Who has more then one mando

[MikeEdgerton]

I now own two - I originally planned to follow a One Mandolin Rule and have been pretty good at sticking to it, owning two only when I stepped up and had yet to sell the one I was replacing. However, I am so emotionally attached to the Salsedo I'm playing currently that I don't think I could bear to part with it, even if the mandolin I purchased recently is so much better for me that I end up not playing the Salsedo much anymore.

And so MAS begins....

My name is Mike and I haven't bought a new mandolin in the last 24 hours....

Welcome to the club.

[mike mandolin]

Cant understand anyone needing more than one instrument, I just have four mandolins, and two tenor banjos,and two ukuleles and a bouzouki

[JeffD]

Mark Twain, responding to news of Ulysses S Grant's throat cancer, explained he made a commitment to his doctor that he would only smoke one cigar at a time.

In the same vein, I play only one mandolin at a time.

[Paul Statman]

I just noticed something key in the OP: If I already have one mandolin, but then acquire another, would I now have this 'more then one mando' to which we are all referring?

[jdchapman]

Recently turned down other temptations more sinful, and consoled myself by buying an Eastman Bacon Artist reproduction and a Flatiron pancake mandola. Add that to the Ratliff Silver Angel A and Harmony Batwing, and that makes four mando family instruments. I have since been haunting ebay like a fool. I have to cut myself off before I buy a tenor, and my wife hits the roof.

[journeybear]

If I already have one mandolin, but then acquire another, would I now have this 'more then one mando' to which we are all referring?

And so it begins ...MAS rears its ugly yet oddly alluring head, causing the victim to lose control over one's reasoning faculties, abandon logic in favor of desire, forget how to make even the most fundamental calculation ... sad, isn't it? Yes, one and one is still two, and that is indeed more than one ... but less than three ... four ... and more and more ... yesss .... the preciousss ... must have the preciousssss ...

[catmandu2]

I have to cut myself off before I buy a tenor, and my wife hits the roof.

MAS killer:

[Pete Hicks]

I have a home made F5, a Bob Schnieder F5, a '24 Gibson Snakehead, a double neck Telecaster/mandolin, an old roundback, and a cheapo beater. I am buliding two more F5's. My MAS is under control, really!

[DGW1945]

I only own 2 mandolins...the other one owns me!

[Bill Snyder]

This thread made me wonder if anyone knows how Shawn (the OP) is doing. He has some serious health issues and I got curious and looked at his profile and he has not logged in since last October.

[UsuallyPickin]

I thought that I was supposed to have more than one.......... is that wrong ..... oh no ..

[Pasha Alden]

Yep, have more than one, my ovation Crafter, the beater as you call it. then my Jbovier 2013 model

[lorrainehornig]

I have a Weber Custom Vintage A and a JBovier ELS Electric (currently in the classified ads). I'm going to be purchasing another Weber (the Yellowstone HT), my first F-style mandolin. I never felt comfortable playing an F-style mandolin...it's kind of like picking out clothing. I just didn't feel the F-style mandolins were "me". However, this one, on display at my local music store, has been calling my name for quite some time. It is voiced very differently than my Vintage A, so I felt it would be a nice addition to my instrument collection. I don't have the room for too many instruments, though...that's why the Electric is for sale. I have a couple of mandolins I do not play including my starter mandolin I purchased 40 years ago and an early 1900s bowl-back my grandfather gave me.

[Fr. White]

I only have one mandolin, my Eastman 504, but I have only been playing for about 5 months.

So yes I only have one...so far...but I have begun longing for a symmetrical 2 pointer. Something about that look just calls to me.

[darrylicshon]

I have way too many and will have more i once had over 50 guitars

[Astro]

I just got my second after 2 years.

The first was an A style f hole (eastman md305) and the second is a F5 style (Gibson F5-G).

First newbie impressions:

1. Radiused vs non radiused: Not much of a factor at all. It doesnt really matter much. Hard to tell much difference in playability, at my stage any way. In fact I like that I can look across the flat fretboard and know where the action is on each string whereas that is hard to gauge for inner strings on a radiused board.

2. One mando cost 10 times more than the other: To my skepic surprise, I must admit I think it was worth it (to me now). The Gibby has a much more deep/ rich tone you can hear and feel. Hard to describe. Also, it is louder and has a much thicker chop.

3. F style vs A: The F is more comfortable to play when sitting than the A. Thats funny as I understand the A was originally marketed as more comfortable to play sitting. I think its just reverse. Probably it was just considered more lady like in more puritan times, I dont know. But I now get why the playing stool is important to raise the left knee whereas it doesnt really help with the A style which I feel always needs a strap.

4. Fat vs skinny frets: I think I actually prefer skinny. I'll give it a little more time but I feel I get cleaner play on the thinner ones (eastman) and the thick ones (custom feature of my Gibby) cause problems fretting when you get to the tiny spaces way up the neck.

5. Neck: I like both. Gibby is a little thicker but comfortable. I like the nut width and string spacing on both too. I think they are both 1 1/8. The Gibby may be 1 1/16th, Im not sure. My fingers are narrow on the tips and I like fretting 2 courses with one tip when needed. I do not like the wider necks.

6. Action: I like it low. I tried it at "bluegrass medium" and it felt like a mile off the board. Lowered it on both.

7. I think these f holes are very versatile. I actually dont play much bluegrass. I like the f hole for the tone and projection.

A lot of this is just slowly learning what you like. And to do that requires quality time with a lot of different mandos. And that means owning a few along the way.

[Mandobart]

Only two mandos, one electric 8 string mando, two OM's, one mandola, one mandocello, and a few others....

[journeybear]

Eventually Allen Hopkins or someone like him is going to see this thread and blow everyone out of the water. Meanwhile, I have somehow amassed quite a collection without really trying to ...

1917 Gibson A Mandolin
1935 Gibson A-00 Mandolin
1940s-50s Gibson EM-150 Mandolin
2 Epiphone Mandobird Electric Solid-Body Mandolins (plan to convert one to mandola tuning)
Fender Mandocaster FM 60E Electric Semi-Hollow Body 5-string Mandolin
wooden resonator mandolin

related items:
1916 Gibson H-2 Mandola
1930s National Triolian Steel Tenor Guitar (tuned like mandola)
1920s-30s mandolin-banjo

So, much to my surprise, I've managed to get into double digits, never intending to do anything of the sort. I've only ever wanted just one that did it all. Well, and a mandola. Well, and a steel resonator. Well, and a solid-body electric. You see what happens? And I even have, somewhere in deep storage, a nylon-string guitar. I admit it.

This was four years ago; time to update.

1917 Gibson A Mandolin
1918 Gibson A Mandolin (needed a spare to swap out after breaking a string mid-set
1935 Gibson A-00 Mandolin
1940s-50s Gibson EM-150 Mandolin
Ryder 44 Electric Solid-Body Mandolin
2 Epiphone Mandobird Electric Solid-Body Mandolins (still plan to convert one to mandola tuning)
Fender Mandocaster FM 60E Electric Semi-Hollow Body 5-string Mandolin
wooden resonator mandolin

related items:
1916 Gibson H-2 Mandola
1930s National Triolian Steel Tenor Guitar (tuned like mandola)
Electric Solid-Body Octave Mandolin (modified Fender Billy Squier)
1920s-30s mandolin-banjo

Total of thirteen. The last items on each list are in deep storage ... somewhere ... All the others - eleven of them - are at hand. Generally speaking, it's the A models and the Ryder that see any use. The mandola now and then, the Triolian needs a gear for a tuning peg, the electric OM needs some work to correct the intonation the A-00 sounds wan compared to the A's, the MandoBirds are toys compared to the Ryder, and the EM-150 isn't quite as cool as the Ryder.

But I have no plans to remove any of these from the collection. They all have different sounds and applications. I have never sold or gifted an instrument. Just the same way with cars - this is where vehicles come to live out their days and then move on to the other side. Not sure of the ultimate fate of the instruments, though - they're all still alive and well. Mostly.

[Larry Simonson]

I have 4 and, to quote Seinfeld, "not that there is anything wrong with that"

[fatt-dad]

(apologies to those that've seen the family photo elsewhere. And, to the OP from so many years ago. . .)



names are in the signature, not sure about the order though.

f-d

[jimj]

I have 2 One I practice on and the other I take with me if I ever get a chance to play with others.
I often take out the one I consider the best one and play a tune or 2 on it to keep the feel of it.

[mandroid]

<raises hand> .. calmed MAS ..

now have begun re-fretting the ones I have, 1st one getting that , was My Mix A5

[Ed Goist]

And then there was one...

[lflngpicker]

I have two -- both perform well but have different functions and qualities. I have an A and an F style. My world is in balance, but I aim to work toward a good oval hole down the road (in a year or two).

[Barry Wilson]

The Loar 600, Godin A8 and mandobird... Gold tone mandola and OM, Soarsey octave mandocello... though I admit they don't all get played as much as the other... all get played more than my fiddle though haha