A good reason to have more than one mandolin

[Sue Rieter]

I'm gonna do it tomorrow morning. The Stradolin is my favorite, and I want to use it to make an ArtistWorks video tomorrow or Tuesday. But I have a bit of hesitancy because I've never done it before (on this mando), and this is a little embarrassing, but I'm not fully sure how to take off the tailpiece cover.

[J Mangio]

I keep a second close, just in case.

[Bob Clark]

I may be a bit odd in this regard, but I actually like changing strings on my mandolins. I really like my mandolins and I feel as if I am somehow caring for them when I change their strings. In some ways it's like when I brush my cats (Sue, you'll know what I mean, I am sure). It's as if I am repaying them for the joy they give me. I know. . . I know, mandolins are not actually alive and therefore don't care that I am providing them with this service. But who says this must be rational? It gives me a little pleasure and perhaps that's enough.

[Bob Gnann]

Another reason to have more than one. If you're playing on stage always have second instrument available ready to play. Much easier to grab your back up than try to change a string in front of an audience. That's a sure way to slow down a set.

[Mainer73]

I only have one mandolin, but I do have 3 fiddles.😁

[journeybear]

Another reason to have more than one. If you're playing on stage always have second instrument available ready to play. Much easier to grab your back up than try to change a string in front of an audience. That's a sure way to slow down a set.

Yes, indeedy! This explains one purchase. A few years back I was in a band that played so frenetically that I tended to break strings mid-set. It became rare to get through a gig without breaking a string. Sometimes I'd break two or three - once, even four, including a G-string! Replacing and tuning took too long - even five minutes was too long. Sometimes I'd retune all the remaining strings to get through the set. Which meant I'd have to re-retune those strings during set breaks while I replaced the broken string. I solved this problem by buying a similar second mandolin. A mute button on the DI permitted noiseless switching, even mid-song. So yes, there can be very practical reasons to have multiple mandolins.

[journeybear]

Thinking more about this ... Practical considerations such as what I mentioned before have been the driving force leading to purchases over the years. Really. I needed a mandola in order to broaden my scope with vocal issues, to enable chord patterns and fingerings in keys more suitable for my voice. The addition of a steel resonator mandolin to my arsenal was beneficial while I was in a jug band. There was one at my luthier's one day, but it was not for sale. There was a National Steel Triolian tenor guitar that was, and it worked out very well for that purpose (tuned same as a mandola). A 1935 Gibson A-00 replaced my stolen late 70s F-12 so I could play gigs until I could find a more suitable replacement, a teens plain A (the second one of these described before came later). Electric mandolins - MandoBirds - were cheap, but sadly sounded it. The second one was to see if it could be refitted to be a mandola, but I never did get there. The custom-built (for another Café member) Ryder 44 was a step up, a quality instrument necessitated by playing a weekly gig in one of the top venues in town.

All in all, there are practical reasons for buying every instrument. Except, perhaps, for the 1908 Gibson A-1 with the pineapple tailpiece cover. I've always wanted one of those. And it's nice to have an instrument with the logo in the peghead; the plain As are nice - they play well and sound great - but they really do look ... plain. Actually, I can justify this purchase along practical lines by it having been a birthday purchase, and doing something nice for oneself with money given by one's dad with that directive associated with it is just the right thing to do.

So, yeah, there are good reasons for all these purchases. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[Marcus CA]

I am fascinated by the sound of this A model 1924 in the video but wonder if they all sound like this or it's just a one off.

Please report back,if I should start saving. ;-)

Yes and no. They don't all sound this good. Some sound even better!

I agree, but I'd say that most don't sound this good.

The older that comparable instruments are, the less comparable their journeys have been. So, they can have a wide range of aging experiences, just like us.

I've probably played 8-10 pre-Loar Gibson A's over the years, and I've only played one that sounded as good as or better than the 1921 A that I bought eleven years ago at Gryphon. (I played it side-by-side with another one that I really wanted to like better because it had the pumpkin finish, rather than the Sheraton brown. However, the brown one had way better tone.) I'd say that mine sounds slightly better than the one that Baron played, but that could easily be the difference between hearing my instrument in person and his instrument on my screen. If you decide to start saving for one, you might also plan on traveling somewhere that has a store where you could play before you buy, or plan on eating the shipping costs for one or two that just don't turn out to have the magic.

[Marcus CA]

Back to the original post, I'd say that the pre-Loar Gibson A's are the perfect example of "a good reason to have more than one mandolin." For me, it wouldn't work as my main or only mandolin, but it offers a totally different tone from what I generally play, and gives a nice expansion of what I do on mandolin.

[Dave Greenspoon]

I've been slowly but surely divesting. I still have redundancy capabilities on my main instruments between acoustic (A/F) and electric (5/8; solid/semi; active/passive); otherwise each instrument is demonstrably a different voice and sonic tool.

That said, the key part of the post for ongoing happy-spouse was at the beginning.

[Sue Rieter]

If you decide to start saving for one, you might also plan on traveling somewhere that has a store where you could play before you buy, or plan on eating the shipping costs for one or two that just don't turn out to have the magic.

A friend is actually bringing it to Sherry's house for her to check out. Pretty cool.

Back to the original post, I'd say that the pre-Loar Gibson A's are the perfect example of "a good reason to have more than one mandolin." For me, it wouldn't work as my main or only mandolin, but it offers a totally different tone from what I generally play, and gives a nice expansion of what I do on mandolin.

So Sherry, if you get the Gibson, you can use this argument for keeping your old mandolin. This is an artistry argument, and I think it would hold more water than the string changing one

[Ash Telecaster]

When I'm gigging, guitar, I always bring a second guitar for back up. Actually I bring a backup amp as well....extra cables, strings, picks, capos, groupies!

[Sherry Cadenhead]

Another reason to have more than one. If you're playing on stage always have second instrument available ready to play. Much easier to grab your back up than try to change a string in front of an audience. That's a sure way to slow down a set.

Some of us would never be allowed on stage - although I have played in church on occasion.

[Caleb]

I may be a bit odd in this regard, but I actually like changing strings on my mandolins.

I like changing strings too. There is a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in doing things for oneself, and with one's own things.

[journeybear]

I kinda do, too ... kinda. I'm usually glad when I do it, when I take a little time to put some care and upkeep into my instruments that give me so much pleasure. But I'll still put it off, because part of it is still a bit of a PITA. So I've reached a compromise - if I'm not gigging a lot, I'll change my strings every three months, whether they need it or not. Thing is, they always sound so good with new strings, I have to wonder why it takes some doing to talk myself into doing it. Ah, people are paradoxical!

When I'm gigging, guitar, I always bring a second guitar for back up. Actually I bring a backup amp as well....extra cables, strings, picks, capos, groupies!

A bit of overkill, perhaps, but better safe than sorry. When gigging regularly, I do pretty much the same, except the amp - only have one. But I bring spare tubes. As to the rest ... Well, no capos, but ... check, check, check - oh, hey, if you could spare a backup groupie ...

[kefaragon]

True Story, I recently bought a Gibson F-9 (2016) because it was too good of a deal to pass up... When I showed my wife the new addition to my mando collection she said "They are not Pokemon, You dont have to collect them all!"...

[MontanaMatt]

I have two custom mandolins, and I had the luthiers put “made for (me)” on the label... that way I can’t ever sell it...right?
At least, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. So far, my wife has not made me sell my backup, even though it sits waiting...

[poul hansen]

In these cases I always think of W.C.Fields' wise words:"Women are like elephants........nice to look at but you wouldn't want one in the house"

Substitute "women" with with "men", at your convenience

[mandroid]

A Poster in another section might like a Winter and a Summer Mandolin due to how the weather, temperature & humidity
changes so much seasonally ..



I have bought additional mandolins, because no one will lend me theirs for that long.

Now, finding favorites, it's time to let a few go..

[mmuller]

The cheaper Epiphone to gig with. Plays great, plugs in. Sound is passable. Anything happened to it would be no biggie and totally replaceable. The Gibson for studio, personal use at home or with friends only (back when we could hang out and play with friends). The tone is just amazing. Plays well although not as good as the epi. Afraid to get the neck worked on too much. Brother's in Wind Gap PA did a great job without doing a whole refret/leveling job. Action's as low as it can go without buzzing. Bummer, I did use it on a Livestream at home and got over excited on the last hit of a song and put a scratch just above the hole. Heart broken as it's otherwise pristine.

[poul hansen]

.......... Bummer, I did use it on a Livestream at home and got over excited on the last hit of a song and put a scratch just above the hole. Heart broken as it's otherwise pristine.

If it's shellac(probably is) scratches will turn up white(ish) and can be fixed with som spirit on a cotton swab and carefully dab only the scratch, don't rub in the beginning and only a little if necessary. This will dissolve the shellac powder in the scratch, that shows up white and most times leave the (former) scratch clear.

OR sell that defective Gibson to me.

[dan in va]

Some good mandolins have come and gone and i've kept only one, a plain-Jane Stanley A5. Some Monroe cross tunings have given me the nudge for second mandolin to keep for that purpose. But it had to be similar to the Stanley without busting the piggy bank...an A9 popped up recently and it turned out to be a beast and a good excuse too trade a banjo. Methinks ole Bill was onto something.

[mmuller]

@Poul Hansen. This one hurt. So you think there's hope? I don't know what they used for finish in 1925. Just don't want to do anything and cause more harm. If we get a stain on a rug, we don't call them stains, we call them memories.

[soliver]

... My wife doesn't understand my logic.

Isn't this always the way it goes?... Mine has been quoted as to say "... and what does this one do that the others don't do?"

I just like the broad pallet of tone.

[journeybear]

...an A9 popped up recently and it turned out to be a beast and a good excuse to trade a banjo.

As if one needs an excuse to trade a banjo for a mandolin! Always the right move.