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Thread: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

  1. #101
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by s11141827 View Post
    The Electric Mandolin was played by no other musician than the great Yank Rachell:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfYMsRzVFXQ
    Love those Harmony batwings!
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  2. #102
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    This is a thread about electric mandolins. I think you have made your points about electric guitars. We get it.
    To transition from Electric to Acoustic Mandolin, it would be recommended to have your Acoustic Mandolin's Action lowered enough to make fretting it easier.

  3. #103
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by s11141827 View Post
    To transition from Electric to Acoustic Mandolin, it would be recommended to have your Acoustic Mandolin's Action lowered enough to make fretting it easier.
    As Jim said . . . .

    =O]
    Gibson A-Junior snakehead (Keep on pluckin'!)

  4. #104
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein View Post
    Beer foam, I assume . . . .
    It's a hardening foam that permanently stops resonance. If you start on Electric & change to Acoustic have your acoustic setup to feel about the same.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by s11141827 View Post
    It's a hardening foam that permanently stops resonance. If you start on Electric & change to Acoustic have your acoustic setup to feel about the same.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpIs_ta7AM
    I've made my Acoustic Mandolin respond like an Electric by filling its body up w/ Concrete.

  5. #105
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    That is a bit extreme IMHO. Why bother with an acoustic at all. Just buy an electric to begin with. I guess if you have a quality instrument you can fill it with imported marble to ruin the tone. You gotta be kidding!
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  7. #106
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Gibson A-Junior snakehead (Keep on pluckin'!)

  8. #107

    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    I did that and its ok you learn the fretboard, but after getting a nice acoustic I am not sure I would have done that, except you want something that is has good action, so now I have a good action rigel which also sounds great , but I would not have spent that kind of money in the beginning.

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  10. #108
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by s11141827 View Post
    It's a hardening foam that permanently stops resonance. If you start on Electric & change to Acoustic have your acoustic setup to feel about the same.

    - - - Updated - - -



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpIs_ta7AM
    I've made my Acoustic Mandolin respond like an Electric by filling its body up w/ Concrete.
    Wait!?!? Are you for real filling up mandolins with concrete??? If so, why? Also, if so, you gotta be kidding me!
    Worlds okay-ist mandolin player

    Relative newcomer

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    https://youtube.com/@zachwilson54?si=iGum4xPlSj0pbcjj

  11. #109
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Zach Wilson View Post
    Wait!?!? Are you for real filling up mandolins with concrete??? If so, why? Also, if so, you gotta be kidding me!
    Actually I would have to use really really light gauge strings to make it work. That way it responds the way an Electric Mandolin does. You see w/ Electric Mandolins the strings are thinner so you don't have to push down as hard on the strings:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpyBUvDKGU

  12. #110
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Alot of Electric Mandolins tend to have an adjustable bridge w/ individual saddles for each string so they're easier to intonate. I found an Acoustic Mandolin that plays like an Electric because it's strung w/ super light gauge strings:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpyBUvDKGU & to make it really project they extended the scale length by 2 inches so that it's a 15 inch scale (it's more of a Short Scale Mandola than a Mandolin), & also the whole thing is tuned down a minor third to E, B, F#, C#.

  13. #111
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Even though Electric Mandolins are easier to play, they would have to cost half as much as Acoustic Mandolins so that it would work

  14. #112
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?


  15. #113
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Brazil uses Electric Mandolins

  16. #114
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jess L. View Post
    Also, super-lightweight electric single strings are less damaging to pre-existing bad cartilage in arthritic fingers, less likely to aggravate existing carpal-tunnel or other conditions, etc. Electric instruments are an all-around god-send for people with hand problems due to the person's age or whatever. That is, for practicing at home anyway. The disadvantage comes with lugging around a bunch of gear if you need to take your gear to someplace else to play... although right now I have just as much difficulty carting around an acoustic instrument's heavy case + instrument, as I do my electric gear... wheeled/roller stuff helps.

    And electric instruments help to stave off MAS (Mandolin Acquisition Syndrome), because if you want a new sound, just turn some knobs (or, I guess you could add some pedals although I haven't got that far with electric music yet) and use a different sound-modeling setting... thinking specificially of my cheap Roland Micro Cube amplifier which I've had tons of fun with (I guess there are other types of acoustic-emulators, pedals or something, but I haven't tried them) ... the Roland 'COSM' thing lets me dial in a quasi-"Acoustic" sound for when I want a sweet sound, or on occasions when I want something with some edge/distortion I can dial in one of the rock-type sounds just for fun for a few minutes - fun for playing bagpipe tunes although I probably wouldn't do so publicly - then I go back to the sweeter sound.

    As others have mentioned, the headphone/silent option is particularly nice, I do nearly all my practicing through headphones and I can make whatever horrible racket I want when learning tunes, for as many hours as I want, without disturbing anyone.

    But - here's the downside - you'd probably also (eventually) need an acoustic instrument for certain types of performances, as someone pointed out there is still a lot of non-acceptance of electric instruments (like in jams, Irish sessions etc), which I find really really weird considering that electric instruments have been around since the 1930s (my dad had a 1930s electric Rickenbacker lap steel, it looked like this but without the red knob) and popular since the 1950s (the Sears mail-order catalog had solid-body electric guitars in the 1950s, see Danelectro info and Harmony catalog info) ... although I personally know of musicians who still can't seem to get past the electric-instrument-stereotype of y'know some pharmaceutical-enhanced 'degenerate' rock-n-roller or whatever, in fact that's how *I* thought for a long time, but I got over it. Sometimes I think musicians stubbornly act against their own best interests when it comes to bias towards/against certain types of instruments, if their decisions as to what they like/accept are based purely on principle rather than practicality/playability.
    Electric Instruments don't look quite weird, they're designed to be shaped like their Acoustic Counterparts (Roughly).

  17. #115
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by mbruno View Post
    It may sound better than it used to, but I highly doubt this thing sounds decent plugged in. Garbage in, garbage out. My gut is "the especially at $140 for the whole mandolin and the package.

    Normally I don't go after posts - but since you're brand new (only posts are on this thread), your username appears system generated, and (perhaps opinion in part) your posts provide demonstrably false information.

    + Electric mandolins are smaller than acoustics? The smallest electric I've seen is the Thunderbird, which is larger (by a hair maybe) than any of my acoustic mandolins.
    + Single Coil pickups are more versatile than an acoustic mandolin with an installed pickup? How exactly?
    + What the hell is a barre chord on a mandolin? In most cases, you'd only play two string courses with one finger. Some more complex chords may require 3 courses with one finger. What chords are you playing? It's not like a guitar man.
    + All my electric mandolins weigh more than any of my acoustics. The Vangoa you posted likely does too - that super versatile single coil isn't a feather.

    If you're not a spam bot or someone that works for the Vangoa company, I don't mean any offense. Just seems really, really suspicious to me.
    Actually if you use Thomastik Precision Strings on it then it becomes a fully functional Jazz box (also upgrade the Tailpiece to an Allen). I'm no spam, I'm a Musician. This Vangoa Acoustic-Electric Mandolin sounds amazing both Acoustically & Plugged in. The Amplified sound actually reminds me of a Gibson EM-150.
    Last edited by s11141827; May-11-2022 at 11:16am. Reason: Figured out how it works.

  18. #116
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by kurth83 View Post
    I got a solid body electric mandolin pretty early on, 8-string. It did nothing for me, as it did not have the range of expression or nuance I could get out of an acoustic. I was hoping it would work like a silent mando, but it was not fun to play, no nuance at all. Meaning it was obvious to me I could not learn to play musically on it (mando is not my first instrument).

    Then I tried a Godin A8 (a hollow-body 8-string flat-top acoustic-electric), same problem, it didn't do anything an acoustic (with a pickup) couldn't do better.

    Years later I got a 4 string electric mando, and that thing was wonderful, I could bend on it and do vibrato. :-) I got a 4 string electric mandola and OM too, all from Eastwood. Love them all.

    Even though I like to indulge in a little electric guitar-style playing now and then, my heart is still in the acoustic instruments.

    It was a few years of playing before I had enough technique to do what I call 'pulling tone from the instrument'. Meaning I could control tone and nuance on every note and stroke. It was such a joy to me when that happened, and you can't do that on an electric. Single-string-per-course electrics can do other very interesting things like an electric guitar, but an acoustic is where you learn to play.

    Electrics still need to be tuned, when the wood absorbs moisture (unlike a cast iron piano plate), but will hold a tune better than a hollow body, especially in a temperature/humidity controlled environment.
    Actually the 8 String Electric Mandolin (Solid Body) would have to have a special Velocity sensitive pickups that make it nuance like an Acoustic. Also a 4 String Electric Mandolin is easier to learn on because you don't have to push down quite as hard on the strings, plus it's easier to keep in tune.

  19. #117
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    There are Acoustic Guitars that play like Electric Guitars, why not Acoustic Mandolins that play like Electric Mandolins? I actually found this Domra Prima:https://www.ebay.com/itm/302624115089 a Russian 4 String Acoustic Mandolin. The 4 String Electric Mandolin is really an Electrified 4 String Russian. Domra Prima

  20. #118
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein View Post
    Yes, you'll need to tune it, just like any fretted instrument.

    I must say, there are some really cool solid-body four-, five-, and eight-string electrics out there.

    And in the hollow-body realm, an old Harmony batwing (a la Yank Rachell) looks so great that who cares how it sounds? (Yank's sounded great.)

    Click image for larger version. 

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    If it's a hollow-body, you don't need to plug it in. Hollow-body electrics have some drawbacks, though. If the pickup is right up at the base of the neck, it can interfere with your picking. I had one, and my pick was always clicking on the pickup. Yug! And feedback can be a problem, as it is with all hollow and semi-hollow electric instruments.

    Bottom line: Get what you want! A friend of mine makes these: Earnest Instruments (And notice the double-neck electric option!)
    That's no longer the case mine has a Feedbackless pickup

  21. #119
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    I'd advise starting on acoustic for one reason, and that's that you don't have so many options to fiddle with STUFF. That's a lot easier than learning to play the mandolin, and years ago I did it with electric guitar. Buy a Strat copy, change everything on the guitar except the treewood bits, check out amps, headphone amps, pedals, blah... Before you know it you're 2 years down the road and and you still only know 6 chords and the Sunshine of Your Love riff. So, I'd suggest you start with one $500/£500-ish acoustic mandolin (used if you can get a good one so you can get your money back IF....), learn to play a bit - you can still change strings, bridge, tuners, 'cept that won't take you 2 years of practice time then buy an electric as well.
    That statement is now outdated, Electric instruments tend to be more properly setup. Bad setup always equals Bad technique.

  22. #120
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by CarlM View Post
    Gibson tried that on their guitars. It did not go so well.
    They need to refine it because the problem w/ those is that the strings would snap if tuned too high.

  23. #121
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein View Post
    Beer foam, I assume . . . .
    No it's concrete to make it really silent

  24. #122
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    https://guitaristnextdoor.com/is-ele...stic%20guitars. they said that the Electric Guitar is the easiest to play due to its construction, so this should be true for Electric Mandolins too.

  25. #123
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    You could make your Acoustic Mandolin play like an Electric by restringing it w/ Thomastik Medium Gauge Precision Strings (Flatwound Strings designed like Violin Strings) as they have half as much tension of Regular Mandolin Strings to make playing it easier, they're Low tension Steel Strings so good balance between tone & playability.

  26. #124
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    http://www.gabrielepandini.it/eng-br...-mandolin.html the 4 string Electric Mandolin isn't a new idea at all it's an old one that goes back to the 17th-18th centuries because it's essentially an Cremonese/Bresciano Mandolin

  27. #125
    Oscar Stern s11141827's Avatar
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    Default Re: Should a beginner buy electric mandolin?

    Also the Electric Mandolin can often have slightly shorter scale length than an Acoustic Mandolin which keeps the string tension down, this way it's easier to play so that's one thing to keep in mind.

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