Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
- Rob Sharer
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- s1m0n
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Angry eyes.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Harlequin eyes! Laughing clown eyes!
Rob
Rob
Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Is this a new National model?!? Or an antique?
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Or your build, Rob? It looks delicious, apart from them eyes.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
My build indeed. You like F holes better?
Rob
Rob
Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Ah, could've sworn that was a National logo on the head. Nice craftsmanship!
- Feadoggie
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Very interesting! That looks like something I'd like to get my hands on, Rob. Although I tend towards spider bridge resonators.
Is that a full 9.5" cone? Scale length?
Thanks.
Feadoggie
Is that a full 9.5" cone? Scale length?
Thanks.
Feadoggie
I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
True, dat.Thomaston wrote:Ah, could've sworn that was a National logo on the head. Nice craftsmanship!
The ironclad looks good, apart from the dingy tremclad paint job. It ain't not good enough for good and not punk enuf for punk. They must be aiming at a sunburst but the attainment is pea soup fog.
How do these things sound?
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
- Feadoggie
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
This might give you a sense of how a national polychrome tenor sounds. The octave mando obviously has the double courses of strings and would sound fuller still. The biscuit bridge mandolins can be bright and sweet when set up nicely. Haven't ever heard an octave mandolin on a biscuit bridge cone. Could be real interesting.
Maybe Rob could give us a sample?
Feadoggie
Maybe Rob could give us a sample?
Feadoggie
I've proven who I am so many times, the magnetic strips worn thin.
- Rob Sharer
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Hey man, it's authentic. That's what color they were in 1930. The one in the pic with the wheat has been to lots of swing parties (music, people!), so it's starting to show a few battle scars.
Might get a sound sample together soon. Meanwhile, here's a sunburst you may like better:
- Rob Sharer
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
For the record, the OM above is essentially the love-child of a 1930 National Triolian wood-body tenor (22-7/8" scale) and a Trinity College octave mandolin (20-3/8"). The scale is right between at 21-3/4", so is comfortable without sacrificing a strong G. And strong it is!Feadoggie wrote:This might give you a sense of how a national polychrome tenor sounds. The octave mando obviously has the double courses of strings and would sound fuller still. The biscuit bridge mandolins can be bright and sweet when set up nicely. Haven't ever heard an octave mandolin on a biscuit bridge cone. Could be real interesting.
Sound-wise, there is plenty of bite to accompany the wood-body warmth, but with none of the crashiness of the metal-body Nationals. It sounds more like a mature arch-top OM than a resonator instrument. I feel the same way about the OM as I do about the four-strings: where has this sound been all my life?
I have taken one of everything plectral to a session at one time or another; even fancy OMs have trouble being heard once the louder instruments cut loose, especially if you're playing the melody. After my experience with the tenor guitar, I can safely say that this Reso-OM will put the plectralist on an even footing down the pub.
Rob
Last edited by Rob Sharer on Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
- crookedtune
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Dan sure made his sound good at Pat & Cathy's show last week.
BTW, I play a National resonator (RM-1) mando. IMHO the tone fits very well in session context. Use a light touch until you absolutely, positively want to offend. Then damn the torpedoes!
BTW, I play a National resonator (RM-1) mando. IMHO the tone fits very well in session context. Use a light touch until you absolutely, positively want to offend. Then damn the torpedoes!
Charlie Gravel
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde
- Rob Sharer
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Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Here's Dan in action - he hasn't been seen in public with a tenor banjo since....
Re: Is your octave mandolin too quiet for the session?
Thank god, I always find I want to hear Dan better.Rob Sharer wrote:Here's Dan in action - he hasn't been seen in public with a tenor banjo since...