anyone here play mandolin?

Dord

well?

do any of you guys & girls play mandolin. i'm thinking about buying one, they sound pretty cool.

opinions?

this is what i want



€139 from Thomann

Owen

Yup, I play. My first instrument is violin, classicially trained, and the Mandolin is a direct transfer. I've found most mandolins to be much of a muchness, the sustain is so short, you're not going to generate significant tonal differences in the same way an acoustic guitar, or a solid back violin would.

Dord

oh ok. well i dont play acoustic anymore. i mainly play bass and dabble in a bit of electric i was thinking it would be a nice addition to the instruments i can barely play (joking )

Bratach Bán

joe robot wrote:

oh ok. well i dont play acoustic anymore. i mainly play bass and dabble in a bit of electric i was thinking it would be a nice addition to the instruments i can barely play (joking )

I play tenor banjo - Irish tuned - so its close enough . Just make sure the instrument you buy has a truss rod; many of them don't, and with 8 strings putting pressure on the neck, you'll be looking at some serious problems down the line if there isn't one.

Duff_Man

i play it! well i say i play it but i just bought one and mess about on it from time to time. its a great instrument to play man! i have great crack messin round on em. just make sure you try before you buy cause you can get soem real **** ones!

banjopaul

Yep, I play it pretty seriously. Its my second instrument, my first being tenor banjo. I play this Harley Benton Electro-Acoustic mando:

BTW, most mandolins don't have truss rod's though, don't know where that came from! If there's anything you want to know I can probably help you out.:D

Dord

what does that harley benton one play like, thomann have one with a pickup for €89.

Bratach Bán

banjopaul wrote:

BTW, most mandolins don't have truss rod's though, don't know where that came from! If there's anything you want to know I can probably help you out.:D

Sorry man, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. Some of them (the cheaper ones) don't, but they all should, and once you spend over 200 euro, they all do.

They may not have truss rod covers on the headstock, but they still have truss rods - you just access them from the soundhole. Trust me on this, I'm right.

Edit: To put this in context, the tension in the strings of a standard guitar is around 61 kilos. The tension in the strings of a mandolin is around 80 kilos. Thus, it needs a truss rod.

TelePaul

Bratach B&#225 wrote: »

Sorry man, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. Some of them (the cheaper ones) don't, but they all should, and once you spend over 200 euro, they all do.

They may not have truss rod covers on the headstock, but they still have truss rods - you just access them from the soundhole. Trust me on this, I'm right.

Edit: To put this in context, the tension in the strings of a standard guitar is around 61 kilos. The tension in the strings of a mandolin is around 80 kilos. Thus, it needs a truss rod.

I think any quality instrument with a wooden neck should have a truss rod.., even to compensate for the adverse effect of heat on wood.

fish-head

Yeah I've got a Vintage mando (the brand, it's not an auld one). It's good fun to mess around on, the sound always cuts through whoever you're playing with.

banjopaul

joe robot wrote:

what does that harley benton one play like, thomann have one with a pickup for €89.

The one I have is very nice! I paid around €220 for it two years ago so I'm not sure how good the one on Thomann would be. Best of luck with it!:D

Baggio

I used to try and learn and dabble a bit in Mandolin great instrument for sure.....for real class one check out any pics or photo's you can find of Charles O'Connor of Horslips.,,that man was the most amazing player..he had a solid body custom full electric mandolin for live rocking he played it like a rock instrument with wha wha pedal and also distortion added amazing sound but he was superb on fiddle and concertina and electric guitar and just about anything really....if i went mad and wanted one again id just luuuv a solid body electric mandolin for sure

ciao'...Baggio...

John

A baggio post without mention of Rush! *rubs eyes in disbelief*

The other guitarist in my band plays mandolin too. He uses a few effects on it the odd time which sound nice but most of the time he plays it au naturel. I don't know what make it is, it was not too expensive but sounds and plays very well.

Baggio

John ! (laughing here) how cruel yu are...
..hhehehe ahh the odd time i can be musical without the 3 master craftsmen....but not too often i admit it!.lol

goood that yur man uses one nice ciao' amigo...... Baggio

Dord

ahh yes, the horslips. great band! rush are too!

John

Not to hijack the thread but does anyone have any advice about bouzoukis? I've often thought of getting one (especially since the mandolin spot in the band has been stolen).

Dord

from what i've read, though i'm not quite sure. i think theyre one octave below mandolin?

John

Hehehe, I know what they are, I was wondering about what to look for and/or avoid when buying one

Dord

lol

Dord

John wrote:

Not to hijack the thread but does anyone have any advice about bouzoukis? I've often thought of getting one (especially since the mandolin spot in the band has been stolen).

i'm watching a program on tg4 at the mo about planxty and the bouzouki. pretty interesting. you should be able to see it on tg4's website soon, i think?

deaddonkey

colin meloy plays a bouzouki, it sounds amazing live and recorded. i want one.

Bratach Bán

joe robot wrote:

from what i've read, though i'm not quite sure. i think theyre one octave below mandolin?

Close enough. What you're thinking of is an octave mandolin; they're tuned the same as a bouzouki, but the scale length of a bouzouki is usually about 3 inches longer. (To make matters even more confusing, the octave mandolin is sometimes called the octave mandola in Europe, which is crazy - it has no relationship to the mandola :mad: )

John, you actually might have better luck with an octave mandolin - they have all the sounds of a bouzouki, but the fingering is a hell of a lot easier. Either way, it's something to consider - it opens up your options a bit.

With regard to what to look out for when buying one: DON'T buy Fender. Their bouzouki is pretty poor. For that matter, so are all their 'folk' instruments. For a reasonably priced but quality instrument, have a look at the Ozark range. They have a good reputation for offering pretty good value for money.

If you want something more professional, it might have to be from a small builder. Last I checked, Paul Doyle who works from Galway, was making some pretty nice bouzoukis for around 800-900. Google it, though, there are tons of small makers out there.

John

Cheers Bratach, I planned on spending money on a decent one so a custom built one might be in order.

joe robot wrote:

i'm watching a program on tg4 at the mo about planxty and the bouzouki. pretty interesting. you should be able to see it on tg4's website soon, i think?

Thanks, I'll check that out.

Dord

so i finally took the plunge, i went into waltons today and bought a mandolin
its cool!!! :cool:

here it is

Valentia MD30/NA



it plays very nice. there was a small buzz on the tailpiece but i've found thats a common problem with mandolins. and to fix it i just put a small piece of cloth between the tailpiece and the strings. its not visable and does the job.

it only cost me €109