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Thread: Are travel mandolins worth it?

  1. #26
    Registered User mbruno's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by CBFrench View Post
    No...I'd never take a musical instrument to a harmful place and who travels so much they'd need or want a so-called travel instrument. If I were camping, hiking, fishing or sailing that's what I'd be doing and keep playing in it's time and place
    Often I do those things to help with my playing - the adventure / experience can be a good spark for inspiration etc. Though IMO, it's pretty much always the time and place to play - provided you aren't being rude about it (like playing when people are listening to someone else or looking for quiet etc)
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  3. #27

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I had a Weber backpack mandolin. Took it on a mission trip to Honduras. It played OK. There was a Downs syndrome man in the village, He was sort of a musical savant. He watched me play for a little while and then indicated that he wanted to try it. I let him try, He had figured out the two finger G and C chord from watching me and he was off to the races. He was all up and down the keyboard with that chord shape. When I left after two weeks I gave it to him with a extra set of strings. There were some other villagers who assure me they could help him keep it tuned. I hoped to go back last Mar and see if he had kept up with it, but the pandemic scrubbed the trip.

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  5. #28
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by CBFrench View Post
    No...I'd never take a musical instrument to a harmful place and who travels so much they'd need or want a so-called travel instrument. If I were camping, hiking, fishing or sailing that's what I'd be doing and keep playing in it's time and place
    See my post #5 on this thread. They are absolutely worth it if you need one. Just don't expect too much in the way of sound. I do agree with you about who travels too much. I don't think "Too much travel is a thing". When my travel has meant the elimination of weight I have gone so far as to drill holes in my tooth brush. Walk 20 miles carrying all your belongings and each gram eventually feels like an ounce.
    Just saying.
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  6. #29

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I owned a few, the lack of a place to rest my arm throws me off, so I don't really like them.

    I planned to make a bolt-on armrest for one, but never got around to it.

    Instead, I found my electric mandolin could fit in a large suitcase along with all my other stuff.

    Eventually I discovered that a regular mandolin in a hard case fits in the overhead bin on an airplane, and that became my favorite way to travel.

    I travel with an Eastman 604, which is easily replaced, which also adds to my peace of mind.
    Davey Stuart tenor guitar (based on his 18" mandola design).
    Eastman MD-604SB with Grover 309 tuners.
    Eastwood 4 string electric mandostang, 2x Airline e-mandola (4-string) one strung as an e-OM.
    DSP's: Helix HX Stomp, various Zooms.
    Amps: THR-10, Sony XB-20.

  7. #30
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    50 years of traveling and playing and I didn't buy any kind of travel instrument because I was traveling. I don't travel much anymore but if I did I'd have no problem taking any of my instruments if I intended on playing...I always have
    Last edited by CBFrench; Mar-23-2021 at 8:22pm.

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  9. #31
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    From my point of view, travelling with an instrument is not something just for playing in hotel rooms etc. It has always provided me with a means to meet people, have jams and generally be an asset to my travelling.

    So the instrument DOES need to be good enough for playing in public, as well as small enough to easily carry.

    For my purposes, the Seagull works pretty well like that. I often say 'It may not be the best instrument in the world, but it's a VERY long way from being the worst'. I find people generally seem to agree when they hear it. It's loud, it sounds like a mandolin and it's easy to play, and it's small enough to fit in my backpack.

    Not for everybody perhaps, but I'm happy with it.
    Last edited by Dagger Gordon; Mar-24-2021 at 1:38am.
    David A. Gordon

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  11. #32
    Registered User Bren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I was about to say something like Dagger said.

    My "travel mandolin" is full-size and has also been my main instrument for years.
    For better or worse, at least I'm confident of the sound it makes and how it projects.

    Most often if I play with others on the road, it's in a pub session and you need to be heard, arguably even more so when nobody knows you.

    In the year or so before lockdown, I played my mandolin with people I met in:
    Lincoln UK (street buskers)
    Edinburgh (pub gigger who got talking to us at a bus stop)
    London (pub session)
    Melbourne (pub session)
    Cork (pub sessions)
    Amsterdam (pub session)
    Vienna (pub session)


    Engineering trade shows (musicians in the industry get to know each other) in :
    Offenburg (Germany)
    the Hague
    Ravenna (Italy)

    There is a risk in taking a valuable or irreplaceable instrument on your travels but that has to be balanced against the greater risk of never having good musical fun and companionship.
    Last edited by Bren; Mar-24-2021 at 11:38am.
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  13. #33

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I'm late to this, but thought I would put in my 2 cents.

    I have owned a few travel mandolins, and my main trouble is the tiny body shape leaves me nowhere to rest my arm, and I am not able to play them comfortably.

    I thought about making a bolt-on arm rest for one, but never got around to it.

    I found an electric mandolin travelled very well, and fit in airplane overhead bins, and also fit in my suitcase (padded with clothes).

    Eventually I found that a regular mandolin also fit in the airplane overhead bin, helps if you buy a first class ticket to guarantee bin space though.

    The nice thing about the electric is if I have to check it it doesn't matter, it's a cheap replaceable thing, and for that matter so is an Eastman (not quite as cheap though).

    So for me, the Eastman hit the sweet spot for a travel mando. :-)
    Davey Stuart tenor guitar (based on his 18" mandola design).
    Eastman MD-604SB with Grover 309 tuners.
    Eastwood 4 string electric mandostang, 2x Airline e-mandola (4-string) one strung as an e-OM.
    DSP's: Helix HX Stomp, various Zooms.
    Amps: THR-10, Sony XB-20.

  14. #34
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    [QUOTE=Bren;1816233

    There is a risk in taking a valuable or irreplaceable instrument on your travels but that has to be balanced against the greater risk of never having good musical fun and companionship.[/QUOTE]

    Quite. Anyway, you've been travelling like this for a long time, and you somehow always seem to find a session wherever you go. It seems to me that you've got it sussed.
    David A. Gordon

  15. #35
    Registered User Cary Fagan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    My turn.

    When I travel I try to take one of my two good instruments in a hard case. This may mean, if flying, having to check my carry-on bag because I usually have a computer bag too for work. My most expensive mandolin is insured.

    I have had various full sized, less expensive mandos that I have used for travel as well because I'm willing to put them in a gig bag. That's helpful if I'm moving around a lot because of it being lighter and easier to schlep. I've never had any damage.

    I once owned a Weber Sweat Pea. I didn't like the sound. Maybe that's why I accidentally forgot it on a plane. I remembered before leaving the airport but it had already disappeared. As a result, I ended up building a small travel mandolin with a shorter scale but a bigger body than the sweet pea. The good thing about it is I can put it in my knapsack in its concert uke bag with the neck sticking up and so it's not extra luggage. (I've posted pics elsewhere.) I've taken it to China etc. But I prefer a regular mando for playing if I have a choice.

    And if I really have no room, I will take the $20 sopranino uke with GDAE strings that will fit into my carry on luggage. It's still fun and I can practice the fingering for new tunes.

    And if I have no room for that, I'll take a harmonica and play my four tunes.
    Cary Fagan

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  17. #36
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    , I will take the $20 sopranino uke with GDAE strings
    Can you just change the tuning or which strings do you use? I have a lot of ukuleles and have thought of the same.
    Kentucky KM-805..........2 Hora M1086 Portuguese II(1 in car)
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    Richmond RMA-110..... .Noname Bearclaw
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    Puglisi Pocket 1908........Puglisi 1912.......Puglisi 1917
    3 Mandolinetto ..............C.Garozzo
    1 Mandriola...................Cannelo G. Mandriola...Böhm Waldzither 1921
    Johs Mřller 1945............Luigi Embergher Studio 1933
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  18. #37
    Registered User Cary Fagan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Poul, Aquila makes a ukulele Fifths tuning set. I use those. They've worked well also on a soprano. The cheap sopraninos used to be on ebay but it seems that only somewhat pricier--and no doubt better--ones are available these days.
    Cary Fagan

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  20. #38
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I decided to spend that money on a travel case. I bought a Calton and found it covered my needs well. I am however NOT backpacking with it. R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

  21. #39

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    After about 3 years planning, I just completed a "travel" mandolin. My main mandolin is an Eastman MD315 and although I travel some with it, my travel mandolin I can just throw in the car for times I am waiting in the car or sit in a park playing just for me. It's a non electric/non acoustic 4 string. I chose not to add a pickup based on how I wanted to use it. It's black walnut with an ebony fingerboard from Stewmac.com. I cut the mandolin frame on a CNC and added a VERY rigid steel bar in the neck as a non-adjustable truss rod. The bridge is the top of an adjustable bridge and I CNC'd the aluminum plate on the back. I laser cut the lower plate. Since many of the best mandolins say "The Gibson", my is the Gibbon. I still need to dress the frets a bit better and I'll slowly work the nut down a little to improve the intonation but for now it's very playable and exactly what I wanted. And yes, one of the ball-end strings pulled into the ferrule but I'll solve that next time I re-string by using guitar ball ends and not old violin ball ends on mandolin strings. I sewed a small canvas gig bag the same size as it and I just toss it in the car. It seems to stay in tune well.

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  22. #40
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I ordered the strings Cary mentioned but I just tried to play a mandolin tune on one of my ukuleles and I didn't like it. Especially the tremolo sounded horrible, so a mando tuned ukulele is out for me.

  23. #41
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Live you life boxed up in a cage, afraid of your own shadow, and never never never take your fragile little instrument outside of your home.......
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  25. #42
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    Question Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I took a Pocket Mandolin from the Leo company of Denver with me on a Irish -Scottish pub session crawl -bicycle tour
    in 1997 ... In a well padded gig bag made to fit it.. .. it packed on the bike well..

    Were I to do that again , I now have a carbon fiber Mix A5 ..

    Had a Martin Backpacker .. they are well made , but a good bit longer..

    sold it to someone headed to South America..

    ..
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  27. #43
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by j. condino View Post
    Live you life boxed up in a cage, afraid of your own shadow, and never never never take your fragile little instrument outside of your home.......
    I always enjoy your comments on this subject! You used to have a blog thing on your website called field trials, or something like that, but I don't see it anymore,
    David A. Gordon

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  29. #44
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Obviously, it depends on what you plan to do. For several reasons, a regular size mandolin will just about always sound and play better than a smaller travel mandolin, so if you can carry a regular size mandolin and it will be safe enough from destruction, then do. A travel mandolin is definitely better than having no mandolin for a month or more. I designed and built a travel mandolin to fit inside a standard suitcase due to having too many carry-on items for my work travels. I think the design sounds and plays better than other dedicated travel mandolins, but unfortunately the time required to build it is the same as something like a regular "campfire" mandolin, so the price is the same. If mandolins are "niche" instruments, then travel mandolins occupy a very tiny part of that niche. Since a travel mandolin meets only a temporary need, the question is: how strong is your need, and at what price is it worth it.
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  31. #45
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    It sounds like the options are:
    - true "travel" mandolin - sacrifice playability and tone
    - "beater" mandolin for travel - sacrifice some playability and tone
    - go like j. condino - take your mando anywhere and play it

    - or... a number of years ago I found myself using a vintage Gibson snakehead as my "travel" mandolin because it already had a lot of character...
    I became progressively uncomfortable with flying/changing humidity and temp fluxuations, etc. and the possibilities of what it could do to vintage wood and glue. To be clear, I don't coddle my mandolins - they sit out on stands all of the time and go to pubs/festivals/etc. - but I just didn't want this beautiful old mandolin to implode. So I bought a Mix carbon fiber A5 right when they came out - # 10. It's been all over the US, Mexico, the Bahamas, and China (twice). Hot truck in the high desert of Oregon - no problem. Doesn't even go out of tune.

    Kirk

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  33. #46
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I used to travel every week on business. A full size mandolin is nearly impossible to pack in a rollaboard suitcase. I had a Mederios travel mandolin for a long time. It was similar to a Weber Sweet Pea. I traveled a lot of miles with it and got a lot of practice time with it. I finally settled on a RISA mando-stick, although I had to have a different bridge made for it for good intonation. I traveled a lot of miles with that and got a lot of practice time with it also. Both were very satisfactory purchases. I still keep the RISA next to my bed, because it is so quiet I can play it in the middle of the night and not wake anyone up. It is all about what you need.

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  34. #47

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Would you ever consider making more of those and selling them?
    I have been thinking of a similar project (inspired by https://travelerguitar.com/pages/acoustic), but I don't know that I have the skills to pull it off. I've looked at some of the soprano ukes (eg RISA), but ideally it would have a normal width neck for a mando, so the fingering would feel the same. So, something like what you built is just the right thing.


    Quote Originally Posted by Cclontz View Post
    After about 3 years planning, I just completed a "travel" mandolin. My main mandolin is an Eastman MD315 and although I travel some with it, my travel mandolin I can just throw in the car for times I am waiting in the car or sit in a park playing just for me. It's a non electric/non acoustic 4 string. I chose not to add a pickup based on how I wanted to use it. It's black walnut with an ebony fingerboard from Stewmac.com. I cut the mandolin frame on a CNC and added a VERY rigid steel bar in the neck as a non-adjustable truss rod. The bridge is the top of an adjustable bridge and I CNC'd the aluminum plate on the back. I laser cut the lower plate. Since many of the best mandolins say "The Gibson", my is the Gibbon. I still need to dress the frets a bit better and I'll slowly work the nut down a little to improve the intonation but for now it's very playable and exactly what I wanted. And yes, one of the ball-end strings pulled into the ferrule but I'll solve that next time I re-string by using guitar ball ends and not old violin ball ends on mandolin strings. I sewed a small canvas gig bag the same size as it and I just toss it in the car. It seems to stay in tune well.

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  35. #48
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    My travel mandolin (and the first mandolin I had) is a Skyesound 'Wee Traveller' (made on the Isle of Skye, Scotland from reclaimed furniture wood). By moving the bridge a long way down the body, the nut to bridge length is longer than the otherwise much longer Eastman on the right. The WT body is slightly deeper, but it's nearly a flat top and the bridge string break angle is less, so the string tension is less and it's a good bit quieter than the Eastman. It's shorter and narrower than the Eastman, but has to go in a regular gig bag, so I'm not sure there's much point.

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  36. #49

    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    Quote Originally Posted by peliot View Post
    Would you ever consider making more of those and selling them?
    I have been thinking of a similar project (inspired by https://travelerguitar.com/pages/acoustic), but I don't know that I have the skills to pull it off. I've looked at some of the soprano ukes (eg RISA), but ideally it would have a normal width neck for a mando, so the fingering would feel the same. So, something like what you built is just the right thing.
    Sadly no, this was my first attempt at fretting and while I'm thrilled with it and having a blast, I would need to make many more and have better tools to get the quality to the point I would sell it. You can have the DXF file I used to CNC the frame and a list of all parts but honestly, mine still needs more work before it's done. I'm playing it like crazy but I still need to dress my frets better and I'm slowly working the nut slots down so I don't get it too low. I'm not skilled enough to make one for others but I too could not find what I wanted so I built it.

  37. #50
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Are travel mandolins worth it?

    I also travel with my mandolin. Earlier this week with my Flatiron!

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