Is a new mandolin the answer?

[Bazz Jass]

When I was gigging/sessioning I bought an Eastman MD515 that easily kept up with the mix. It wasn't expensive compared to my Gibson F4, but a. it was louder and more cutting, b. it was 100 times less precious.

I don't gig mandolin anymore and sold the Eastman.

My 40 years of instrument playing has taught me there are tools, and there are jewels. Sometimes they overlap, but generally I find there are instruments that get the job done out in live music land, and others that speak just to me. The former stay in their cases ready for the next gig, and the latter hang on the wall here within arm's reach.

[journeybear]

So if your tool
IS a jewel
Don't be a fool
Let it rule!

Is that cool?

[jerrymartin]

If 'loud' is the main criterion, you might want to consider a resonator mando.

[jimmy powells]

Just repeating what others say. Undoubtedly the answer is an F-hole mandolin. I LOVE my F4 mandolins at home. Over the years I've had 8 Gibson F4s and NONE of them have worked in a 'noisy session' situation. Absolutely 100% F-hole mandolin needed.

[Rob Roy]

F hole instruments do tend to cut through the mix but they project their sound straight out. So while others will hear you better, you won't necessarily hear yourself any more than with an oval hole.

+1 on medium gauge strings and and picks in the 1.5mm range if you're not already their.

+1 on the Eastman 515, the one I set up for a friend was one of the loudest mandolins I've encountered. Not a pretty sound but loud. The tailpiece and skinny frets would end up needing replacing.

* Some of the loudest mandolins I've played were not the easiest to play fast tempo melody on. The extra mass in the the tops need more energy to get them moving, you need to try out to find one that does both loud and fast well. (just my experience).

[Bazz Jass]

So if your tool
IS a jewel
Don't be a fool
Let it rule!

Is that cool?

[Louise NM]

I love the analogy of "tools and jewels." Saintly Tom, I adore my Pava A-oval, and I'm sure yours falls straight into the "jewel" category.

Rob Roy brought up an excellent point in post #30—what a mandolin sounds like in the room can be quite different that the sound you hear sitting behind it. Listen to someone else play anything you're looking at would be wise, and have them listen to you. This time, you're looking for a tool, and you need to be sure it does its job.

In case you haven't yet figured it out, "Is a new mandolin the answer?" gets only one response here: yes, buy another, and even another!

[Sue Rieter]

or maybe even another after that

[Mandobart]

I'm copying a slightly edited reply I made to a similar question posed on the AGF here:

This is just my opinion, something to consider. I'm not saying the shoe fits the OP.

There are lots of hobbies. Many involve learning and improving a skill. Many also involve gear. Most of us here on the cafe seem to be middle-to-older aged people in the western world. We tend to be susceptible to believing that whatever we're lacking in skill, experience or talent can be overcome with the right gear. We've been programmed that way through corporate advertising and our own mythology.

We've been programmed to believe we can buy our way to better performance, enjoyment and mastery of most any pursuit.

This is one driver of MAS. This is one reason why some of us go through so many instruments and obsess over the minutia of specs, materials, dimensions, bracing, builders, etc. If only we could find the magic combination/recipe we could get that perfect mandolin and we would play and sound so great and we would finally be content!

In the words of Steve Forbert - "it isn't gonna be that way."

[jmagill]

Yes!

Uh... what was the question?

[Randi Gormley]

i've played both oval and f-holed instruments in loud sessions and neither was particularly quiet but there's no way to compete with pipes, a really loud, ferocious fiddle or a box. As has been pointed out, if you want to stand out, you need a different instrument -- banjolin, resonator, banjo (dude I know has a lovely little Gibson tenor banjo with a fretboard only slightly longer than a mandolin). Experimenting with strings and picks and technique will help and is cheaper than a new mandolin if money is an object. So changing instruments may not get you what you want if your session remains the same.

Now, if you just want to hear yourself, sit away from the loud instruments if you can, or maneuver/turn your chair slightly away from your loud neighbors. iirc, an f-holed instrument is more distinct to the audience and an oval hole is more distinct to the player taken in general (because every instrument is different). So changing to an f-hold may actually make you less able to hear yourself. just a caution there. And remember, if the group around you is so loud you can't hear your clams, nobody else can either!

I've been in a session with a guy with a lovely cittern that has a side port up along the shoulder of the instrument. He may be able to hear himself better, but it didn't seem to do much for those of us who didn't sit nearby -- we couldn't hear him three people away, for all that two of the three between us were flutists. He ended up bringing a small monitor/mike. We use it for the singers when the bar gets too loud. The session isn't miked, but nobody has objected to his electronics.

[Mandoplumb]

You could just add a quality pickup and get a small quality acoustic amp, easy to setup and lug around. That will give you enough boost in such situation. Then you don't need to struggle or find another mandolin.

I knew that sooner or later that solution would come up. I have never heard a pick-up that didn't change the sound of the instrument, most of the time to the point of it being very plain that the instrument is electrified. Totally unacceptable to me

[CES]

I agree with those who say a mandolin with F holes may be your answer, or it may not be depending on the individual mandolins. I used to own a Flatiron 1N (which is admittedly a different animal than your carved top Pava oval) that was crazy loud, but it didn’t have the focus and projection to stand up to fiddles, banjos, and several guitars. My cheaper and lower quality Kentucky 675-S, however, was just right in that noisy setting. I now own a Skip Kelley A5 that’s a beast and my main main mandolin, a Rigel CT110 that offers a different but still very good voice and plug/play convenience, and a National RM-1. The RM-1 I’m pretty sure repels rodents and critters from the neighborhood and may startle some of the smaller children on the block . My dogs stay in the room with me when I play the first 2, but they generally leave when I play the RM-1, unless I’m intentionally playing quietly (it’s an extremely dynamic mandolin that can go from whisper to scream). The RM-1 also sounds more like an all wooden mandolin than I anticipated, though if played with a metal slide it can get nasty and metallic sounding (in a good way). Since COVID hit I’ve only played out twice, both times at church, so the RM-1 hasn’t gotten a ton of play, but I know it’s there when I need it…

Good luck!