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Thread: Instrument height

  1. #1
    Paul Wheeler
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    Coming from a guitar and banjo background, I've never understood why so many mandolinists hold their instruments so high on their chests. I've considered the possibility that they started as fiddlers, so that to them it actually feels like they are holding it low (unlikely); that they couldn't find a bootlace and had to use a shoelace instead (probably not); or that there's some subtle advantage. What could be enough of an advantage to offset both making your blood flow uphill to your hands, and having the fretboard too close to focus on through your bifocals? Despite the semi-tease (some at my own expense!) I really do wonder: what am I missing? Thanks for any insight. -- Paul
    He joyously felt himself idling, an unreflective mood in which water was water, sky was sky, breeze was breeze. He knew it couldn't last. -- Thomas McGuane, "Nothing but Blue Skies"

  2. #2
    Registered User Greg H.'s Avatar
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    My suspicion would be that it's carrying on the time-old tradition that was instigated by playing into single mike formats where the mike was up for the vocalists. Of course, I have no proof, evidence or anything else than my wild guess the helps keep me from thinking about work, but hey seems as good a reason as any. . ..



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  3. #3
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    Very interesting point Greg H...sometimes the obvious can slip past you...

    I've tried lowering my mando before and when I have I just feel uncomfortable and feel like I lose control and dexterity...I've seen quite a few guitar players that rest them high up as well.

    I wonder if Jimmy Page slung his mandolin as low as his Les Paul......

  4. #4
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    When I saw Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones played the mandolin in his lap while seated. He played about 11 different instruments that night and generally just stayed on his piano stool when he played anything other than bass. I always thought he was rather unnappreciated in the shadows of Plant, Page and even Bonham. In the linked article about him, it even mentions a triple necked mandolin!

    My answer to the main question...

    I think the guitar, banjo and bass are slung lower because they are heavy and the necks are so long that it would be difficult to reach if they were even with the shoulder and went straight out. I think the dexterity is better a little higher, but not so significantly that you can't get used to it.



    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

  5. #5
    The Bloomingtones earthsave's Avatar
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    With the single mic, I have to hold mine up to be able to hear it over the banjo and bass sometimes. Depends on the room and where I am standing in relation to the rest of the band.

    I've seen the entire gamut from down on the hips like a heavy metal guitarist (this is with a band that uses monitors) to up almost under the chin sometimes, and this is always with a single mic setup or no mic setup.
    Scot
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  6. #6
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    I think it's cause when sitting down you can reach for your beverage and the mandolin doesn't move.

    On a separate note, Sam Bush plays with his mandolin very low (i.e., around his waist). I figured that if it was good enough for him, it would work for me. Well it was just to dang low.

    f-d
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  7. #7
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    Yes I have mine set rather high on the chest,it is just more comfortable for me.It is a good point that your arm is much more vertical and makes blood flow more difficult,another thing that I have found that is not good having it high on the chest is its that much closer to your ears,especially the right ear if you are right handed.I have had nights after playing for hours that my right ear is nearly numb from the sound and have actually taking to wearing ear plugs to protect my hearing.It doesnt help that I like to nearly crawl inside the little devil when I,m really working on it.I tried lowering it mostly because of that and just cant play well at all that way.

  8. #8
    Registered User jefflester's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (Mando4Life @ July 15 2005, 12:46)
    I wonder if Jimmy Page slung his mandolin as low as his Les Paul......
    Only times Jimmy ever played mando onstage were for "Battle of Evermore" on the 1977 tour and he was sitting down.
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  9. #9
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    I had forgotten that Page played mando on that one (there was something in the air that night, but I didn't exhale). 1977 is about right for when I saw them (at the Omni in Atlanta, Ga). I saw Zeppelin, Floyd, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd (in Athens, Ga, just a few months before the crash; saw them perform "That Smell"), ELP, Trower, Kinks, Alvin Lee, Arrowsmith, Boston, Santana and several others all within a year or two during a frenetic rocking period of my youth. Page definitely did the bow on his guitar that night (with a spinning laser triangle around him that made my head spin). "Going to California" and "That's the Way" had Jones on mando. Another trivial tidbit or two...

    What instrument did Page play on "Gallows Pole"? How about on "Tangerine"?


    answers here



    "First you master your instrument, then you master the music, then you forget about all that ... and just play"
    Charlie "Bird" Parker

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