Dinky Little Frets

[RickW]

So, having now played my tenor guitar for a few months, and feeling fairly confident in at least that I won't embarrass myself completely, I picked up a mandolin in a music store today. It was a decent one, I'm assuming, Gretsch, (didn't know they made mandolins, but there was one there.) I sat down to play.

How the hell does anyone who does not have fingers like pencils play one? I had a cheap one before, and I guess I figured it was extra small. Apparently not.

Now I know how they get those crazy stretch chords that I can't possibly do on the tenor, even though it's only a 22" scale length. And I was reading a thread on Mandolin Cafe about tenors, where people were complaining about the stretch.

I'm thinking that if I go there, it'll be on an octave mandolin.

And while the Gretsch might have been decent, it didn't sound that great, but it was in a music store, and who knows what had been done to the strings. Didn't feel great either, so I'm assuming it had had zero setup done on it. Be nice to try a decent one some time, set up properly.

[Marshall]

I've got an inexpensive handmade mando from some guy in Minnie. Sounds pretty nice. But for the life of me, a mando is so different from my guitar style that I can't make it work. You're right, the strings and frets are close together so you have to finger it perpendicular to the fingerboard. And then it's tough. and the right hand technique is very perpendicular and wristy and fine motored. I'm much more of a brush stroke right hand guy with left hand position that is always shifting grips. It's very contrary for me to try mando.

An octave mando is easier. But it's not a clean clear crisp sounding instrument. It's much more dirty sounding. Which can be a good thing. But it's not going to sound like a mando.

Tim O'Brien plays an octave mando a lot.

[Tamarack]

With the exception of higher-end electric guitars, most products with the Gretsch name on them are decent, cheap instruments, with cheap being the operative word. The all-mahogany Gretsch mandolin is a decent entry-level instrument if it is set up properly, but it doesn't sing like a well-built spruce-topped instrument.

[coachdoc]

I've been loving the heck out of my Gretsch reso. It's a wood body acoustic electric, the Bobtail. Tres nice. Plays wicked EZ. Played it with a big sound system last weekend, and plugged in, it started to feed back before I would like. But for $400, my favorite bargain in awhile.

[RickW]

I guess, not ever having played a decent mando, I don't know what to expect. The tuning I no longer have a problem with.

I fell in love with the sound of Sarah Jarosz's octave mando, so I might be disappointed in a live one. My buddy's mando cello that he made is kind of cool, but it's a pretty bassy sound.

I just keep looking for tonal variety to keep things interesting.

[millring]

You don't hold the neck like a guitar. You hold it like the fiddle it is. It makes a difference for the angle the fingers attack the strings. Octaves are far more difficult to finger, say, a line of a fiddle tune. The stretch is very difficult and my hand can stretch more than half of a mando's 16 inch scale length. When you learn to hold the neck right, it doesn't feel that tight.

[Kramster]

I really like my custom octave mando over my matching regular sized. But alas, I don't play it much

[Dub]

Like most stringed instruments, playing mandolin is largely a mater of becoming accustomed to it. If you play infrequently because it feels strange, it will always feel strange. I've known great mandolin players whose hands were large and gnarled from labor and whose fingers were each nearly as large as the mandolin's neck and yet they played beautifully with clear notes and solid sliding double stops. It's really just determination and time in the saddle.

[Dub]

If you want a good inexpensive mandolin, get a higher-end Eastman or a Kentucky. These Chinese made instruments are hand carved from solid woods and often have tone far beyond their price bracket. But be sure when you shop to know the sound you're looking for and don't buy one you haven't played.

[dickt]

I got a cheap Romanian octave mando that David Kilpatrick in Scotland was importing and re-selling. It is out on loan to a fellow at work for a couple of years now. I was never satisfied with the intonation; no matter where I place the bridge it was always off. It played great at capo V though. I've still got my eye out for one--it's about the only G.A.S. I've had the last several years. Since I'm in the process of building one or more four-string cigar box guitars, I may tune one to GDAE and have a cigar box tenor guitar.

I've never had a problem playing mando with my average to large size hands, but I find alternatives to those stretchy chords and don't play way up the neck that much.

My first cigar box project, built yesterday morning.

[Russell Letson]

Pretty short scale on that one. . . .

[Deleted]

Oct 18, 2014 21:32:02 GMT -5 coachdoc said:

I've been loving the heck out of my Gretsch reso. It's a wood body acoustic electric, the Bobtail. Tres nice. Plays wicked EZ. Played it with a big sound system last weekend, and plugged in, it started to feed back before I would like. But for $400, my favorite bargain in awhile.

What preamp are you using with it?

[coachdoc]

None. I imagine it will be my Red Dot next time.

[Deleted]

Oct 20, 2014 16:35:05 GMT -5 coachdoc said:

None. I imagine it will be my Red Dot next time.

It needs a preamp and the ability to correct phase. Both are important in getting a good volume level before feedback. I presume you mean a Red Eye preamp and that will do the job nicely.