Oh you fickle beast!

[Nick Quig]

Yesterday the mandolin sounded terrible,I was struggling to fret without buzzing and every pick I tried was 'clicky' and horrid!... today- plays like a dream,sounds lovely & woody and the pick glides like a hot knife through butter! Go figure! (as you across the pond would say)

[Bertram Henze]

If your mandolin reads this, she might change her mind again tomorrow...

[lorrainehornig]

Mandolins are temperamental...or perhaps it's my fingers. I feel your pain though.

[UsuallyPickin]

Here's what I know Nick .... In my experience of playing stringed instruments .... there is no apparent single reason for this occurrence ... but there are some days when an instrument just will not speak to or for you when you pick it up. Humidity , temperature swings, inner ear difficulties, clumsy fingers, strings taking that final dive into SLS condition, the spirit just not being there .... Euterpe on Holiday.....whatever the reason it hits and you can't play up to snuff... If you have to play keep it simple and concentrate on your technique and having fun ..... that helps and sometimes makes it better ... but only sometimes.... grin and bear it bud ... it never goes away ..... R/

[yankees1]

I have a feeling that the player is fickeled , not the mandolin !

[JH Murray]

I feel this way about my mandolin at times.

[Randi Gormley]

Been there myself. Nice to know I'm not the only one who has looked at my mandolin with surprise that it's not behaving and put it down until it can play nice ... as it were.

[OldSausage]

This is why so many of us have multiple mandolins. You just can't rely on them.

[Nevin]

It's funny, I have been known to put down my bass when it just wont sound good and pick up my mandolin. Afterwards the bass is more cooperative. Do you think it gets jealous?

[JeffD]

Nick, is that a bowlback?

I find that my bowl backs are moody and temperamental. Sometimes they are happy and compliant and work with me and for me really well for weeks or months, and then, all of a sudden they go into a petulant frenzy and for several days there are issues. (Uneven tone between strings, can't stay in tune, intonation problems, buzzing here and there, tinny sound, any of a number of complaints.) I do what I can to resolve every issue and usually they stay happy for a while.

It is like a "high maintenance" relationship I have with them. No, it IS a high maintenance relationship.

My bowls are all turn of the last century American made. So I figure I will be pretty crotchety and whiney when I am over 100 years old.

[Ellen T]

Mine needed tuning yesterday, and what is usually a simple tweak turned into a long, irritating chore. Every string was off just enough to sound wrong, but so little that it was difficult to pick up on the subtle differences. I was looking longingly at my alto recorder, telling it, "I never have to tune you, sweetheart, just pick you up and play." (I keep it handy for working out some tunes first, or to give my fingers a break). The mandolin got jealous and decided to cooperate so I wouldn't put it back in it's cage. You might try turning your back on it for a few minutes. Some days they are dogs and some days they are cats.

[Nick Quig]

@JeffD...not a bowlback, oval hole Delta Blue (chinese made) ..think we were both having an off day!...friends again now! the weather has turned chilly here recently....I'll blame that!

[CWRoyds]

Yup, musical instruments can be very temperamental.
Sometimes they just don't want to play ball.
I have not experienced that with guitars, but in my other instruments it is very frustrating.

I study Classical Indian Sitar, and my main sitar does not want to play ball about 1/3 of the time.
Sitars are delicate instruments that react a lot to temperature and humidity changes.
One day it will have the sound of the heavens, and the next it just sounds flabby and grumpy.
It has 20 strings that have to be perfectly tune, and a bridge that has to be recarved about once a year.
If everything is in order and the strings are all perfectly tuned there is still no guarantee that it will behave.
Very frustrating, but what can you do.
I just plow through with practice, knowing that the next time I play it will probably work just fine.
Be thankful you play the mandolin, as there are a lot fewer variables than other instruments.

Just for fun here are some photos of my current stable of sitars, just in case you are interested.
They are fascinating musical instruments, and are truly amazingly beautiful in sound and construction.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/carletonroyds/sets/