Electric mandolin - a few questions...

[JCook]

My older son gave me an electric mandolin and a small amp for my birthday (which is today, although he gave it to me yesterday). He plays guitar, so he is into music, and he knows how much playing music means to me.

It's a Kentucky 4-string mando, used, with tone and volume controls, and the amp is a Fishman LoudBox Mini. A very nice little outfit. and OMG! is this thing fun! I normally play acoustic guitar and mandolin, and this is my first real experience with pickups and amps. So, a few questions.

1. On the acoustic mando i prefer a thick pick, say 1.5mm, with rounded points (not as round as the Golden Gate picks). I often use ProPlec picks, but sometimes a heavy V pick. On this I found the ProPlec to be a little too heavy and so far have been trying out lighter picks, which seem better with the single strings. Is this true for those of you who play both acoustic and electric mandos? What sort or picks do you gravitate towards for electric playing?

2. I'm finding that playing tremolo on the electric gives me a very staccato sound, so I've tried angling the pick much more and it's better, but not as fluid as on the acoustic. How do you guys handle tremolo on the electric mando?

3. What kind of strings do you all use on electrics? My son said the guy at the music store said it was strung with guitar strings, and they are ball end strings. Also, these are pretty light gauge (I have no idea what gauge they are), so what gauges are recommended for electric? On my acoustic mando I like mediums.

4. The ones on it are nickel plated, so is that the recommendation for use with a pickup? Will bronze wound strings work as well?

This is a whole new world for me, using an amp, and I'm having a great time with it so far.

thanks, Jack

[pops1]

So much depends on what you like and the sound. Yes it is harder to play tremolo on a single string, and yes angling the pick helps even on pairs of strings. Phosphor bronze strings are not magnetic, you need that for the magnetic pickup. The core of the bronze strings is magnetic, but you won't get nearly as good of a sound as when the whole string is magnetic. Hence electric guitar strings. You could use the White Bronze from GHS as they are magnetic and get the gauges you want to put on. Mostly the pickup and amp does the volume work so lighter strings and a lighter touch is all you need. Not sure how many questions I answered. Good luck, and have fun.

[BoxCarJoe]

http://emando.com/ for strings.

[neilca]

http://emando.com/ for strings.

Yep, I use their nickel steel strings on my Mandocaster

[Dave Greenspoon]

I like the various Dava picks for electric; the green nylon "control" pick, and the "rock control" with the red or white delrin inserts.

Tremolo is a different beast on a single course axe; a more flexible pick might help.

Strings: if you're not ordering a dedicated set of emando strings, then you're looking at choosing a set of electric guitar strings and matching from there. FWIW, +1 for emando.com; I've also had good experiences with juststrings.com.

Amp: Your FLM will be OK until/unless you want to start adding dirt (overdrive, fuzz, distortion) in which case you want an electric guitar amp. The tweeter on the Fishman is at risk otherwise.

Have fun!

[Greg P. Stone]

I'm about to get a four string electric mandolin and it hadn't occurred to me to use tremolo.

I guess in my mind if it has single strings rather than doubles then one would go with distortion, chorus, etc to fatten up the sound and compression for sustain; treat as a very different instrument rather than a louder acoustic mandolin.

[JCook]

Great advice and info here, thanks to all. I've looked at Emando.com and will probably get some strings from them. I'll check out the Dava picks also - I'm always open to trying new picks.

Greg, you said it "hadn't occurred to me to use tremolo." You're absolutely right on that. With the electric mando's sustain, I guess tremolo is not needed to produce long notes. I hadn't thought of it that way. It's still good for a different texture in a tune, though, but not as necessary as on an acoustic mando.

Jack

[MoreThanQuinn]

I don't have any electric mandolin experience, but I will say that my Google search of "Electric mandolin demo" (prompted by this thread) produced some sufficiently exciting results. Jealous of your new toy! Have fun!

[OneChordTrick]

For what it's worth I use the same gauge stings on my electric (8 string) as I do on my acoustic but obviously in steel rather than PB.

[Dave Greenspoon]

Those who wonder about tremolo and single-course electric mandolin I can only say this: Tiny Moore.

[bob_mc]

My favorite setup was to use 6 strings; single G and D, and double A and e.