View Full Version : Mandolin Mystery Dents.
cedarhog
Aug-11-2009, 9:51pm
:mad: Found one on my new mandolin...uggh..........its tiny but its there....at least now I don't have to baby it anymore.
Tim2723
Aug-11-2009, 10:06pm
Yeah, I've had that happen too. Little tiny dents that you're not really sure what caused them. Try to stay upbeat about it and call them 'character'.
I used to have an uncle that sold Cadillacs. Every year he got a new car. He would drive it home and go get a beer and a ballpeen hammer. He'd whack the car and drink the beer. That way he didn't have to worry about the first dent.
allenhopkins
Aug-11-2009, 10:34pm
Look upon it as incremental distressing -- and, you don't have to pay extra for it!
Those are caused by the gravitational force of microscopic black holes. You can't see them but they're there.
Ivan Kelsall
Aug-12-2009, 5:57am
250cc - Who're you trying to kid ? - They're done by fairies,wiv likkle fairy 'ammers,
Ivan ~:>
It's the dried flecks of (whatever) that make me cringe.
Ivan Kelsall
Aug-12-2009, 6:51am
Dem's likkle fairy boogers !!!! ( heck, i shouldn't have said that should i ?),
Ivan:))~:>
Dan Hoover
Aug-12-2009, 7:26am
Gnomes with tiny ukulele's...
cedarhog
Aug-12-2009, 8:39am
Well how ever it got there.....its amazing that though its so small..my eye goes to it each time I open the case. I guess if it really bothers me I could put an armrest on that would probably cover it.
billkilpatrick
Aug-12-2009, 9:23am
after 25 it's just patch-patch-patch ...
allenhopkins
Aug-12-2009, 9:49am
In five years you won't be able to count the number of dings, scrapes, pick scratches and finish crackles your mandolin's accumulated. Say you bought a hammer to pound nails; after a few years of use, it would look like, well, it had pounded a lot of nails.
Those who want "mint" instruments should also purchase humidified glass cases in which to keep them. Not advocating abuse, but when I see a mandolin that's a few years old, and it has some dings and wear and finish deterioration, I think, "That's a good instrument -- someone's really played it."
Tim, who are you kidding...you've never had a "little ding" in your life!! :)):)):))
Tim2723
Aug-12-2009, 12:18pm
Sure I have. It's those little ones that you never know where they come from. You know the ones. It's like when you're just playing along and then look down and see blood all over. You think "What did I do?" Those dents just show up somehow.
Dan Hoover
Aug-12-2009, 1:03pm
Sure I have. It's those little ones that you never know where they come from. You know the ones. It's like when you're just playing along and then look down and see blood all over. You think "What did I do?" Those dents just show up somehow.
BLOOD??? ALL OVER???:disbelief:...man you get me...:grin:..next time i'm in the clifton area..i have to stop and see you guy's play..cheers
John Flynn
Aug-12-2009, 1:17pm
Two words to put it in perspective: Fireplace poker! :cool:
I have not been a fan of intentionally "distressing" mandolins, but it occurs to me this might be one argument for it. If the mandolin comes with dings in already, you don't have to worry about new dings. You circumvent that whole area of anxiety around owning an instrument.
I will say from experience if you are worried about dings, don't get a black-face mandolin. they attract dings like a black hole attracts matter! :mad:
The best sounding mandolin I've ever heard, though, had the worst ding I've ever seen in a mandolin that was still playable. I attended a rhythm guitar workshop with Bull Harmon and he had Cecil Tinon there playing melody for him on mandolin. Tinon was playing a Nugget A. It looked like someone had taken a hammer and smashed in a 5" hole in the top, just south of the treble bridge foot. It looked like someone had then patched the hole with plastic wood and then done a bad job of staining it to match. It was hideous! I did not ask what had happened, it just didn't seem appropriate at the time. But that mandolin was true tone monster. It is the gold standard for mandolin tone in my experience.
Tim2723
Aug-12-2009, 1:28pm
...next time i'm in the clifton area..i have to stop and see you guy's play..cheers
That would be fun, Dan. We're not allowed in Pennsylvania anymore.
Chris Biorkman
Aug-12-2009, 1:33pm
The first one is always the worst, I've found. I still haven't got a single one on either of my two mandolins that I have right now, and I have played the snot out of my Ellis for over a year and a half. I don't really understand how some people thrash instruments like they do.
OldSausage
Aug-12-2009, 1:36pm
The best sounding mandolin I've ever heard, though, had the worst ding I've ever seen in a mandolin that was still playable. I attended a rhythm guitar workshop with Bull Harmon and he had Cecil Tinon there playing melody for him on mandolin. Tinon was playing a Nugget A. It looked like someone had taken a hammer and smashed in a 5" hole in the top, just south of the treble bridge foot. It looked like someone had then patched the hole with plastic wood and then done a bad job of staining it to match. It was hideous! I did not ask what had happened, it just didn't seem appropriate at the time. But that mandolin was true tone monster. It is the gold standard for mandolin tone in my experience.
I've got my hammer ready and a tub of plastic wood, can you diagram where I need to smash the hole?
Dan Cole
Aug-12-2009, 1:39pm
I think a mandolin with out a dent or scratch is a mandolin that isn't played very much.
Tim2723
Aug-12-2009, 1:42pm
Aren't mandolins great!? You can change the nut material and totally alter the tone, or patch the soundboard with a honkin' lump of Bondo and it stays a tone monster.