I have MAS and check the classified hourly…

[108 Mile]

Does this seem normal or should I try harder?

[Jcdraayer]

Just about every time I pick up my phone I hit the classifieds. It’s my browser homepage

[addamr]

Open Mandolin Cafe, Check classifieds, first then forum.

Adam

[journeybear]

Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.

Though if you don't see it as a problem ... Who's to say?

The only time I was ever that driven - and I wasn't, never on an hourly basis, and it wasn't here but eBay, and it was more like a few to several times a day - was in 2007-2008. I'd had my F-12 stolen after 30 years, and though I had a replacement, it wasn't that good. So I kept checking eBay for something good I could afford, bidding and getting outbid again and again. Most of the time these were Gibson A's from the teens. Finally, after about a year, I won one that no one was too interested in. It had some cosmetic damage in the form of scrapes where the pickguard used to be, and a short crack in the top above the soundhole. Those scrapes looked bad - bare wood - but wouldn't affect the sound or the structure. I guess that was enough to scare people off. Anyway, I got her for a good price, and she has served me well ever since.

I've kept an eye on eBay over the years since then, on occasion, just checking, but my attention has never been directed in a very dedicated way. Actually, I get more tips about what's out there right here in the forum, and hardly ever look in the classified, other than to price check. People post pretty often about instruments for sale hither and yon. That means a great many more eyes looking at a great many more places than I ever could on my own. Besides, I've already got all I want. Though if the right one comes along ...

[Pittsburgh Bill]

MAS seems to me to sometimes become recessive, but always is lurking.
Perhaps a 12 step program may help. Even now, when I think I have it licked, outcomes the classical sheet music, and I find myself hankering for a Phoenix Neo-Classical. Had to fight the urge to purchase an inexpensive Alverez bowl back that showed up here in the classifieds a few weeks ago.
What stops me is the awareness that I would only rarely use it and my home's entertainment center is full.
So either hang in there or apply the 12 steps.

[Pjones3]

Does this seem normal or should I try harder?

I’m a recovering MASaholic, so I comment from personal experience. Your hourly checking of the classifieds would not be considered ‘normal’ behavior in any sense by general population norms. However, the general population also frequently confuses mandolins and ukuleles, so using them as a base for measuring the intensity of your illness is not valid.
You must use like minded individuals to help answer your question. You’ll find that group here on the Cafe.
I for one find your obsession perfectly acceptable and actually I envy your commitment.
That said, I hope you understand that acquiring your next mandolin is akin to a junkie acquiring his next ‘fix’. You’ll be satisfied for a period of time. Inevitably you’ll be back in the classifieds however looking for your next score……….
Stay strong my friend!

[Steve 2E]

Does this seem normal or should I try harder?

I think you should try harder. Maybe bump it up to every half hour. See how that goes. I feel that it's healthier to have MAS than NMD envy.

[108 Mile]

I’m a recovering MASaholic, so I comment from personal experience. Your hourly checking of the classifieds would not be considered ‘normal’ behavior in any sense by general population norms. However, the general population also frequently confuses mandolins and ukuleles, so using them as a base for measuring the intensity of your illness is not valid.
You must use like minded individuals to help answer your question. You’ll find that group here on the Cafe.
I for one find your obsession perfectly acceptable and actually I envy your commitment.
That said, I hope you understand that acquiring your next mandolin is akin to a junkie acquiring his next ‘fix’. You’ll be satisfied for a period of time. Inevitably you’ll be back in the classifieds however looking for your next score……….
Stay strong my friend!

That’s the diagnosis I wanted to hear!!!!!

[allenhopkins]

Used to be an eBay "junkie," which is why I know own a Howe-Orme mandolinetto, a Merrill aluminum bowl-back, and a Polk-A-Lay-Lee. Kept flirting with pricey English-system concertinas, but finally ended up just buying from the Button Box.

Twice fellow Cafe members have contacted me directly with instruments for sale, which is why I own a Waldo bowl-back mandocello (currently undergoing top repairs -- who's ever seen a bowl-back's top crack along the cant?) and a Gibson TL tenor lute. If you show you've got an oversupply of mando stuff, you get typed as an easy mark -- not that I'm complaining: I love the Waldo and the TL.

Not easy living in a medium-sized city with two good vintage instrument shops, Bernunzio's and Stutzman's. Staying out of the classifieds is a wise move for me. Can't find a stringed-instrument buyer's support group -- "Hi, I'm Allen, and I'm an instrument-aholic."

"Hi, Allen..."

[Pjones3]

That’s the diagnosis I wanted to hear!!!!!

You are indeed deeply ill….

[Bill McCall]

………. Can't find a stringed-instrument buyer's support group -- "Hi, I'm Allen, and I'm an instrument-aholic."

"Hi, Allen..."

You don’t think you’re in that group right now?

[mjbee]

30+ instruments in, I finally realized, money aside, it’s far easier to acquire than to offload. Duh! That’ll learn me! Such insight might be an MAS cure. Might need to write it on the instrument wall, in big letters, as a “booster shot” against waning self-control.

Buying in our times is just a click away: selling takes some patience.
Unlike fishing, when it comes to mandolins, it’s easier to catch ‘em than to release ‘em…

[robw95]

There are certainly worse addictions to have!

Rob

[DaveGinNJ]

I’m a recovering MASaholic, so I comment from personal experience. Your hourly checking of the classifieds would not be considered ‘normal’ behavior in any sense by general population norms. However, the general population also frequently confuses mandolins and ukuleles, so using them as a base for measuring the intensity of your illness is not valid.
You must use like minded individuals to help answer your question. You’ll find that group here on the Cafe.
I for one find your obsession perfectly acceptable and actually I envy your commitment.
That said, I hope you understand that acquiring your next mandolin is akin to a junkie acquiring his next ‘fix’. You’ll be satisfied for a period of time. Inevitably you’ll be back in the classifieds however looking for your next score……….
Stay strong my friend!

Checking the MC classifieds hourly is within the realm of normal behavior. However if you were doing that on Banjo Cafe then that would be worthy of an intervention

[Bill McCall]

Checking the MC classifieds hourly is within the realm of normal behavior. However if you were doing that on Banjo Cafe then that would be worthy of an intervention

That is true and I confess I look at banjo ads here.

[Denny Gies]

My MAS was cured, well abated some, when I was fortunate enough to get a Randy Wood F 5. I still visit this site multiple times a day because it's interesting.

[Zach Wilson]

Mine comes and goes... I usually get bit pretty hard every time I have a bonus of some sort 😅

However, my Weber and Red Valley held mas off for four years. Not bad.

[Demetrius]

You’re just passionate. Embrace it!

[Willi Bahrenberg]

My personal schedule:

First thing in the morning: Check German classifieds site first, then Reverb.com, then Dutch classifieds site (still hoping the Krishot F-5 that I didn't pull the trigger on (fool!FOOL!!) might come back), then the cafe.

After putting the kids to bed: Repeat process.

[journeybear]

Here's the thing - once you're in, there's no way out. You may think there is, but even after you've found what seems like a really good, even great, mandolin, you'll keep looking. Because you never know when you'll find something better. Or just different, so you'll have two different-sounding instruments, each with particular strengths in areas that one has more than the other. That could also justify having another, and another, and another ... Or maybe you'll keep looking, just to compare yours with what else is out there, to see how good a deal you got. Or maybe you'll keep looking because you want to have one of each of whatever categorization intrigues you. But you'll probably keep looking because you want to replicate the feeling of joy and success and culmination of desire you received from the first time, even though it's a hunger that can never be fully satisfied. Sorry, but once you're in, you're in, and there's no way out.

[DaveNils]

Im just glad that i'm not the only one who's refreshing the classifieds hourly. The obsession did help me land the A style I wanted at the price I wanted afew months back though. The seller admitted that he had multiple inquiries within minutes so I probably wouldnt have gotten it without my addiction. I told myself that once I got a good F and A style i'd stop checking in so regularly but that hasnt happened.

[Zach Wilson]

Does this seem normal or should I try harder?

Buying one helped cure mine.... for now.

"Keep your stick on the ice. We're all in this together."

[Bob Gnann]

It's part of my daily routine, usually as I'm finishing my morning coffee. Log on, check the classifieds, then go to the forum. And I have no intention of buying another mando. Between having all that I need, and a slowly developing feeling of my hands getting arthritis, I feel that acquiring any more instruments just isn't necessary. But I still love to see what's out there and at what price.
And yeah every once in a while I see something that makes me think maybe, maybe....... Like that Stiver F that has graced the ads recently. No, I tell myself.
Control yourself. Don't give in!
I'll still be back tomorrow.

[Zach Williams]

How are you going to find a sweet deal if you aren't looking?!

[Mr Fingers]

I'll be the dud/killjoy and offer the opinion that it's all about time and money and how we use the limited quantities of both that we have. Seeing what's out there to buy is really normal, but like "going shopping," but sustained wanting really isn't a good thing when it occupies too much time, energy, and headspace. Ditto for constant purchasing, selling, and purchasing. Most of us do all these things, and of course I do, too, but the issue is one of scale: how much? I've develoiped the habit of reaching for an instrument -- I have a mandolin and a guitar on stands 6 feet away from me -- rather than my computer. I still get some amazing stuff now and again but it's not a preoccupation. There are always instruments, deals, more instruments, and more deals. Good luck striking your own balance. Personally, I value improvement in playing (and listening) over having somewhat better stuff.