How many mandolins is considered to many ?

[Billbass1]

Just curious actually of what others consider , a few , not many , to many , etc .
I have only playing 2 months myself and have acquired 4 , so far .
I kind of feel like I did when I was in the guitar and bass madness mode .
I would say it really comes down to the quality and not the quantity .
But , you guys must understand how each insturment has its own personality .
Guess I am just looking for some reassurance here .

[Denman John]

This should be good

[Austin Bob]

I'm thinking I only need one more.

But that's what I thought before I bought my last one.

[David Rambo]

Just a few more!

[chuck3]

I play out of two locations about 100 miles apart, Monday-Thursday for one and Friday-Sunday for the other. So two mandolins is a minimum as I'm not going to carry back and forth. I also have a mandola and don't plan to give it up. I have one "extra" mandolin (an Eastman) that I should sell, but I'm too lazy and I like having a backup for an emergency.

So four sounds about right ... until I start craving another for some reason. Actually, I think an octave is next, if anything is.

[Eddie Sheehy]

1 + whatever's out there...

[pheffernan]

I have only playing 2 months myself and have acquired 4 , so far .

That's about par for the course. The fifth one will probably cost as much as the first four put together.

[Billbass1]

That's about par for the course. The fifth one will probably cost as much as the first four put together.

Oh God , I hope not !

[Austin Bob]

In theory, it should be x-1

Where x = the number of mandolins you can have before your wife divorces you.

[pheffernan]

Oh God , I hope not !

'Twas my experience in month three.

[RBMB]

What ever you own + 2. In other words, there is always room for one! As long as you can walk around the house and there aren't any mandolins hidden in the shower, you should be just fine.

[chuck3]

As long as we're talking about mando cravings, I would love a Collings MF5 O, but I hate to think what the price tag on that baby might be. As someone said above - probably what you paid for the first four.

[allenhopkins]

In no position to be critical, since I own well over a dozen mandolin-family instruments myself --

But, four mandolins in the first two months of playing the instrument, is moving pretty fast. In the first year I played mando, on the 'teens Gibson A-1 I found in my grandfather's attic, I still really had no idea what kind of sound I wanted, what would be the best neck size etc.

Spend a few months with the present quartet, figure out what features of each of them (if any) you like, then search for a better instrument that incorporates those features.

Really good to avoid "churning," buying and selling and hopping from instrument to instrument. Focus and analysis should get you there in the minimum number of jumps.

And, very true, it's nice to have several different instruments to meet different needs. Just take some time to learn what those needs are -- other than "I need another mandolin, just because it's there."

[darrylicshon]

As many as you can afford

[mrmando]

You have too many mandolins when:

Your instrument storage occupies more square feet than your living space.
Your spouse leaves you and you don't notice.
You finally decide to sell that one you never play any more, and you can't find it.

[sgarrity]

One more than I have.

[foldedpath]

I got interested in mandolins about 8 years ago, with a background (at that time) of 30+ years playing guitar. I spent roughly a year deciding what mandolin to buy as my first one. I used the Mandolin Cafe forum for guidance, but also using my personal 30+ year history of moving up through various grades of guitars including several custom luthier orders, to understand the difference between factory instruments and handmade instruments.

After that year of research, and an understanding of what a fine luthier-made instrument actually costs, I bought just one mandolin seven years ago. That's still my first, and only mandolin... a nice redwood-topped Lebeda F5.

I've spent the last seven years learning how to express the music I want to play on that mandolin, and I haven't felt a need to buy another one. I need to get better with my playing, and it's not the mandolin itself that's holding me back. I think that's the point you want to reach with any musical instrument... where you feel like you have the tool you need, and now it's up to you.

[Nick Triesch]

For me I feel I only need one good mandolin. My Weber Fern that I have owned for 11 years always does the job. I have an old Gibson Snake but I do not play it much. Fern plays like glass. Gibson sounds great but tiny neck is not fun for me.Sometimes at a bluegrass jam folks will bring 5 instruments. How many do you need?

[journeybear]

The answer is so obvious, even most banjo players know it. Ask just about any one, he'll tell you - one.

[Petrus]

I'm just glad I'm not into upright basses. The house ain't big enough!

[Cheryl Watson]

Too many mandolins are: More than you can personally afford, or too many crappy ones when you could really just own one great one (and one less expensive good backup). Other than that, you're good

[Dale Ludewig]

I believe even asking that question violates forum posting guidelines and this thread may get shut down.

[pheffernan]

In no position to be critical, since I own well over a dozen mandolin-family instruments myself -- But, four mandolins in the first two months of playing the instrument, is moving pretty fast. In the first year I played mando, on the 'teens Gibson A-1 I found in my grandfather's attic, I still really had no idea what kind of sound I wanted, what would be the best neck size etc.

I respectfully disagree, Allen. First, most of us aren't blessed, as you have acknowledged many times, to start on an old Gibson oval. For some, like Marla Fibish, that's a lifetime instrument. Second, most of us aren't blessed, as you have also noted, with a Bernunzio's in our hometown where we can sample different high quality instruments without purchasing them. In my area, I have access to a Guitar Center (with some offerings from The Loar and Kentucky), an Americana store (with some Eastmans), a band store (with Fenders), and now a guitar shop (with an A4 and A40). So when I started out, coming from a background with acoustic guitar but not bluegrass, I knew I wanted a solid wood instrument preferably made in America for a modest price in case I didn't stick with it. I decided to go with a domestic flattop instead of an imported archtop, but there were precisely none in my area. So based largely on what I read here, I bought a Mid-Missouri and really liked it (still do). But to find out how much I liked it, I bought others (Flatiron), in the process learning whether I preferred other tonewoods (Redline) and nut widths (Gypsy). The same process continued when my interest extended to instruments that were carved (Gibson), designed with f-holes (Collings), built in smaller shops (Pava), conceived as resonators (National), or crafted by independent luthiers (Hester and Passernig). I always figured that if I shopped wisely and used, I'd be able to get most of my money back out, and anything lost in the transaction I could chalk up as tuition for the education I had received.

Spend a few months with the present quartet, figure out what features of each of them (if any) you like, then search for a better instrument that incorporates those features. Really good to avoid "churning," buying and selling and hopping from instrument to instrument.

Who said anything about selling? I thought this thread was about buying!

Focus and analysis should get you there in the minimum number of jumps. And, very true, it's nice to have several different instruments to meet different needs. Just take some time to learn what those needs are -- other than "I need another mandolin, just because it's there."

To answer the OP, too many mandolins is one more than you can afford or play regularly. Both situations are easily rectified in the classifieds. Or so they tell me.

[chuck3]

I'm just glad I'm not into upright basses. The house ain't big enough!

upright basses (I have two, one in each location), you definitely have to sell when you buy. Luckily, i've only bought Upton basses, out of Stonington CT, and they help you sell, and there is a good market for them.

[Jim Garber]

You really only need one... at a time.