So, to those of you who have more than a few mandolins...how do you find time to play them all? I have a Trinity octave and two F-styles, and find it hard to make time to play all of them and give them regular workouts.
So, to those of you who have more than a few mandolins...how do you find time to play them all? I have a Trinity octave and two F-styles, and find it hard to make time to play all of them and give them regular workouts.
Its sort of muffled, but they all call out from their cases "play me"!
the 7 'dwarves'. #x7
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
When I have a "day" to do nothing but play, I rotate them...On my Birthday this summer I traded off playing all of my guitars (10) to my jam along CD's...the day of course started with mando/octave mando and mandola...but it is hard to find the time to give attention to all of your children...
PeacE
Brian
I go through phases, I may play one for a month or two, then "re"discover one that has been in the case for a while, and it then becomes my favorite, and so on and so on.
Michael Lettieri
Surely you mean a 'coven' of mandolins, not a 'covey'!
It must be very bewitching to have the choice of so many great instruments.
I've got a bouzouki and an octave mandola, and I own a shop that has mandolins for sale in it. But, I'm reluctant to bring any home, as I rarely have time to play my existing two instruments. The best I can manage is to alternate them when I go to the weekly session, or a 'practice'. Just off for a group practice now - and I'm taking the Fylde Bouzouki, because the Freshwater Mandola got to go the pub on Thursday!
Steve
Sadly, I haven't had much time to play anything, and the house is in a real mess because we're having some remodeling done. There's not even a compfortable place to sit and play right now. But in better times, I find that it's really helpful to have mandolins out, rather than in their cases. We have no kids or pets and I control the household environment pretty closely, so there's less danger to the instruments than there might otherwise be. I have a real attachment to all of my instruments (well, all but one that I've never really taken a shine to). When I haven't played one for a while, it'll catch my eye, I'll pick it up, and fall in love with it again. I often find myself picking up a mando I've neglected for a while, tunig it up and playing a tune. "Man, I'd forgotten what a great instrument this is," is almost always out of my mouth in a matter of moments. Another advantage of keeping them out is that they seem not to go dormant as much when they're exposed to the vibrations of their brethren as when they're tucked away in a case somewhere.
Bob DeVellis
Im like Bob...keep em handy and when ya pick up one you haven't fondled in a while the bonding process is just reinforced again. I would have a really hard time deceiding which of my mandolins to sell if that ever became necessary. Mando's are just great!
Look up (to see whats comin down)
Mandolin rotation is relatively easy, just put the cased-up mando you just played BEHIND your other ones.
Trust me, it's a lot harder to rotate pedal steel guitars (50-80 pounds, must take apart to store, did it yesterday afternoon).
bobd, Did you know that Joe Martin sold his Flatiron F5 Master Model recently? I would like to have been able to bid on it, but I'm down to three mandolins and am in no humor to go through another acquisition and battling with my spouse over it!
"Look upward; He is coming back!"
bobd, Did you know that Joe Martin sold his Flatiron F5 Master Model recently? I would like to have been able to bid on it, but I'm down to three mandolins and am in no humor to go through another acquisition and battling with my spouse over it!
"Look upward; He is coming back!"
I sort of "refind" one that hasn't been played in awhile notice that there is some tarnish on the strings, invest another $6.00 on a string replacement and play it until I find another. No science, but somehow they all get their chance.
fatt-dad
ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
'20 A3, '84 1N, '84 A5-1, '06 Phoenix Bluegrass, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5
I keep one in North Carolina and one in Switzerland. They can't get jealous that way.
We few, we happy few.
Different mandos for different tunes- some tunes are best on an oval hole, some on an f hole, and one of my oval hole mandos has a stronger bass than the other so each gets a turn according to the tune. Then I changed one mando to GDGD tuning, so it gets first call in the key of G.
best.
jgwoods
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
Favorite Mandolin of the week: 1917 Gibson A4
Every instrument has its role in the grand scheme of my musical life.
Currently, I'm on a 'second honeymoon' with my 000-15s (guitar) and no one else can seem to make my head turn ... but I'll surely get another 'seven year itch' and maybe then I'll be sweet on the Weber, or the Mid-mo, or I'll get a MAS attack.
When I had a lot of instruments - 9 mandolins, plus about 50 or so other stringed instruments, I found I didn't have time to play them all, as much as I loved and wanted them all. It was time consuming and expensive to keep them in new strings and set up, too. I cut down to 2 mandolins, 3 guitars, 3 banjos (2 resonator, 1 openback), and 1 dobro, and everyone gets played and maintained on a very regular basis. I could use another mandolin or two (I'm building one very slowly), but one can get carried away.
The top view of my kitchen table during winter...Being seasonally retired has its benefits.
Makes it really easy to keep em all "warmed up"
My rotation is fairly easy. #It depends on what I'm playing and where I'm staying. #I travel a lot on business and I have a new relatively inexpensive flattop oval for leaving in hotel rooms. #I play my old Gibson A at home and for day trips for OT stuff. #I play the MK F for what little bluegrass I play.
WV Mike (but currently living in Pittsburgh, PA)
I have several for different occasions, and have at least 3 out on stands in my office standing ready to play.
1. Ovation MM68 for outdoor amplified gigs, doing folky/beach bar stuff
2. MK Dragonfly for plugged/unplugged private party stuff.
3. Gibson F-9 for bluegrass festivals, being loud
4. Jap 2 point oval for jazz
5. Dean BGF modifed w/ Allen tailpiece/Grover tuners for campfire/travel
6-12?. various things in the closet I've picked up to repair/play/sell later
Got a few guitars/dobros/lap steels too. My wife has about 5 guitars also. We just love this stuff!!!
You don't! I've got mandolins I've not even looked at in several years. I keep them in a hummidity controled vault for safe keeping. Think about all those Loars and Ferns stuck deep in the storage vaults at the CMHF in Nashville.
They've not seen the light of day in decades. Donated to the museum by wealthy collectors for tax write-offs the museum simply does not have the space to display them.
In talking about having several mandolins, I just remembered back to a couple years ago when I sold off the few ukuleles I had collected (I haven't missed them yet). One I sold on ebay to a guy who had about 250 (!) others - not counting the banjo ukes. Of course, he and his wife were collecting together....
I only have my little cheapy Hyburn right now. Maybe, someday, I'll invest in a better instrument. However, for you who have oodles to choose from, why not go by the days of the week - like my little niece's underpanties. LOL!
You are only young once, but you can be immature forever.
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