I Bought A Mandolin

[ProfessorGAC]

Full DIsclosure: I have all my guitars hung on the wall. Two reasons:

First it looks really cool!

Secondly, i have 11 of them and i know myself. If i had one out and the rest in the cases, i would never have the ambition to pull others out of the case. So, i'd have 11 guitars and only play one, probably until a string broke. (I think we've already established that i'm too lazy to change a string immediately.)

Well, there's this one space on the wall with nothing on it. No painting, no guitars, no amp against the wall, no piano, no nothing! So, i figure in his skinny spot a mandolin would look really cool.

Anyway, i got a pretty good bonus for 2006 and i took a little slice of it and went to buy a mandolin. I thought it would be fun to have a different acoustic instrument to go with the four guitars. Since they're all tuned differently, having the mandolin tuned in 5ths would be five acoustic instruments in five different tunings.

So, i try out this inexpensive Fender in a "mando-pak". OYG! What a piece of crap! The tuning pegs were so cheap that 3 of the 8 had worms so loose you couldn't control the tuning of the string. Then, once i get it in tune, (which took 20 minutes!), the 2nd string would only play in tune to the second fret! No exagerration, by the third fret the two strings were so out of tune with one another it was unplayable. The neck had to be twisted or had a lump under the fingerboard.

So, i try an even cheaper Hondo! "BIG MISTAKE ALERT" The thing had more rattles in it than it had strings.

So, i play this Yamaha which is about at my upper limit of what i was willing to spend. It played ok, but i thought it lacked any richness of tone.

So finally, i play this Ovation. Yeah, it's pricey, but you guys know me! So, i get it out of the locked case and played it in a separate room. I loved it!

I walk out and tell the guy, "What can we do on this?" He does some number crunching and, near as i can figure, wanting to get rid of the inventory of this expensive mandolin, he gives me an OUT THE DOOR PRICE OF 57% OF LIST! Yeah, out the door. Taxes included. 43% off. So, i end up spending about what i thought i would spend for the Yamaha, which was about my upper theoretical limit. But, i got a superb instrument.

And, on top of all this, it's the Adamas style, so it looks REALLY cool hanging on the wall.

Mission Accomplished.

The Professor

BTW: Yeah, i can already play Battle for Evermore, Day by Day (The Hooters), and the theme from the Godfather.

[TrogL]

1. Let's hear you do "Smoke on the Water"

I heard Nash the Slash (http://www.nashtheslash.co.uk/) play Smoke on the Water on the mandolin and it sounded very close to the original.

You have to realize, however that he's got that mandolin hooked up to a bazillion synthesizers and frequency followers.

(damn, pics wouldn't load)

[ProfessorGAC]

2. This One Has A Piezo

Standard Ovation electronics, with midshift, bass boost, and 3 band eq. I played it through my Boogie, clean, with the Boss chorus on, and the TC reverb in the loop (that's always on). Boy, it sounded cool. I had it fairly loud, and my wife was actually enjoying it. (I get the "It's too loud thing" once in a while.)
The Professor

[leftofthedial]

3. have you modded your new axe yet?

Aren't new instruments a blast?

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Nope

This one won't have too much opportunity to mod. I got what i wanted. Very cool looking on the wall, and easy to play. Big, big fun.
The Professor

[leftofthedial]

5. I was just joking aobut the mods

the other thread "Have you modded your axe?" has been stuck at the top of the forum forever.

I have the privelege of working with three different terrific mando players. I don't play (other than just to goof), but I find myself frequently writing with the mando in mind.

[XNASA]

6. I have a cousin in Arkansas named Amanda Lynn.

Seriously.

[johnnie]

7. That's cool

I have two cheap ones that I mess with here and there. One of these days I might spend the extra cash and get a decent one.

[Beetwasher]

8. Cool! I Actually Recently Used A Mandolin On One Of My Tunes

My bass player's got one. I wasn't sure if it would work in the tune, but I'll be damned! Wound up sounding pretty good!

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Pretty Easy To Play, Ain't It?

Once one gets used to the teeny tiny frets, it's pretty easy.
The Professor