Fumbling begginner on a vintage Washburn mandolin

[aduggin]

I don't know if I am crazy for picking a Washburn 1915 Model 1615 bowl back as my first instrument, but that is what I am doing. I live in rural Alabama and have as of yet to find somebody to teach me (albeit I haven't exactly looked), so I am teaching myself via internet videos, forums, and some help from my husband. I played piano as a child, and started to learn the guitar in high school. I am tired of being the one person around that doesn't play music (which I have wanted to do for years), so I decided to pick up the mandolin because I love the sound of them, and he doesn't hardly play it, so it is the one instrument in the house that is sitting and waiting. That and I like the idea of playing an instrument that not many people do. The problem I am having is that I keep getting a very flat sound particularly from Em. I am starting with the chords; C, G, D, and Em. I have played around with tension on the strings, intensity of my fingers/pick, and yes it is in tune. C at first sounded about the same, but somehow I managed to work that out for the most part. I use both a thin pick and a thick one, and sometimes just my fingers when I am trying to be quiet. She has a beautiful sound, and I know it is me. Any suggestions? This sound makes me cringe, I want to stop making my Mandolin screech!

[Rodney Riley]

Do you have a good straight edge handy? (Steel ruler, or one of the wooden type with the brass insert on the edge) Lay it down the neck to make sure the neck is straight. Or there are no raised frets. Since you mentioned the C at first sounded the same. That could happen when one fret is too high. As in the 4th fret is too high, the note sounds the same when you fret at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fret.And welcome to the Cafe.

[EdHanrahan]

Also check that string height at the nut is okay. High nut slots are common and can greatly increase the needed pressure at the first several frets. Open-string clearance at the 1st fret should be just about the same as (or barely any higher than) 2nd fret clearance when fretting at the 1st.

Presuming that the setup is good, I suspect that you're doing C, G, & D as 2-finger chords? That's the usual beginner mode.

Em, played as 0220, can be tougher because there's little room to hit the D & A with 2 fingers, and using one finger to cover the D & A pairs together (all 4 of 'em!) can be tough at first. Maybe try Em as 0223, using one finger to bar the 2nd & 3rd pairs?

[RKL]

You should consider joining the newbies group. Click on social groups above and find newbies and click join. A very supportive group and always glad to have more friends. Lots of questions asked and answered over there.

[bmac]

It is difficult to guess the problem from your question. but it is not in your picking or picks. Your bridge is, i believe glued in a fixed position so that is probably not your problem. Or if it is not in a fixed position it might be slightly mislocated.

I assume you are using an electronic tuner... If so, tune the instrument. pluck the E string (open) and then with the 12th fret stopped. You should get a perfect octave. You should get that on all the strings... If not then the bridge is likely mislocated. That should be your first consideration and if you are getting a perfect octave on all the strings then your problem is somewhere else. Have you had a professional set up... where the luthier levels the frets or adjusts for any slight warp in the fretboard or neck? If not, have it done. An instrument as old as yours is almost certain to have some age related problems. (At least I know I have.) Your strings (for a bowlback) should be the lightest strings available.

[allenhopkins]

...Your bridge is, i believe glued in a fixed position so that is probably not your problem...

Bowl-backs should have "floating" (i.e. non-fixed) bridges. Twelfth fret should produce an octave. Another way to check is to lightly touch the string just above the 12th fret with one finger, and pluck the string. You should get a clear ringing tone, which is called a "harmonic." Then fret the string at the 12th fret and listen to the tone. The harmonica and the fretted tone should be the same. If the fretted note is lower, the bridge is too far away from the nut (which is the small slotted bar between the headstock and the fretboard). If the fretted note is higher, the bridge is too close to the nut.

Never hurts to have your instrument checked over and "trouble-shot" by a pro repair person. Bowl-back bridges are almost never height-adjustable (they don't have the threaded posts and thumbscrews you find on many "flat back" mandolins), and bowl-backs almost never have adjustable truss rods to correct neck straightness and "relief." Adjustments on bowl-backs involve work that generally should only be done by a trained repair tech -- fret dressing or leveling, modifying nuts and/or bridge saddles, neck resets, and such-like.

Concur with the recommendation to use extra-light strings. GHS A-240's have been well reviewed.

[Martin Jonas]

Difficult to say whether it's the picking technique or the setup -- the intonation on old bowlbacks can be quite seriously off, and that will be most obvious when playing chords, as the notes that should be in harmony aren't. If the intonation is fine, try other chord shapes, always ensuring you fret between the frets, not on them, don't push the finger down too hard, and don't dampen any strings you don't want to touch. Fretting should be with the last joint of the finger perpendicular to the fretboard, i.e. with the fingertips only. As for the Em chord, it's easier to cleanly play chord shapes that don't involve parallel fifths, so maybe try 4520.

Martin