So Wormdiet started a harp roll call I had to start with Mando. I do play regular Mando but have played others in the Family and loved them but I actually play Flute primarily. So who else I know you guys are out there.

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Avery LeVine
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I used to play mandolin, both regular and octave styles. I got sick and tired of the tuning issues of double course strings. I'm much happier dealing with the tuning issues of Uilleann pipes.

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Bill

"... you discover that everything is just right: the drones steady and sonorous, the regulators crisp and tuneful and the chanter sweet and responsive. ... I really look forward to those five or six days every year." Robbie Hannan

I am currently abusing the mandolin.

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oh Lana Turner we love you get up

I would have expected it to be the other way around.

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Avery LeVine
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Me too. I love mando

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And whether the blood be highland, lowland or no.
And whether the skin be black or white as the snow.
Of kith and of kin we are one, be it right, be it wrong.
As long as our hearts beat true to the lilt of a song.

I started on mandolin in about '72, with a $15 model (purchased in Japan--and cheap compared to my $22 fiddle and $25 banjo).

I've always played Bluegrass or Old-timey on mando, but I haven't played it in a band since I left Ft. Lewis in 1982.

I traded my 20-year-old Flatiron two weeks ago as part of the deal for a new guitar, but I may have a used Washburn on the way.

When the top of that $15 Japanese mandolin caved in, I hacksawed off the neck and attached it to an aluminum banjo shell (with resonator) that a friend was tossing after the neck developed an extreme curve. It sounded pretty good with a heavy bridge, but it seems have disappeared during our move. Folks here seem not to think too highly of the banjolin, though. (If I can find the shell, I have the neck from a dead electric guitar that I could put on it.)

I think mandolin is the answer for those of us who can't quite hack the fiddle. It's faster and easier than any other plucked string instrument.

I've never tried octave mandolin, but if it's like tenor banjo, the stretch would probably be uncomfortable for me. As I get older, I'm more conscious of the possibility of RSI. Mandola doesn't make any sense to me as a lead instrument. The range is odd.

I wonder whether the Arlington Guitar Show will include mandolin family instruments. Anyone know?

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Mike Wright

"When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place."
 --Goethe

me here too... anxiously awaiting the return of my D-hole Hyalite from Weber... any day now.....

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there is no end to the walking

Guilty here also.

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I continued playing Mando after I gave up Fiddle, never had the time or money to get lessons.

I have tried an Octave which was really fun but I think I would prefer a Cittern so I could use my Pinkie for the 7th fret (same starting place as Mando I just don't skip around with my fingers) then have the B string because the slide would be rough that is what happens to me while I Flatpick tunes on Guitar anyway (I don't do chords). Tenor Banjo has a shorter scale than OM, so OM would probably be harder for you I play a TB once and loved it but I also don't have the cash as WhOA and FAD have consumed me. I also have mild CST in my left wrist from Mando.

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Avery LeVine
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My poor attempt at irony.

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Bill

"... you discover that everything is just right: the drones steady and sonorous, the regulators crisp and tuneful and the chanter sweet and responsive. ... I really look forward to those five or six days every year." Robbie Hannan

Yup, I'm a mando picker. Currently playing a Weber.

Doc

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Want to become a Clinical Herbalist? Doc's Herb School

Working on the mandolin and recently discovered the mandola. Like the mandola a bunch.

Hey Doc, what Weber do you have. I picked up a Bridger a few years ago and it just gets better.


So many instruments........so little time. Ain't it the truth!

jim d

So, do you play most tunes down an octave from where you'd play them on mandolin, with fingering as if it were a fifth above or below?

I can see learning that way if you were starting from scratch, or early on, but it seems a lot to relearn every mandolin tune that way--and harder than going to something entirely unrelated, like guitar. But maybe I'm just over-thinking it? I guess I need to find one somewhere to try out. Unfortunately, I've got a feeling that I'm not going to run into a lot of these things in this area.

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Mike Wright

"When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place."
 --Goethe

It is kind of like different keyed Whistles. Hey Doc I didn't know you played Mando also.

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Avery LeVine
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Hey Mike,

It is in some ways like playing whistles in different keys. I'm also working on chord formations and how to move those around the fretboard to get to different keys. But mostly I'm playing the songs as I play them on the mandolin and enjoy the sound a fifth lower. As I play with others more, I'm going to have to transpose but I'm already finding the "trying" to be good for understanding the mandolin and the mandola.

BTW, the mandola is a Mid Missouri. Can't say enough good about the Mid Missouris.

I have a Troubadour mandola for sale, as well as a Mid Mo MM-8 and a Romanian made Bouzouki. All good instruments in their price range.

Oh yeah, and a Lyon & Healy tenor banjo.

jim