I fancy a mandolin...

[BassTractor]

11 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Odd - I would have thought that a violinist would be the best way of stepping out to mandolin.  It has the same scale length, the same narrow neck (which encourages single notes or double stops rather than chords), and the same tuning (which means that relative note positions are already known).

 

Yeah, but he had a hard time not hitting all eight strings at the same time with his bow!
😉

[Cat Burrito]

I got pretty decent on mine over lockdown. I started playing around 2005 and was little more than a glorified strummer. I think where I went wrong was trying to play mandolin music which wasn't really my thing - especially bluegrass. Over lockdown I applied a more rock / pop approach and now I am playing mine regularly at open mics. It's a great fun instrument, if you can find the inspiration. 

[police squad]

17 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Odd - I would have thought that a violinist would be the best way of stepping out to mandolin.  It has the same scale length, the same narrow neck (which encourages single notes or double stops rather than chords), and the same tuning (which means that relative note positions are already known).

 

 

 

 

note selection isnt the problem here, it's chords. I thought I would be able to just see it, but I need a book to tell me the chords. Also, I stopped playing the violin at 13. I got my mandolin when I was 47. A long time had passed but I still kmow the notes etc

[Nail Soup]

I fancy a mandolin too, but I'm currently trying to get into banjo and don't want to dilute any further!

From what I see at folk sessions I attend the mandolin always seems to be played with a pick. It seems to have short sustain, so a tendency towards frequent picks.

I could see myself going for a bowl-back or an octave mandolin, just to be different.

 

[Cat Burrito]

11 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I fancy a mandolin too, but I'm currently trying to get into banjo and don't want to dilute any further!

 

I could see myself going for a bowl-back or an octave mandolin, just to be different.

 

Do you play 5 string banjo? I cheated by getting a Tenor Banjo so have it tuned the same way as the mandolin. I did the same with the Bouzouki - 3 instruments all in the same tuning. Within my duo we also have a mandocello but it is tunes a 5th down. The shapes are different but related so easy to adapt. It makes us look super talented but actually it's all smoke and mirrors! 

[Nail Soup]

2 hours ago, Cat Burrito said:

Do you play 5 string banjo? I cheated by getting a Tenor Banjo so have it tuned the same way as the mandolin. I did the same with the Bouzouki - 3 instruments all in the same tuning. Within my duo we also have a mandocello but it is tunes a 5th down. The shapes are different but related so easy to adapt. It makes us look super talented but actually it's all smoke and mirrors! 

Yes, I play 5 string... mainly clawhammer style which really features the 5th 'drone' string.

I tend to take the 'embrace the default tuning' approach to other stringed instruments, as I want it to be different from guitar/bass. I'd maybetune to a familiar tuning for practical purposes if I need to for a particular occasion.

 

However whilst banjo does have it's conventional tuning, a lot of pieces are played in an alternate tuning (such as 'mountain modal').

"What tuning is this in" is a much more common question in banjo world than guitar world.

[kolossusuk]

I did similar - bought a mandolin from a charity shop in Frinton On Sea and retuned to E A D G - it's a MAYA, in its own hardcase and it's great fun, though I really should use it more! 

[josie]

Mandolin was my lockdown project too - meant as a bit of a joke, but thanks to a good instrument (Ashburys, £250 on eBay) and an excellent teacher, much to my surprise, I've fallen in love with it. The tuning in even 5ths makes a lot of the shapes more logical (as noted above) and a wider range easier to reach than on a bass. I struggled to pick out some simple Bach cello pieces on bass, but on mandolin they just fall into place under your hand (which makes perfect sense as the cello is also tuned in 5ths). The shapes are upside down and back to front (as also noted) but the thing I still find hardest to remember is that the you sometimes need to play notes on the 6th frets.

 

It's wonderfully versatile in genre, even just picked rather than strummed. There's the whole lute repertoire, some lovely Baroque stuff, Celtic dance tunes, folk songs, through to Grateful Dead, Rod Stewart, R.E.M. ...

 

It is technically much harder to play than bass. One of the first things my teacher said to me was "It's a difficult instrument to play", and the better I get the more I realise how true that is. The slightest variation in pick grip or wrist angle comes through in the sound. I could never have learned from videos - ymmv of course, but I need Patrick watching me and suggesting tiny subtle improvements.

 

And then I spotted an Irish bouzouki in Johnny Roadhouse - a relatively recent hybrid of a mandolin and Greek bouzouki, usually tuned GDAD. Filthy and battered, but still with a beautiful tone. I cleaned it, had a new nut and bridge made, and set it up in mandolin tuning with the G and D strings in octave tuning, A and E in unison - so the low notes have a rich resonance and the high notes are clear and pure. The wider fret spacing is easier than the mandolin, I agree, but the most important difference for me is that its tone range is perfect to sing with. A whole new world 🙂

 

 

[upside downer]

I've had a Giovanni de Meglio 1905 Model A mandolin for some time now and have recently added a Sherwood mahogany solid body electric to join it. Sherwood was the name used by Hobgoblin music for their UK-made mandolins.

 

 

With the fretboard being so small it takes some dexterity but I do like the instrument being tuned in 5ths. I'm mainly a strummer and there's an element of overtones or drone notes available, similar to what I've experienced on the Turkish saz (three courses of strings tuned GDA, although that instrument is a different kettle of fish altogether with its microtones and 17 notes to an octave).

 

And if it's drone notes you're after, try the Irish bouzouki tuned to GDAD.

 

 

Greek bouzouki on the left and, on the right, the Troubadour electro-acoustic Irish bouzouki with resonator and Wilkinson pickup I got a few months back. Was originally just an acoustic but it's been souped up and it's a lovely thing to play. Sounds incredible when used with a delay pedal and a bit of echo. I'm no virtuoso but these instruments are such fun to mess around with.

 

[Ralf1e]

I bought one on a whim a while ago from an elderly guy that was selling all his stuff off and said he won't be gigging anymore. I went to buy an Ashdown amp from him and he showed me all his stuff. He only wanted £25 so I took it.

Its only a Glarry cheapy but might be fun if I can get myself into gear to have a go. It needs a bridge set up apparently. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Ralf1e

[tauzero]

I find the mandolin a bit cramped on my left hand - I got an Irish bouzouki which is more comfortable, tuned to GDAE rather than GDAD.

[Waddo Soqable]

I tried one of the old style round back mandolins, unfortunately my sossidge fingers wouldn't do the tiny little neck / string spacing

I've got an elderly banjo that's do-able for 4 string twangy-ness, I also converted an acoustic guitar to a 4 string Tenor that worked surprisingly well for a butcher's job.. I'm now toying with the idea of doing another but with double courses of strings, mandolin/ bouzouki fashion. 

[bass_dinger]

10 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

. I'm now toying with the idea of doing another but with double courses of strings, mandolin/ bouzouki fashion. 

 

Here, an Ashbury Lindisfarne octave mandola. 

 

 

It seems to be what you described- guitar body, double courses of strings.

 

And it sounds gorgeous!

 

[pete.young]

58 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I tried one of the old style round back mandolins, unfortunately my sossidge fingers wouldn't do the tiny little neck / string spacing

I've got an elderly banjo that's do-able for 4 string twangy-ness, I also converted an acoustic guitar to a 4 string Tenor that worked surprisingly well for a butcher's job.. I'm now toying with the idea of doing another but with double courses of strings, mandolin/ bouzouki fashion. 

The tricky bit is getting the holes on the bridge in the right place, since this controls the string spacing. Fortunately basschat's resident genius has figured it out (round about page 7):

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by pete.young

[Waddo Soqable]

3 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Here, an Ashbury Lindisfarne octave mandola. 

 

 

It seems to be what you described- guitar body, double courses of strings.

 

And it sounds gorgeous!

 

Yep that's pretty much what it'd be, acoustic guitar with a fairly skinny neck, and 4 double courses👍

[Waddo Soqable]

This is my crudely wrought "home made" Tenor guitar, which much to my surprise turned out  working and sounding OK, bearing in mind I'm a ham fisted oaf as a "guitarist". . 

Plus a "work in progress" shot 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[prowla]

FYI, I made this "mandotar"; it's configured like the top 4 strings (pairs) of a 12-string guitar.

 

 

The bridge is a generic bass one with grooved saddles.

[upside downer]

8 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

This is my crudely wrought "home made" Tenor guitar, which much to my surprise turned out  working and sounding OK, bearing in mind I'm a ham fisted oaf as a "guitarist". . 

Plus a "work in progress" shot 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You say crude, but that looks alright. You say you want to try something with double courses of strings, how about a stab at a mandocello? Just like a tenor guitar, tuning of CGDA and an octave below a mandola. Beautiful deep, rich sound.

 

 

[KingBollock]

My mandolin is a Stagg. We visited just about every instrument shop in south Wales and I tried several mandolins, both cheaper ones and ones that cost a hell of a lot more. I have no experience with mandolins, so I had to get one that was set up right to start with. The Stagg was the only one where all the strings and frets sounded properly. I had been hoping to get a nice, traditional looking instrument but, in the end, I suppose a cheaper one in black, suits me better.

 

I have rather chunky fingers, which is why I don’t play my violin, but I don’t really have a problem with the mandolin (apart from never actually practising with it…).

[sprocketflup]

Sometimes use a mandolin on stage, and one particular setlist had me going from an upright bass (scale length 42") to the mando in the next song. That was quite a change

[Waddo Soqable]

2 hours ago, upside downer said:

 

You say crude, but that looks alright. You say you want to try something with double courses of strings, how about a stab at a mandocello? Just like a tenor guitar, tuning of CGDA and an octave below a mandola. Beautiful deep, rich sound.

 

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence! 👍  Certainly the initial "modification" process was a bit crude see old hunting knife and rough b'stard file.. but i did try to get it looking half way decent in the end..

Annoyingly, as I'm rubbish at spraying, I messed up paint finishing the newly done neck and had to strip it all off again and just go for a rough blow over with Halfords matt black 

As regards the 2 course mandola/ mandocello job, having seen the above vids I'm keen to have a go, I'd be taking a similar approach and using a "scrap" cheapo donor acoustic Git. 

[Ralf1e]

36 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Thanks for the vote of confidence! 👍  Certainly the initial "modification" process was a bit crude see old hunting knife and rough b'stard file.. but i did try to get it looking half way decent in the end..

Annoyingly, as I'm rubbish at spraying, I messed up paint finishing the newly done neck and had to strip it all off again and just go for a rough blow over with Halfords matt black 

As regards the 2 course mandola/ mandocello job, having seen the above vids I'm keen to have a go, I'd be taking a similar approach and using a "scrap" cheapo donor acoustic Git. 

You sure you don't want to hollow out a Bongo 🤣

[Waddo Soqable]

2 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

You sure you don't want to hollow out a Bongo 🤣

With a big hammer... 

[Bassfinger]

Mrs Bassfinger bought me a mandolin for crimbo. I'll be playing it live for the first time in March .

Edited January 27, 2023 by Bassfinger

[tauzero]

13 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

You sure you don't want to hollow out a Bongo 🤣

 

It'll be quite tricky making it a headless though.