Do mandos need time to warm up?

[erick]

More than a couple of times I've heard people tell me that certain mandolins, especially those made with adirondack spruce tops, need maybe 20 minutes playing time before they really reach their best sound. What do you think of this? I've owned and played a bunch of instruments and have never really heard much difference minute to minute.... Your opinions/ anecdotes?

[Stillpicking]

I do think that there is some logic to the 'warm up" concept. My guess and it is only a guess mind you is that the wood fibers somehow change their structure after a few tunes mainly because of the top moving as the mandolin is played. It may be that the warm up gets the top loose so it vibrates fully.

Now as far as the player goes at least for me I need about 10 minutes of warm up time before I start sounding/playing my best but that is another topic.

[Scotti Adams]

..absolutley.....my top is Englemann...and it definently opens up and awakens as it is played...

[doanepoole]

All of my mandolins have exhibited this behavior.

Is it just my imagination, or if it is humid, do mandolins seem a little less alive? Seems like when its humid, sometimes it takes a mando a little longer to "wake up".

[GTison]

I think my new fern does this..bout 20 or 30 min it sounds different. and humidity where I live(Gulf Coast) is always High. If you go outside to play ona real humid day it does seem to change the sound. not to mention tuning .

[Nolan]

I'm not sure if I warm up or my Collings warms up but we seem to sound better after about 20 minutes..... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[jcs271]

And I thought it was only me, after 15-20 mins I do notice a tonal change (for the better). Probably a combination of both me AND the Collings loosening up.

[J. Mark Lane]

This is one of those great puzzling questions that I'm not sure can really be answered. I've noticed the same "phenomenon," more with mandolins than with guitars.

It seems to me that the instrument should "sound better" when it is "cold." That is, as the instrument warms up, it should hold more humidity (or at least, warm air will hold more humidity ?). A "drier" instrument, it seems to me, will resonate better and "move faster" (respond better). So the idea that the "instrument" "warms up" seems out of place to me.

What I sort of thought was that the strings were what was effected by playing (in the short term, ie, minutes). I don't know enough physics to have a clue about how this might work, but it seems to me that the fingers (warm, humid) on the strings, plus the movement (stretching) of the strings, both caused by playing, could change them in a few minutes time.

I remmember hearing that Mr. Bill would always "strum" the strings when he opened the case to "wake up" the Great Loar. Well, if it's good enough for him <g>.

I generally figure -- tune up, play a few scales, maybe a tune or two, then tune up again. Again, I think it's the strings that are changing.

Mark (who doesn't really know anything about any of this)

[BenE]

Have you ever seen anyone blow into the F holes to warm up an instrument? #Maybe that is where all those old Loars get their smell....Think of all that beer/whiskey and cigarette smelling breath that has been blown into those old F holes! #Whewwww!

[sunburst]

I don't know what happens in there,
I didn't really believe it 'til I heard it for myself,
I think it is a process that is probably too complicated for a simple explanation,
I offer no speculation as to why,
but YES mandolions sound better after they have been played for a while. It seems to me that new mandolins do this more than old ones, unless the old ones haven't been played much. A few months ago I got the chance to play a Loar ('24 w/virzi) that had surfaced in a pawn shop(!). It obviously hadn't been played much in it's life and had hardly been played at all lately. It sounded like a pretty good new mandolin. That instrument would probably "warm up" like a new one.
As well played instruments age and "build tone", there is less room for "warm up", but it still happens.
When I show new instruments to potential customers I like for them to be able to play for 15 minutes or so. There is a noticable difference in the sound and the player gets a better idea of the potential of the instrument as it matures.

[G_Smolt]

I am a firm believer in the "warm up" phenomena...

And I thought I was alone in blowing into the f-holes on low-humidity #days (read: all winter in Alaska).

I cannot offer any insight, nor explanation, but it happens. I own multiple mandos, and sometimes in the middle of a pickin session I will switch axes...I'm warm, but the mando takes awhile to get up to volume and tone potential, sorta like an old vacuum tube radio set.

[JD Cowles]

awww heck, i'll weigh in as the skeptic here. i believe it is just as much the picker as it is the mando that warms up over the first 15-20 minutes. now a little snort of bourbon always help loosen up the ol' digits for me but i'm not sure a shot of bourbon would do my mando any good http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Bob DeVellis]

I read on a site that I found from a link posted here at the Cafe that polymers in the wood inhibit vibration. Playing tends to break these polymers, which is why instruments have an "opening up" phase. But, when left undisturbed, the polymer fragments start bonding together again, although not completely. Thus, an instrument unplayed for a day will sound better after 20 min. of warming up and one left under the bed for years will need a considerably longer time to "open up," although not to the same degree as when it was brand new. I have no idea whether this description is accurate, but if nothing else it's a nice metaphor for how mandolin sound changes over various periods of time.

[jasona]

Count me as another believer. That is why I start out practices with about 10 minutes of chopping to get the top moving (and me rhythm practice!).

[Walter Newton]

Yep I notice the warm-up effect too, not sure how much of it is ME warming up vs. the mando though...who knows, maybe the pick has to warm up http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Ted Eschliman]

Here's another slant to the phenomenon...
I have instruments that I try to keep in playing "rotation," as when I leave one unplayed for several weeks, it seems to take bit longer to warm up. Sometimes it's not in its prime until the next practice session.
If I have one critter that I play more than the others, it's almost like they are complaining of neglect, and seem less responsive. That's one reason why I'd rather sell an unused instrument after a period of time--I feel guilty not "breathing life" into them.
Some of it is the player, getting requainted with the frets, the fingerboard, the difference in right hand "stance" with an instrument that has a pickguard vs. one that doesn't, but that's only part of the equation.

[jeffshuniak]

remember how metel expands with heat, contracts in cold?

the strings warm up, as you touch them. they are probably a cool room temp. until you touch them with your fingers, 98 degrees, almost 99 F, well that does stretch out the strings. if I start playing with a fast song, or even a lot of tremelo, I "can" go out of tune, it does happen , though not too often.

[MOP]

My mando(Rigel A+) needs to warm up.I noticed that the cold weather is very good for the tone of this type of mando,when its raining,the tone is not so good and I have some problems to stay in tune.I must retune more often. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Ron Landis]

I've heard of concert violinists who hire a good player warm up their instrument for an hour or more before a concert. Also, I understand the violins in the Smithsonian collection are played now and then to keep them "live". I do notice my mando needs some warming up if I hadn't played it in a while. However, if I'm playing a lot on a daily basis, it's always ready to go.

[Tim Smith]

I think a lot of the sound difference has to do with your body heat actually warming up the mandolin from the back resting against your stomach or chest or whatever. It seems mine always responds better when the back has adjusted to my body temp.

[Bob A]

Mass/thickness of top seems to have something to do with it. Takes a bit of effort to wake up a carved-top instument; bowlbacks or similar instruments are ready to go rather more quickly, seems to me.

[Talon]

I used to play to warm them up but now about a 1/2 hour to an hour before I'm going to play, I like to put my mandolins each directly in front of a stereo speaker, facing it, strings touching cloth. I play mandolin music at a medium level. I can lightly touch the backs with the back of a fingernail, and really feel the vibrations. I notice a difference.