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View Full Version : trying out an om in massachusetts



ira
Mar-11-2005, 11:24am
i am really interested in playing the om. i have stubby little sausage fingers, but as i primarily play open/2-3 finger chords and rarely chop, do a lot of noodling and tremolo, i don't think this will hurt me too much, especially if i get a shorter scale (am i wrong in this assumption?). i like to play out at open mics,and though i will play and sing solo with my mando, i think a lower octave range and a little deeper sustain would help greatly for these endeavors, as well as playing along with a guitar playing partner when he wants to solo, and would help when i play solo instrument with my students while we sing-which i do alot with them, especially the more psychologically involved students with whom i write blues tunes as a therapeutic technique(am i wrong in these assumptions?)

my prob is though i've heard octave mandos live or on disc, i've never actually had the chance to touch one. i'd love to play around before i shell out the little money i have (will prob have to get a cheapie unless someone changes salary scale for my profession). where in massachusetts/rhode island can i play an octave mandolin?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif?

thanks,
ira

ps-still not really clear diff b/w om and bozouki

Steve L
Mar-12-2005, 6:01am
The pickings, if you'll pardon the expression, seem depressingly slim. the Music Emporium recently had a Mid Mo octave and some Trinity College octaves and zouks. Wood and Strings in Arlington center had some Trinity College stuff too and I think they've been on the wall a long time. At the prices Wood and Strings are asking, I'm not surprised. I was quite impressed with the Mid Mo...the action was a tad high, but the sound was pretty good. It won't be easy finding stuff to play.

Mandobar
Mar-12-2005, 10:39am
acoustic outfitters in stratham, (not that far from amesbury) new hampshire has quite a few including michael kellys (and a michael kelly F style mandola). they have a trillium and a few webers. they also have a brentrup F5 there. ira, take a ride. i believe they are open sundays too.

jmcgann
Mar-12-2005, 11:06am
OMS are usally shorter scale (up to 23") than 'zoukis (25" and up) and so sticking to the GDAE tuning is more practical on an OM than a 'zouki- which is why most people either use "modal" tunings and/or capos on the 'zouks.

I love the OM, it's the missing link between mando and guitar- the range (almost) of a guitar with the mando tuning sensibility. I use a combination of guitar and mando fingerings.

I can vouch that the Trillium OM is an excellent choice. That's a nice, handmade instrument that is very reasonably priced...funny thing is that archtop guitars regularly sell for 12k and up, while in the mando world, 3k is often considered high priced. Of course, it's all high priced if you are broke!

The lower priced OMs, to me, sound tubby and thick- not very satisfying. I waited and saved my pennies for a Sobell and it was worth waiting for...not an instrument that will need an "upgrade" down the road!

Rich Michaud
Mar-12-2005, 12:29pm
Ira, I have a Sobell 8 string-octave mando. Aren't you in the Boston area? If you are going to Mando Camp North, let me know and I will bring it for you to try out. It is fun to play. Rich Michaud

jmcgann
Mar-12-2005, 12:54pm
Yeah, and I'll be teaching an OM class at MandoCamp if you wanna try my Sobell. it is almost as nice as Mr. Michaud's!

morgan
Mar-12-2005, 3:52pm
Ira -

It's a bit far afield, but if need an excuse to head up to the White Mt.'s, Vintage Fret Shop in Ashland NH has an OM on consignment from a local maker for about $600. #Its on their web site. #I played it about 6 weeks ago and it was pretty nice for that price, competetive with the other lower-cost models. It didn't have the resonant bass of the Freshwater I just sold, but it was a little easier to play.

Rich Michaud
Mar-12-2005, 6:31pm
As a student of john McGann's I can say with certainty, that anyone interested in how to play an octave mando should sign up for his class. He is a great teacher, has a sense of humor and a great player. Rich M.

ira
Mar-13-2005, 12:26pm
thanks for all the info on locations. i will try to get to one in the next month or so.
curious, are my assumptions about playing an om the kind that make me an a** or do they ring somewhat true-
"i have stubby little sausage fingers, but as i primarily play open/2-3 finger chords and rarely chop, do a lot of noodling and tremolo, i don't think this will hurt me too much, especially if i get a shorter scale (am i wrong in this assumption?). i like to play out at open mics,and though i will play and sing solo with my mando, i think a lower octave range and a little deeper sustain would help greatly for these endeavors, as well as playing along with a guitar playing partner when he wants to solo, and would help when i play solo instrument with my students while we sing-which i do alot with them, especially the more psychologically involved students with whom i write blues tunes as a therapeutic technique(am i wrong in these assumptions?)"

jmcgann
Mar-13-2005, 3:44pm
Ira- Andy Statman has a small hand, too, that's not an issue- it's making sure you have separation between the fingers- i think "duck web". Anyway, you'll do fine with an OM; because you don't have to use mando chord shapes strictly...

otterly2k
Mar-13-2005, 9:48pm
Is there a link for info about Mando Camp North? I'd like to find out more about it.
Especially if it means a chance to learn from John McGann.

Re:OM's-- I'll chime in with cheers for the Trillium. I've had mine since last summer and am really enjoying it... Very resonant and responsive.

btw-ira, I also have short stubby fingers...I find the 22.5" scale of the Tril' to be just about as much as I can handle...as I've practiced, it's become more comfortable as I get used to the stretch... but I think I'd be able to be a little more agile on a 20" or 21" scale. If there's any way for you to try different scale lengths, I'd recommend it.

KE

steve V. johnson
Mar-13-2005, 10:17pm
Ira I don't know about the blues bit, nor about your student relationships, but the two-finger chords are what I live on, so that bit makes perfect sense to me. I don't think your OM visions, as you've expressed them here, are off-base at all!

Finding OMs and zouks in order to get any information about the experience of playing them is an odd and strenuous thing, almost anywhere in the country. The offers from the folks here to show you their instruments would have been the very grail to me when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do about my zouk fantasies.

All the best,

stv

jmcgann
Mar-14-2005, 11:06am
Mando Camp North (http://www.mugwumps.com/mcn.html)

PS aw shucks, Rich!

ira
Mar-14-2005, 11:33am
thanks for the mandocamp info, and wish i could go, but just not financially possible for me.

thanks again,
ira

otterly2k
Mar-14-2005, 12:03pm
Thanks for the Mando Camp info... now I remember why I can't go this year... I'll have JUST finished the OM building workshop (4/4-7)down in VA... can't afford both, but maybe next year!

KE

Mandobar
Mar-14-2005, 3:58pm
ira, they had some scholarship money, at least i think that is what mike holmes told me. it would be worth a try. drop him an e-mail.

dan_a
Mar-15-2005, 2:13pm
You are welcome to come by and try my octave mandolin - a Trillium - I live in Rhode Island, half way between Providence and Fall River.

steve V. johnson
Mar-16-2005, 12:55am
Oooh, that's a nice one! Go and see it, Ira!

stv

Lee
Mar-16-2005, 10:36am
Another Trillium recomendation. I visited his workshop a few years ago and was very impressed, and had the good fortune to play Otterly's just a few days ago. Very yummy, and for the price, they're a steal.

steve V. johnson
Mar-16-2005, 8:40pm
As Emeril Lagasse sez, 'Oh yeah, babe!'... that Trillium of Otterly's is a sweetie!

stv

ira
Mar-24-2005, 1:53pm
i prob. can guess the answer but i'll ask anyway. lark in the morning has these available: http://larkinthemorning.com/category.asp?c=58&start=0&x=26&y=2

for the short run, has anyone tried one of these i bought a ky150s to start on mando and don't regret spending 200 including a case for my year and 1/2 of playing it while learning.

steve V. johnson
Mar-24-2005, 4:18pm
Hey, Ira,

The page I got at that addr has several instruments. Is this the one you're looking at?

<<Octave Mandolins
t An Unbelievable Price! It's hard to believe how good an octave mandolin you get for so low a price, but this one makes amazing music and is within almost any budget. The flatback teardrop body is made of walnut, and the top of sprucesps. It has a somewhat smaller size and shorter scale than many octave mandolins, thus making it easier to hold and finger. 31" long. 18 frets.

Overall Length: 31"
Body Width: 10-1/4"
Depth: 3"
Scale Length: 19-3/8Ó
Nut Width: 1-1/2"

TUNING: GDAE (one octave below the mandolin), 8 strings in 4 courses
#
$99.00 >>

At that price (+$22 for a hard case), why not? The "Short Scale Irish Bouzouki" is 23" scale and the "Flat-back Bouzouki" is 25.5". Both cost twice as much as the 19+3/8" one above. The Flat-Back is a common one on eBay, made in Romania, I think. The wood inlay for a pickguard is the sort of trademark look of those. It's set up in octave stringing. Both of 'em have truss rods, that's important, IMO.

It doesn't mention a truss rod in the one above, so if you call 'em be sure to ask. I'm very wary of instruments w/o adjustable truss rods these days.

My first zouk was a Johnson MA-550, which I came to hate -- we just did not get along at all. Part of it was that I couldn't play it in tune in octave-strung set up, but it's most likely more my fault than the instrument's. My point is that starting on inexpensive ones can teach us a lot of good stuff. But you already said that about your Kentucky mando.

HTH,

stv

jmcgann
Mar-24-2005, 8:01pm
BEWARE OF EL CHEAPOS- YOU GET LESS THAN YOU PAY FOR.

Trust me.

morgan
Apr-09-2005, 1:48pm
Ira, don't know if you've made your purchase yet but yesterday I was in Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst MA and they had several octaves on the wall. They don't have a web site and seem to fly under the radar for "local" acoustic music stores, but they're nice folks, have been there forever, and have lots of mando family instruments. You might want to give them a call.

Mandobar
Apr-13-2005, 9:26pm
believe it or not i believe fretted instruments now has a website.

http://www.frettedinstrumentworkshop.com/

ira
May-03-2005, 3:20pm
thanks for the link. looks like a cool place to check out when i have a free afternoon sometime to drive to amherst.
now that i have tried an om- anyone know where they might have a mandola in this part of mass to check out. would love to see the difference in feel based on size, tuning, etc...?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

otterly2k
May-03-2005, 3:47pm
Ira- If you do head in that direction, check out Downtown Sounds in Northampton... probably call ahead first to see if they have anything of interest in stock. I haven't been there in quite a while, but I seem to remember them having a pretty good array of acoustic instruments for a smallish store.

otterly2k
May-03-2005, 3:48pm
Wood and Strings in Arlington MA seems to have the full line of Trinity College instruments. Again, call ahead to see what's in stock... but that might be a way of trying the different scale lengths and tunings on for size.

ira
May-04-2005, 3:50pm
thanks guys!