Originally Posted by
(Zman @ May 26 2007, 15:53)
[snip]
My issue is that I have large hands, and a piece like the prelude makes use of incessant double and triple stops. I keep damping strings that I don't want to damp regardless of how square I play to the fingerboard.
I'm sure some some of it has to do with my technique (or lack thereof), but I'm also convinced that if I had just a millimeter more distance between the courses, I could play much more cleanly.
Here's my question: do classical mandolinists use instruments that have wider fingerboards like classical guitarists, and if so, are they readily available or do they have to be custom-made?
Any wisdom would be appreciated.
Not sure if this qualifies as "wisdom", but ... I play a Phoenix, which has a 30 mm nut (builder says it is just under 1 3/16"), and the fingerboard is radiused to 7 1/4". #I find that the string spacing is excellent, the strings in the paired courses being a bit closer together, so each course is a bit further apart (than on my Eastman 815), making it easier to hit the target and only the target, so to speak.
Gene Rankin
Gene R. Rankin (a CheeseHead)
Phoenix custom Deluxe
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