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Thread: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

  1. #26
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Second best to succumbing to your own MAS?

    Vicarious participation in someone else's MAS.

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  3. #27
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sheila Lagrand View Post
    the instrument I've put on hold is likely to be my forever mandolin..
    Yay! And every mandolin purchase in the future as well, should be a forever mandolin. (Come on, like you are never going to buy another mandolin?)

    There is something supremely wonderful about owning nice things and getting better and better at using them.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

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  5. #28
    Every day is a gift. Sheila Lagrand's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Yay! And every mandolin purchase in the future as well, should be a forever mandolin. (Come on, like you are never going to buy another mandolin?)

    There is something supremely wonderful about owning nice things and getting better and better at using them.
    Well, my resonator is arriving in a week or two. . . But today I brought home a Collings MT with a gloss top. She's so pretty--and she has a lovely voice, too.

    As for never buying another mandolin, well, I'm 62 now . . .
    Phoebe, my 2021 Collings MT mandolin
    Dolly, my 2021 Ibanez M522 mandolin
    Louise, my 193x SS Maxwell mandolin
    Fiona, My 2021 GSM guitar-bodied octave resonator mandolin
    Charlotte, my 2016 Eastman MDO 305 octave mandolin
    And Giuliana, my 2002 Hans Schuster 505 violin, Nehenehe, my 2021 Aklot concert ukulele,
    Annie, my 2022 Guild M-140 guitar, Joni, my 1963 Harmony 1215 Archtone archtop guitar,
    Yoko, my ca. 1963 Yamaha Dynamic No.15 guitar, and Rich, my 1959 husband.

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  7. #29
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    To answer the OP's initial question, I would not recommend Washburn or The Loar to anybody but a beginner, and then, only reluctantly so. They are strictly entry-level instruments. No, all Chinese instruments are not equal, not by any stretch of the imagination.

    Chances are good that your Alvarez is an equal or better grade instrument, and you would not be upgrading at all.

    Eastman mandolins with model numbers of 500 or higher are generally pretty good sounding instruments, and are much better built than Washburn or Loar. I had an older Eastman 505 pass through my hands that I wish I had kept. It was good enough to gig with after I got it set up.

    I haven't played enough of the recent issue Kentuckys to comment on them.

    I don't know where you are located, and Texas is a big state, but Fiddler's Green in Lockhart might have a few Eastmans in stock. And perhaps, if you check around the Austin area, you can find a store that has a few mandolins you could try out.

  8. #30
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sheila Lagrand View Post
    Well, my resonator is arriving in a week or two. . . But today I brought home a Collings MT with a gloss top. She's so pretty--and she has a lovely voice, too.

    As for never buying another mandolin, well, I'm 62 now . . .
    Oh, well done on the MT!! Enjoy putting it through it's paces and breaking it in!
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  10. #31
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    I absolutely deny the concept of some kind of alignment between one's ability and the mandolin one acquires. OK I can understand one's first mandolin being something economic, to see if the passion is there. But every mandolin after the first should be the very very best mandolin one can afford.

    I have been at this for a while, and I still do not deserve the second mandolin I ever purchased. It is still an instrument deserving of a much better player than me. It still as untold beauties to be unlocked.
    I completely agree - I will never be as good as my Collings, Weber, and Pava deserve, but they will never hold me back either. I am still practicing and trying to discover the subtleties that these instruments are capable of. But that is what makes it all worth the journey.

  11. #32
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sheila Lagrand View Post
    Well, my resonator is arriving in a week or two. . . But today I brought home a Collings MT with a gloss top. She's so pretty--and she has a lovely voice, too.

    As for never buying another mandolin, well, I'm 62 now . . .
    I'm 66, so you could be my younger sister! LOL!! And my Collings is an MT, I listened to an MT2 and liked the sound of the MT better (and it was cheaper) and I have not been disappointed. I listened to sound clips (I live in a mandolin desert) and bought it sight-unseen. It is a complement to my other two, sounds totally different, and I really enjoy it, Congratulations on a wonderful choice.!

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  13. #33
    Every day is a gift. Sheila Lagrand's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by LadysSolo View Post
    I'm 66, so you could be my younger sister! LOL!! And my Collings is an MT, I listened to an MT2 and liked the sound of the MT better (and it was cheaper) and I have not been disappointed. I listened to sound clips (I live in a mandolin desert) and bought it sight-unseen. It is a complement to my other two, sounds totally different, and I really enjoy it, Congratulations on a wonderful choice.!
    Thank you! Both for your congratulations and for illuminating the excellent point that my instrument will never constrain my playing.

    If you ever need a younger sister, I have 62 years of experience in that role!
    Phoebe, my 2021 Collings MT mandolin
    Dolly, my 2021 Ibanez M522 mandolin
    Louise, my 193x SS Maxwell mandolin
    Fiona, My 2021 GSM guitar-bodied octave resonator mandolin
    Charlotte, my 2016 Eastman MDO 305 octave mandolin
    And Giuliana, my 2002 Hans Schuster 505 violin, Nehenehe, my 2021 Aklot concert ukulele,
    Annie, my 2022 Guild M-140 guitar, Joni, my 1963 Harmony 1215 Archtone archtop guitar,
    Yoko, my ca. 1963 Yamaha Dynamic No.15 guitar, and Rich, my 1959 husband.

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  15. #34
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    My actual younger sister turns 61 this year, and she does not play mandolin (played ukulele as child.)

  16. #35
    Registered User Miltown's Avatar
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    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    I started playing about five years ago, and I'd say I'm pretty comfortably between Intermediate and Advanced. I have an Eastman 515, and it's all the mandolin I think I'll never need. I've played more expensive mandolins, and yes, they're fun to play, but are they going to unlock something that would otherwise be inaccessible to me? No.

    If I have some spare funds, perhaps I'll buy some other mandolins in the future. But I certainly don't need to, and even if I get a lot better (that's always the dream), I have no doubt the Eastman will still meet my needs.

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  18. #36

    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    Quote Originally Posted by Miltown View Post
    ...I've played more expensive mandolins, and yes, they're fun to play, but are they going to unlock something that would otherwise be inaccessible to me? No.
    How do you know? Perhaps it is true that they didn't "do it" in that moment. I wonder how you might feel if you played "more expensive mandolins" for a year, two, or five..?

    While it's generally true that an elementary student wouldn't benefit totally from sudden immersion in college studies, it's not a perfect analogy. The entry-level instrument will not let you hear what it is that you're missing - so you cannot develop the skills (not only playing but also hearing, feeling, etc) that you could deploy on the superior instrument.

    Our instruments are heuristic devices, tools for "education" of the senses. It's a little like fishing - you catch the 5-pounder and are quite satisfied; but there is a 10-pounder that you might have caught.. This is not to say that you shouldn't be satisfied with what you have. Only that music is infinite.

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  20. #37

    Default Re: Intermediate Mando - Good Mando to Step up to?

    $350 seems a lot for a re-fret. Do all the frets need replacing ?

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