much sound at that size.

[Nalapombu]

Yeah I saw that the other day....

Too much...

Nalajr

[Markus]

Back in the day, a cheap mandolin that played well was rare and so a travel mandolin made more sense.

Today $300 bucks with get you a playable full size mandolin, so a sweet pea is too expensive for what it is (in my opinion).

Just a glance will tell me that the crossover Breedloves that just showed up places for sale for $299 is going to have a fuller sound, and experience tells me that it will play just peachy too.

A decade ago the mandolin market was very different .,.

[JEStanek]

I had one that I got for $200 and moved along for the same price years ago. I preferred it to the Martin Backpacker due to it's sound and clever tail-piece. I think $350 is much more than I would spend on one but, the market will pay what it feels it's worth. I agree, unless you're REALLY backpacking or travelling with tight space requirements, the Sweet Pea doesn't make much sense. It has a pleasant enough voice but the bottom end just isn't supported by such a small chamber. For a similar amount of $$$ you can get a very serviceable full size mandolin and get a fuller sound.

We've had members post photos of a full sized mid mo rigged to their back pack going up real mountains. We've also seen James Condino's guitar go up a mountain.

Jamie

[SCIFIDELITY]

I owned one years ago. I kept it for a couple of months then sold it. It's just not practical for the following reasons:

1. It doesn't sound good, especially considering the price.
2. I don't want to carry any extra weight when backpacking, I can go a week without playing.
3. It's too expensive to be potentially ruined by rain/ humidity/ etc.

If you must have a mando with you while backpacking I'd pick one up for less than $100 (eg. Johnson, Ibanez, savannah, etc) .


just my $.02

[Mike Bunting]

Hey all,

I know this mando gets talked about pretty often, so I hope no one goes off on me for asking about them again....



Nalajr

I don't hear it being talked about and judging from the responses here, it's for a good reason.

[Nalapombu]

I don't hear it being talked about and judging from the responses here, it's for a good reason.

I guess I've been gone too long!!

What are some of these $300 good sounding mandolins that are available now? I'd like to check those out for sure.

I'll have to look at those Breedloves for $299. I almost bought a KF back in the day so I already liked the looks of them. Kinda strange and different, but I do like them. I have also read and heard a lot about the Breedlove mandos.

Which mandos would you all suggest at $300?

Thanks

Nalajr

[jdchapman]

The Loars. Eastmans. Good used solid wood A's from either seem pretty common at that pricepoint (300). You can even pick up a pancake occasionally at that price or near it if you're lucky or patient. I've only ever played one Sweet Pea, but I'd rather have a Lonestar for 100. Actually, I secretly kind of like Lonestars.

[allenhopkins]

...Which mandos would you all suggest at $300?

Loar LM-170; solid hand-carved top, laminated back and sides.

Kentucky KM-160; all solid woods, hand-carved top.

Even cheaper is the Rover RM-50, which is all solid woods but with a heat-pressed top.

Eastmans, even the "no frills" MD-305, tend to be over $400, though you can find them used or "B stock" in the $300 range.

[mandroid]

For Bicycle touring I found a Leo Pocket Mandolin ..
to pack amongst my tent and sleeping bag on the rear rack.

Here is someone making something similar .. http://www.mandolinluthier.com/pocket_mandolin.htm


Now if I have space I'd take my Carmon Fiber A5 Mix. ..

[Violingirl]

I sort of want one just for its name-Sweet Pea. Hard to resist, but resist I will until I can resist no more....

[Bob Clark]

Hello Nalapombu,

I had a Sweet Pea for quite a while and really liked it for the kind of traveling I was doing. I play every night and did not want to skip the nights when I would be away from home. I needed a mandolin that I could practice on in a hotel room without disturbing people in other rooms, and I don't like doing things like putting a sock in the sound hole of a regular mandolin or muting with my palm. I could make the SP sound reasonably good while still playing quietly. It might not have sounded anywhere near as good as my regular mandolins, but it had its own advantages as well.

I needed to be able to carry a mandolin discretely. For the type of business I was on, carrying something recognizable as a musical instrument would have seemed inappropriate. In its small bag, the SP just blended in with my small amount of luggage and was only noticed at the site I was traveling to one time. Even then, it didn't raise an eyebrow in the way a regular mandolin might have.

I play mainly classical and renaissance music, and mostly melody-line and for that, the SP was fine. Bluegrass would probably have been another story, but I don't play Bluegrass.

I enjoyed my SP quite a bit and sometimes I really miss it. But one cannot hold onto all things in life, so I moved it along. I hope its new owner enjoys it as much as I did.

Best wishes, Bob

[Nalapombu]

Thanks all.

That "pocket Mando" in the link posted above looks kinda neat too. Wonder how much they are?

One thing I wonder about those mandolins like that Pocket mando and the Sweet Pea is whether they play like a standard size mando. You know what I mean? If I had a Sweet Pea, one of those Pocket Mandos and my Weber F style sitting here and I picked up the 2 small mandos and strummed all the strings open on both of those mandos, would both of them sound exactly like my Weber F? Just wondering if you'd have to adjust anything to play the same songs and chords as you do on a standard size mando.

Nalajr

[Bob Clark]

If I had a Sweet Pea, one of those Pocket Mandos and my Weber F style sitting here and I picked up the 2 small mandos and strummed all the strings open on both of those mandos, would both of them sound exactly like my Weber F?

Not even close. You couldn't expect them to sound like the Weber F. As Star Trek's Scotty said, "Ye cannae change the laws o' physics." Those very small volume bodies just cannot sound like a full-sized mandolin. I can say for certain that my SP did not.

But that does not mean it sounded bad, or that it had no utility. It was useful for its intended purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. If its intended purpose fits your need, great. But don't try to substitute it for a full-sized mandolin. For that use, you will be disappointed.

[dang]

One thing I wonder about those mandolins like that Pocket mando and the Sweet Pea is whether they play like a standard size mando.

Not only will they sound VERY different, but without a standard sized body it will feel quite different in your hands.

I had a sweet pea for several years, and rarely played it so I put it up on the classifieds. I use an armrest on my regular mandolins, and what I found is that without the armrest there, or the mando edge against my right arm my right hand technique needed drastic changes. It was as if I needed to hold my entire right arm free from any reference or anchor points while still trying to maintain contact with the strings. Seated in your living room you can make it work, but standing with a strap or in your chair around the campfire the little thing was difficult to hold and play.

As far as travel mandos go, if space is a premium then the sweet pea rules! But comparing it to my blue washburn oval hole I got for $175 (with F style peg head) ...well there really is no comparison.

[Nalapombu]

Hey guys....

I think I didn't explain what I was asking well enough for you all. I know those smaller mandos won't sound nearly as good as my Weber Bitterroot. Not even close.
What I was wanting to know is about the size of the fingerboard and the frets. If I play a 2 finger G chord on my Weber and then grab a Sweet Pea or that Pocket Mando and play the same 2 finger G chord, will it "sound" like the G that I play on my Weber? You know? Ok, another way of asking. I have about 45 different songs that I have tabbed out from my old teacher from when I took lessons. Can I use those same tabs on the Sweet Pea and the Pocket Mando and play the same songs the way I would on my Weber and the songs sound the same? Will the tabs written for my Weber F work the same on these small mandos and produce the same tones and sounds?
You know what I am trying to explain? GOD, I hope so. My primitive knowledge doesn't allow me the convenience to explain it any better...unfortunately. That's the "sound" I was asking about. Not the SOUND as you all thought I was asking about.

Thanks and sorry for my bad description.

Nalajr

[dang]

I have about 45 different songs that I have tabbed out from my old teacher from when I took lessons. Can I use those same tabs on the Sweet Pea and the Pocket Mando and play the same songs the way I would on my Weber

Of course. Unless you tune it differently.

[spufman]

What dang said. If the scale length is different, the fret spacing is calculated to provide the same standardized note intervals.

[Bob Clark]

My primitive knowledge doesn't allow me the convenience to explain it any better...unfortunately. That's the "sound" I was asking about. Not the SOUND as you all thought I was asking about.

Don't worry about your knowledge being primitive. You've certainly come to the right place to learn all things mando!

Dang is giving you the right answer. The scale length on the SP matches your regular mandolin and the fretboard is the same. Your left fingers will know exactly what to do. Same fingering = same chord.

As Dang describes, though, it will be tougher to hold onto the instrument due to the small body. Adjustment to the right hand technique is necessary, but it's not impossible to do. I've seen other designs (smaller than the SP) that might have been even easier to transport, but as that body gets smaller and smaller, there's less to hold onto.

[Nalapombu]

Oh ok. Now I get it.
I thought it would be different because of the different size of the fingerboard and fret spacing.

Thanks for clearing it up for me.

Nalajr

[Petrus]

I'm contemplating a Kala Pocket Ukulele, which I would retune with steel GDAE strings. That thing is tiny. About 16" long, head to tail. They only run about $175.

Of course, there's also the soprano mando option, but those are hard to find and expensive.

[pheffernan]

One just surfaced on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/WEBER-Sweet-...item25982393a8.

[jim simpson]

Sweet Pea is so cute: