I'm pretty new at this. I don't play at jams or for audiences. My playing is not up to that kind of standard. I'm just playing for myself.
I used to be a classical guitarist before classical guitars got so large (or maybe I just shrunk as I got older) so that gives you some idea of what I am looking for. I want it loud enough for me to hear, and I want it sweet. Not tinny, not weak. Sweet.
I have five mandolins and a sixth is being shipped as we speak, but it is a backpack mandolin, for keeping in practice while on trips. I'm not expecting much for tone on this one. If it is playable I will be pleased.
Here is what I have, in the order acquired. . .
1) A "Portuguese style" violin scale instrument with a narrow neck and a round bowl back. With GHS Ultra-light strings. Probably built in East Germany in the 50's or 60's. There is no identification about the builder anywhere on it. Practically mint condition. The bowl is very alive acoustically. This one seems to like a fairly normal and not too thick guitar pick.
2) A cheap (think Sears & Roebuck) potato bug mandolin made by a mass producer in Czechoslovakia (which gives you some idea of the age, since this country began existing about a hundred years ago and stopped existing a decade or two ago). This thing is robustly made and I put J74's on it. Ultra light strings just don't have enough power to move the sound board. I'm not expecting much tone-wise from this instrument.
3) Another "Portuguese style" violin scale, same neck with slightly smaller round bowl back. I don't play this one as much. GHS Ultra-light strings as a kindness to the instrument. The bowl is not as big as #1 and it isn't in as good a shape.
4) Eastman MD 504. Currently strung with EFW74's. My favorite pick for this is the Dunlop Primetone 1.3mm. This instrument can be very sweet.
5) Ratliff Country Boy. This is an "A" style mandolin with "F" holes (which gives better access to higher frets than a round-hole mandolin. 15th fret at the body instead of 12th).
The strings are whatever Audey Ratliff strung it up with but they look like about j74s. So far, the best pick for this instrument seems to be the Stagg classic 0.46 mm. I generally use one of the top corners instead of the deep v corner.
The thing is, the Ratliff can sound sweet with the very thin pick, but if you use a Golden Gate or a Dawg or anything thick at all then the E string is weak and tinny and the G string is dead. This is the opposite of what I expect from my reading.
Anybody who can point me in the right direction? If it is right-hand technique, then I can readily believe it. I'm self-taught, which is to say, ignorant.
Thanks,
Rod
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