Hey just bought a savannah sa115e. Never touched a mandolin before so is this a pretty good starter?
Hey just bought a savannah sa115e. Never touched a mandolin before so is this a pretty good starter?
Wasn't Savannah a marketing name change from Johnson ?
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
Yes, Johnson is another name for Savannah (for mandolins).
The SA115E is simply a normal Savannah with electronic on it.
As long as the sound pleases your ears, stay tuned and setup properly for good intonation and easy to play, it should be fine as a starter mandolin. However, I can only find these characteristics from other brands (Kentucky for example is a very popular one), not from Johnson, Savannah, Rogue (and other el cheapo brand).
It just makes sense, more expensive hardware, wood, craftmanship result in more expensive products.
Setup, setup, setup. Most of these do not have the bridge fitted properly and the strings above the first fret are high. Trying to learn an instrument is hard enough without having to deal undesirable playability.
When I teach, it's to learn to play and have fun. We start with basic two finger chords and work our way to three finger chords. Then it's scales. From the very beginning we work on proper right hand grip/position and left hand positions AND heavy concentration on right hand picking patterns.
Fer cryin' out loud, guys! Email me for my free ebook on how to set up a mandolin. Buy a cheapie mandolin, learn how to set it up yourself, play it for a year, and then you will know what you need to buy for your next mandolin!
Email rob.meldrum@mail.com and put mandolin set up in the subject line. Free to all mandolincafe members. :-).
Regarding Mikes comment they do not stay in tune. Mandos in general do not stay in tune particularly well. It is not really because it is a "Savannah" Any mando is likely to need a tuning almost every time you pick it up... At least that is my experience and I have a bunch of mandos.
I feel two ways about the Savannah: It is likely OK as a beginner mando... But if you take to mando you will likely to want a better sounding one within a year... So just take your time and start researching other possiblilities as you learn on your Savannah. There is a natural progression we all go through as we gain experience... So regard it as the first step among many. and if you find you don't take to mandolin then you have lost very little. Mainly, have fun.
Bart McNeil
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