[TN]

I never have New Year's resolutions but I this year I want to make one.... to learn to play a new instrument, the mandolin.

I have found a few on CL but I need to talk to my buddy who is a luthier & pick his brain.

I am gonna get some books but eventually take lessons.

Anyone ever played?

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

Gave up on the skin flute?

 

[gonefirefightin]

you can pick up a decent instrument for 250-300 that will last forever. anything cheaper will sound like crap and wont last very long. I would sugget shopping high end shops and picking them up and handling them so you know what to look for in a quality instrument.

 

[TN]

GFF-you play? I can play the guitar a little & I used to play the violin when I was a kid, so I am thinking I can catch on pretty quick.


Crabboy- I am more of a skin flute conductor. I never play the thing, but boy can I direct a helluva concert.

 

[Damo]

Yes

 

[Nick]

Gave up on the skin flute?

 

[SkaredShtles]

You fukkin' hippy...

 

[gonefirefightin]

if you can play the guitar the mandolin will be easy. the shapes are similiar just dropping a finger or two for most chords.

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

You fukkin' hippy...

Kettle, pot.............pot, kettle.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Kettle, pot.............pot, kettle.

Hippies don't alpine ski yah friggin' n00B.

 

[97 ATX 2.0L]

I started to try and pick it up a few months ago. I bought a $50 Rogue off Musicians Friend and luckily it had good intonation without having to adjust the bridge. It's actually playable, stays in tune, and playing chords it sounds great (for the price) just not a lot of volume. Single notes are really tinny sounding. As a gift to myself I ordered a Big Muddy flat top mandolin straight from the maker. As a flat top vs carved arch top it has its disadvantages but for the price range there wasnt anything really close. American made, all solid spruce top and walnut back and sides. No binding and flat varnish make it very plain but it sounds great. Has a lot of sustain and very clean sounding. Very happy with it and the price was very reasonable, not as cheap as the entry level Kentuckys that I had considered but not a whole lot more.

For instruction I played upright bass all through school so I have some musical backround. I found that Getting into Jazz Mandolin to be the best help for practice and theory and use either sheet music or tabs online for tunes to play around with.

 

[TN]

Hippies don't alpine ski yah friggin' n00B.

yuppie....

 

[SkaredShtles]

yuppie....

Yuppies are young.

 

[TN]

I started to try and pick it up a few months ago. I bought a $50 Rogue off Musicians Friend and luckily it had good intonation without having to adjust the bridge. It's actually playable, stays in tune, and playing chords it sounds great (for the price) just not a lot of volume. Single notes are really tinny sounding. As a gift to myself I ordered a Big Muddy flat top mandolin straight from the maker. As a flat top vs carved arch top it has its disadvantages but for the price range there wasnt anything really close. American made, all solid spruce top and walnut back and sides. No binding and flat varnish make it very plain but it sounds great. Has a lot of sustain and very clean sounding. Very happy with it and the price was very reasonable, not as cheap as the entry level Kentuckys that I had considered but not a whole lot more.

For instruction I played upright bass all through school so I have some musical backround. I found that Getting into Jazz Mandolin to be the best help for practice and theory and use either sheet music or tabs online for tunes to play around with.

+ rep.

thanks. that is one of the things I am worried about with CL.....having to tweek the hell out of it to get it sounding right.

 

[TN]

Yuppies are young.

geezer!

 

[MMike]

Ciaran MUST know how.....

 

[SkaredShtles]

geezer!

You say that as if it's a bad thing...

 

[MikeD]

Steve Earle does.

He broke a string in concert and said (to the best of my recollection), "Too much thumb, that's what that is. Only damned thing separating us from the apes and I turn it into a handicap..."

 

[dan-o]

Take a road trip to the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
The bars along that stretch of N Lincoln Ave are filled with disillusioned musicians looking to dump slightly used folk instruments.

 

[MikeD]

Yes

Oooh, I saw one of those do bad things to a thumb.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Oooh, I saw one of those do bad things to a thumb.

Izzat why the string broke?

 

[TN]

Take a road trip to the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
The bars along that stretch of N Lincoln Ave are filled with disillusioned musicians looking to dump slightly used folk instruments.

That would entail dealing with disillusioned musicians.

 

[BurlyShirley]

If you just got a Ukulele instead, you could suck terribly and nobody would know the difference.

 

[Damo]

Oooh, I saw one of those do bad things to a thumb.

I bet you did. During one of your 'security talks'?