fretting a mandolin vs guitar

[dackinator]

Today I was jamming around with a friend, we had banjo, mandolin, and acoustic guitar. We swapped instruments and I was amazed at how easy it was to fret notes on the acoustic guitar. Just some gentle pressure on the string and the notes would play perfectly, I could even lay my finger along 3 or 4 strings and all would sound fine.

It was a completely different experience to mandolin where I need to vice-grip the neck for the notes to sound right. I have to press so hard that there's string marks on my fingertips afterwards. In fact my pinky still can't push the G or D strings without making a muted sound.

Is this a normal experience? I've not seen anyone talk about this before. It made me think maybe by mandolin is abnormal.

Altogether the guitar fretboard seemed way easier. Moving along the neck was faster, finger placement inside the fret seemed more forgiving. Although it felt ridiculously huge compared to my mandolin. So is this normal or is my bridge perhaps too high, or the strings too tough somehow?

[Bertram Henze]

sounds like an action issue. Fretting forces on the mandolin take getting used to, but they should never present a torture.
There are probably more people who know how to set up a guitar than a mandolin.

[SincereCorgi]

Yeah, agree with Bertram, your action might be a little high. Still, I think a mandolin's almost always going to require more pressure and finesse than a guitar, just by virtue of the relatively high tension and short scale and doubled strings.

[Randi Gormley]

See if you can get Rob Meldrum's set-up book. It'll probably open your eyes to exactly how important correct mandolin set-up is. fwiw, I have double string marks on my fingers every time I play mandolin for any appreciable time. I never gave it much thought, considering some of the gouges my husband has on his fingertips after he plays guitar for an hour or three.

[T.D.Nydn]

In my opinion ,the mandolin is definetely more physically demanding than the guitar.the size of the guitar frets,theres lots of room for sloppy fingering and reckless playing.the mandolin,with it's small frets requires exact precision for your fingers,it is a lot less for giving.it takes a certain pressure on the fingerboard to get a clean sound.especially with the pinky I have to press harder.

[JeffD]

The mandolin should not require a vice grip. You may have too high an action. Do get your mandolin's set up checked.

But even so, there will still be differences. I agree the guitar is more forgiving of finger placement, because there is just so much real estate. And I think the mandolin will require a bit more pressure, two strings at higher tension versus one. I notice the difference, but its not gigantic.

I am having some huge problems with the guitar. Chief among them is the one finger per fret thing. I am so used to being able to go up a scale one finger at a time that diatonic fingering of the mandolin gives you. But on the guitar a major scale is every other finger, and change strings sooner. I get all messed up.

[T.D.Nydn]

Going from mandolin to guitar is a lot harder than the other way around.what is really incredible about the mandolin is the size difference of the fingerboard compared to the guitar.the guitar,as you play,the fingerboard is long.you have to turn your head to see the entire fingerboard.but the mandolin,the entire fingerboard is present just at a glance.you,can visualize on the mandolin much easier,I find,because where you been,and where your going is right there in one look..

[Bill McCall]

You should be able to fret the string cleanly without pressing your thumb against the neck. If you can't, the action's too high. And guitars now seem enormous to me after spending exclusive time on the mandolin.

[UsuallyPickin]

Well .... I wonder how many of the above players have spent time with a 12 string guitar ....... Yes it does sound like the action on your mandolin requires adjustment.. and Rob Meldrun's book is a great place to start your education on mandolin setup issues ... A mandolin takes some getting used to..be patient it is worth the wait ... Luck .. R/

[DavidKOS]

Well .... I wonder how many of the above players have spent time with a 12 string guitar

All the technical disadvantages of both guitar and mandolin - but what a cool sound! 12 strings are great.

[kkmm]

A guitarist friend of mine asked me: is it hard to fret mandolin due to the narrow spacing ? My answer is NO, it would be much harder if the mandolin has the same fret spacing (i.e. scale length) as a guitar. I converted a guitar to octave mandolin and it's much harder to fret on the big one, a C chord for example is impossible for me with 5230 fingering.

[k0k0peli]

I agree, the mando action is too high. My mando neck is always supported by my thumb, not pressed by it. If I want to go easy on my fingers I'll play my 5-string banjo. To hurt my fingers I pick up the long-neck electric bass. I find that wider strings (like on the bass, or nylons on a ukulele) hurt my fingers more than do single-course steel strings, which hurt more than double- or triple-course steel strings. Set a mando's action and tension right and it's no harder to fret than a dulcimer.

I do find that a mandolin's neck is a bit narrow for my big hands. I like practicing with a soprano 'uke strung in fifths so I can play mando lines and chords with a little more spacing. I also find that chords are hard to stretch for on a mandola, whose fretboard is very like a baritone 'uke's. IMHO a mandolin is just about the right size for fifths chording.

[jaycat]

. . . I converted a guitar to octave mandolin and it's much harder to fret on the big one, a C chord for example is impossible for me with 5230 fingering.

I tried a similar experiment and have declared it a failure.

To the OP: yes, by all means have your set-up checked out. Nevertheless, there is a reason that there are probably 1,000 guitarists to every mandolin player . . .

[k0k0peli]

I tried a similar experiment and have declared it a failure.

I'm similarly not real happy with a 12-string fretted Cumbus (21-inch scale) I restrung in fifths to be something like a banjo-cittern, nor with chording my mandola (19-inch scale). I haven't yet tried restringing a tenor 'uke (17-inch scale) in fifths -- maybe that's my comfort limit. I sure wish my mando fretboards were just a wee bit wider...

To the OP: yes, by all means have your set-up checked out. Nevertheless, there is a reason that there are probably 1,000 guitarists to every mandolin player . . .

The reason: tonal range. Guitars have a baritone-to-high-tenor voice, and mandolins are sopranos and soparinos, not really suitable for standalone work. A guitar is just a much more flexible, adaptable tool for general use.

And the ratio is probably more like 10,000:1. My local music store has dozens of 'ukes hanging on the walls, dozens of acoustic and electric guitars, a few banjos -- and one forlorn electric 4-string mando. It's been there a long, long time.

[ralph johansson]

Very - surprisingly - often the nut is not cut low enough, which affects playability over all of the neck. It takes a trained repairperson to rectify this problem, of course.