Beginning mandolin

[whomad1215]

I'm sure these threads have been started a hundred times, but just curious to see what opinions I get now

Looking to start playing the mandolin and expanding my repertoire of musical instruments.

Looking to spend under $350 for a decent beginner mandolin, used is fine and even better if I get more for the money.

Also is there a book or something that would help learn a few basic things, or should I just rely on the internet for those.

any and all opinions welcomed

[mojocaster.com]

1. go to mandolincafe.com. Look at the 2-finger chords. Great way to start and play just about right away.
2. Kentucky mandos are a great bang for the buck

[AbstractLunatic]

What he said!

[myanocsk]

Eastman now has a 300 series a style mandolin. Right around your price range. Solid wood, matte finish.

[mojocaster.com]

Good point, myanocsk, Eastmans are also a great bargain for the buck. Oh, and I dig york - I go there very regularly

[musicofanatic5]

Search previous mandolin threads, losta advice.

"...used is fine and even better if I get more for the money."

There is no IF in the above statement. $350 will get you crap, new. Used, you have a chance at something that will inspire you to want to play it.

As concerns the Eastman sugesstion, I would like to suggest that if we all quit buying matte finish insts, maybe manufacturers would stop producing this detestibly ugly finish option.

Yes, there is a lot of mandolin instructional on the innernet. It depends on what you want to play. I started with Oak Pubs. Bluegrass Mandolin.

Hey, how come almost all the mandolin advice has come from So. Maine?!?

[zombywoof]

I have been trying to find my way around da' bluz on a mandolin off and on for about a year now. What makes it especially hard for me is I ain't much for picks, even thumbpicks.

While I do believe you can adjust to whatever instrument you choose, as a guitar player I prefer a mando with a bit roomier feel to the neck and more generous with the nut width. I found that the Eastmans, as example, are good sounding instruments but the nuts are about as skimpy as you will find on a mandolin.

Good Luck - those little boxes can be frustrating as all get out but they are a blast to play.

[myanocsk]

I prefer the matte Eastman sound to the "dipped" dull thud of the lacquer instruments. With any of the sub-1k mandolins some inexpensive upgrades, tuners, bridge, etc will improve the the and playability.

There are Loar brand instruments, Kentuckys, that are in the $500 range. Depends on what you prefer. The Loars tend to have big chunky necks. The Kentucky's have a thinner, more metallic like tone. My suggestion is to buy where you can get a setup with your purchase, or from an on-line retailer who does the setup and offers some of the little upgrades. Folk musician.com or the Mandolin Shop are good places to shop at this level.

[walterw]

beginners complain about the skinny necks on mandos, but they're like that for a reason: many mandolin chords require you to fret two adjacent courses (i.e., 4 strings) with one finger.

i'd avoid the typical $100 wide-necked cheapie, and get something that at least had a solid top and correct bluegrass scale and spacing.

also, look at a good A-style, which should cost less than a comparable-quality F-style. (they apparently call that F-style scroll "the $1000 strap button", because of the majorly increased labor involved.)

my gibson A-9 is a nice, strong instrument, and was easily $1000 less than the equal-quality F-9.

[mannish]

pretty cool & easy instrument to learn - assuming you already play a stringed instrument. I bought a Kentucky and was pleased

[OOG]

don't buy into the wide fretboard thing
it ain't a guitar
i played them for half a century before picking up the mandolin and adapted to a 1 1/8 nut quite easily
you will too

[kingsleyd]

Originally Posted by musicofanatic5

Hey, how come almost all the mandolin advice has come from So. Maine?!?

You ever been there? Maine is closer to appalachia in a lot of ways than it is to New England. Country music and bluegrass are really popular there, and have been forever. A lot of great musicians have come from there. One can find a bluegrass jam every night of the week in my area. (seacoast NH, southern ME).

I just started playing mandolin for the first time after having played guitar for 40+ years. Being me, I didn't start at the cheap end -- I bought one of Matt Artinger's creations. The great thing about starting with a high-end instrument is it sounds so good and works so well that you want to play all the time. Never underestimate the power of motivation!

As for learning, I dragged out some old Jethro Tull and Led Zep records and went to work learning by ear, which has always worked for me. Watched some video of some good mando players to get an idea of how to hold the thing and all. It took me about a week (maybe 8 or 10 hours of playtime) to get used to the tiny neck. In that time, I had figured out basic scales and chord forms and, at least to some extent, what notes are where in mando tuning. (some experience playing violin might help there -- I have none of that, although I've played alt-tuned acoustic for years which also helps) Funny enough, although I live in two places where bluegrass is a way of life (when not in NH, I live in Kentucky), I don't have much interest in learning how to play in that style. It's more I like having a new color for my own stuff. I've already learned that some of my own tunes (which normally get performed in a jazz trio setting) sound great on mandolin, so we'll see where that leads.

I say that because there's no law that says you have to play a certain style of music on mandolin -- go with what turns you on! (again: it's all about motivation to persevere and put in the time necessary to get competent to whatever level you want to reach)

[myanocsk]

Ton of musicians here, but no music stores of merit for mandos. (I believe musicofanatic is from Kittery Point or thereabouts- as an FYI, I think he was being facetious)

[kingsleyd]

acoustic outfitters in Stratham?

[mannish]

Johnny Young and Yank Rachell played some nice blues on Mando but of course you knew that

Originally Posted by zombywoof

I have been trying to find my way around da' bluz on a mandolin off and on for about a year now. What makes it especially hard for me is I ain't much for picks, even thumbpicks.

While I do believe you can adjust to whatever instrument you choose, as a guitar player I prefer a mando with a bit roomier feel to the neck and more generous with the nut width. I found that the Eastmans, as example, are good sounding instruments but the nuts are about as skimpy as you will find on a mandolin.

Good Luck - those little boxes can be frustrating as all get out but they are a blast to play.