Not a Ukulele!

[biosplonk]

Perhaps I'm the only one that has this problem as you are all upstanding mandolin focused citizens, but as I play my mandolin in a folk/punk band and in environments where seeing one would be uncommon but I get asked ALL THE TIME how I came to play the Ukulele. :crying:

I have nothing against Ukulele players personally, but its just not my thing. I end up explaining that its a mandolin, and what the differences are, etc. I'm all for a little mandolin ambassadorship, but having heard me talk about this a bunch of times, my wife made me a tee-shirt to get the conversation started on the right foot.

Anyone else out there get mis-identified often? Kind-of curious about it now.

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[CelticDude]

At least they didn't think it was a banjo...

I don't get mid-identified, just funny looks, furtive conversations, and the occasional person actually brave enough to ask.

[F-2 Dave]

No, but then I'm not good enough to play for people who actually know what it is.

[Bill Snyder]

biosplunk, this has to be in the 10 most thread themes there is. I just say that to let you know it is apparently a common occurrence.

[Terry Sebastian]

Yes. Its always "I like your ukulele" or "Where did you get the baby guitar"...
I don't mind it so much. Love the shirt though.

[JeffD]

Hey, we need some music at the party, can you bring your banjolukee?

[OldSausage]

Actually, this is the one thing that hasn't happened to me yet.

[Carl Robin]

Great t-shirt ! Waiting for a connecting flight at a Texas airport, a gentleman spied my case, came over, and asked if it was a ukulele. For him, it was wishful thinking. Apparently they come in various sizes and shapes, and he was a collector. Earlier on that same trip, in Michigan, a friend had asked me if I could identify an odd instrument he had found, and purchased inexpensively in an estate sale. After measuring the string length, and doing a web-search, it turned out to be an old 1920's banjolele ! The collector was enthusiastic. We had a nice conversation about it.

[JeffD]

No, but then I'm not good enough to play for people who actually know what it is.

Both of them. :)

[OldSausage]

"Marjorie, I wanted to introduce you to this young gentleman. You will doubtless be stimulated to learn that he is a collector of ukuleles."

[Tavy]

Mine was once once called a "ukelelium" whatever that may be.

More recently, after a gig I got talking to an attractive person of opposing gender who'd been watching us play all night.... I swear she was interested.... I think I was interested.... and then it happended - she called my "small instrument" a ukelele. Assuming she was talking about my mandolin I patiently explained the difference. We talked some more... and then it happened again... and I left alone...

Some of that was even true ;)

[Marvino]

Very cool shirt. That needs to be a case sticker.
I wonder if ukulele players get asked....." hey is that a mandolin"?

[SincereCorgi]

That's a great shirt, your wife has a good eye. And you could probably sell, like, twenty of them here on the Cafe.

[ilovemyF9]

I also have had that question on a few occasions & I simply tell them, "Oh no, it's a glockenspiel." They walk away real quick with that one.

[biosplonk]

Oh no, it's a glockenspiel. Ha! That's amazing. I don't necessarily want them to go away in most cases, but the humor value would be worth it :-)

[biosplonk]

That's a great shirt, your wife has a good eye. And you could probably sell, like, twenty of them here on the Cafe.

Thanks! I'll pass along the compliments. Not really set up for mass production but could probably make more. Have to do an F-style design also to broaden the audience :-)

[KEB]

Very cool shirt. That needs to be a case sticker.
I wonder if ukulele players get asked....." hey is that a mandolin"?

Probably not, but then again, they get all kinds of questions about Tiny Tim, so I guess it evens out.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

Where does your wife sell these?
I'll take an xlg.

[mandroid]

It gets worse if the body is more Guitar~ish shaped. {from their past inventory :
http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/90U-4364.htm

[Londy]

I was traveling though Nashville and at the airport while in line I can feel all the eyes on me. I was just waiting to see who would ask. After about 20 minutes it happens. Excuse me, is that a banjo? I had to hold back then with a confused look on my face I asked, what's a banjo?

[biosplonk]

Where does your wife sell these?
I'll take an xlg.

I'm new here and trying to respect the rules. It was a one off thing but there seems to be a bit of genuine interest, so I'll chat with her and see if she wants to put an ad in the classifieds this evening.

[Pick&Grin]

Great shirt, and yes... this just happened to me (again) this past Friday night, after a gig.
Doesn't bother me at all: just glad I can set them straight! ;)

[Dobes2TBK]

I've heard the same question about a full-size mountain dulcimer. <mundanes>

[Jeff Hildreth]

I make and play (as does my grandson) cavaquinhos.

We need the "T" Shirt.

[Timbofood]

Strong work on rule respect! Even stronger if you can persuade your wife do "re issue" the shirt!
I used to get the ukulele thing, especially as my name is Tim! I try to pre empt the whole thing when I can.

[JeffD]

my wife made me a tee-shirt to get the conversation started on the right foot.


Pretty amazing cool shirt. Does your wife do graphic design? Excellent.

[Petrus]

Maybe Gibson didn't do as great a job as they thought they did when they introduced Lloyd's new "bowl back killing" design back in nineteen-oh-something that was supposed to make a "clean sweep" of the old variety. I think people still think of a mandolin as the old fashioned Italian bowl back variety, preferably played while standing in a gondola in a canal in Venice (Italy, not L.A.) :))

[zedmando]

Never happened to me, but I think some people think my Mandobird 8 is a tiny guitar

[Bertram Henze]

Maybe Gibson didn't do as great a job as they thought they did when they introduced Lloyd's new "bowl back killing" design back in nineteen-oh-something that was supposed to make a "clean sweep" of the old variety. I think people still think of a mandolin as the old fashioned Italian bowl back variety, preferably played while standing in a gondola in a canal in Venice (Italy, not L.A.) :))

I'd rather be associated with a wrong cliche than with a right cliche I don't belong in.

[Timbofood]

The flat back preceeds Lloyd by some time. Orville applied for a patent in the early 1800's. '02 if memory serves. That would be rare but at least I know it's in the neighborhood.

[red7flag]

I wonder if Scott could market that shirt to the Cafe. Every fall, I play tennis at the Tennis Fantasy event at John Newcombe Tennis ranch. Most of the participants are non-musical. When I get introduced, there is most often a story about my playing the "ukelele" on my porch in the afternoons. I would love to wear that T-shirt.

[journeybear]

If you had your mandolin in a soft gig bag, you might have - perhaps even should have - been asked what kind of tennis rackets you had. ;) That's happened to me, and I've said as much as a deflection when I didn't feel inclined to get into a conversation about what's in the bag..


I think some people think my Mandobird 8 is a tiny guitar

When I was playing mine on the street, I got asked - a few times - "What is that, Guitar Hero?" This was always by a 20-something guy trying to impress his girlfriend with his "sense of humor" with a bit of condescension mixed in. I felt like asking the impudent inquirer, "Do you see a computer? Where's the monitor?" But it seemed wiser to avoid confrontation and possible bodily and instrumental harm. :whistling:


Actually, this is the one thing that hasn't happened to me yet.

You must not get out much! :))

PS: I'll take a 2xl, in blue or purple. :)

[rebus]

The funny thing is that here in Italy everybody can identify a (Bowlback) mandolin, while when I play ukulele everybody call it "little guitar" and asks if that's a balalaika, a banjo or what else. I don't have one, but I guess an american mandolin would be called by most "little guitar" as well, certainly not ukulele :)

[lflngpicker]

I have had this comment made a few times while I was performing. Folks will ask about the small guitar, whether I was using an F or A style. Others have said, "That ukelele sounded great." I once started the same thread with this exact topic. I understand your frustration because I believe a mandolin is a more versatile instrument, so much more in its construction and impactful in its sound. Ukeleles are wonderful instruments, but they are not mandolins and shouldn't be confused with them.

[RichM]

As someone who plays mandolin, banjo, and ukulele, I've heard every snide comment there is. It's fun playing an instrument that not everybody knows what it is.

Whenever I take my banjo-uke out for a tune, I announce, "This is a banjo-ukulele. It's for people who felt neither the banjo nor the ukulele was obnoxious enough on its own."

[Violingirl]

My mandolin lives in a ukulele gig bag....

[allenhopkins]

The flat back preceeds Lloyd by some time. Orville applied for a patent in the early 1800's. '02 if memory serves. That would be rare but at least I know it's in the neighborhood.

Orville Gibson got his (only) mandolin design patent in 1898. And there were flat-back mandolin-family instruments around well before that -- like the Spanish bandurria. Gibson's contribution was the carved top and back, based on the violin template.

[journeybear]

"That ukulele sounded great."
Generally speaking, as far as ukuleles go. mandolins do sound great. ;)


My mandolin lives in a ukulele gig bag....
This will also serve as theft protection. :grin:

I carry my Gibson mandolin in a Fender mandolin gig bag. So far this has helped keep it safe. ;)

[lflngpicker]

Journeybear, Sounds like a great plan! You made me smile. At the end of it all, you brought some perspective.

[ilovemyF9]

My mandolin lives in a ukulele gig bag....

You *!#$%!!! How can you sleep at night!!!!!!!!

[Timbofood]

Thanks for the correction Allen. I appreciate it.
A mind is a terrible thing to lose.....where did I set mine down?;)

[Bertram Henze]

You *!#$%!!! How can you sleep at night!!!!!!!!

No no no... the really important question is how can the mandolin sleep at night?
Is it out of tune when taken out of the bag? That's because it is slowly turning its tuners in agony, softly creaking... ~:>

[Mike Trent]

I get ' is that a fiddle' sometimes walking or riding the bus to jam sessions with my Mandolin. I also have a Mandola that is in a case which looks remarkably like a small banjo, so I get 'is that a little banjo. Then when I get to the jam, sometimes mandolin players think it's a mandolin and they tell me I am playing in the wrong key. That's what happens when folks watch instead of listen.

[dbaty]

I want one of them tee Shirts, I will send you a pay pal payment. Please, I gotta have one. Thank you, Darrell

[biosplonk]

Hey all! Thanks for your feedback. It's interesting to hear others experiences relating to miss identification of your instruments. And we appreciate the feedback on the shirt as well. My wife is not a graphic designer but we dally in art (other than music!) from time to time and all artists like good vibes.

In other news, for those interested in the shirt itself, I posted an ad in the classifieds accessories section.

[Petrus]

I actually got nothin' against ukes per se, even own a couple of them, neither made of wood (one is plastic and the other is metal, but I need to sell it.) I like the sound but I'm not sure what it is that puts me off. Maybe the re-entrant tuning or the generally happy ambiance that seems to surround them (maybe to do with their small size; small things are non-threatening and tend to inspire the cuteness factor.) I don't do happy well. That said, I'm thinking of a banjo, so go figure.

[Barry Wilson]

I found the solution to that question. I start my sets on ukulele and explain what each instrument is before I change...

[Bertram Henze]

...maybe to do with their small size; small things are non-threatening and tend to inspire the cuteness factor.

That didn't prevent one regular at the session from asking if my 21" OM was a uke...

[Mando_Lynn]

If you want to make this design available for sale (if it's allowed and all that), but didn't want the hassle of actually making and shipping them yourselves. You could just make the graphic file available for sale and we could download it for a price and then we (the buyers) could have it made into any item we wanted from anywhere we wanted. Easy for everyone.

[Petrus]

That didn't prevent one regular at the session from asking if my 21" OM was a uke...

The Lance Armstrong Uke. :grin:

[MarkusSpiel]

Love the shirt!!

[JeffD]

Maybe Gibson didn't do as great a job as they thought they did when they introduced Lloyd's new "bowl back killing" design back in nineteen-oh-something that was supposed to make a "clean sweep" of the old variety. I think people still think of a mandolin as the old fashioned Italian bowl back variety, preferably played while standing in a gondola in a canal in Venice (Italy, not L.A.) :))

Or... they could be associating it with the modern bowlbacks, being played all over the world today. I would bet that of all the mandolins in players hands today world wide, likely a little over half are bowlbacks.

F5s are a clique within a minority. It just doesn't look that way from inside.

[mandroid]

Cuke ~ say it's a Cucumber . .. :))

[Jeff Mando]

Several thought comes to mind....

A few years ago I got a good deal on a used Taylor padded gig bag--you know the one--tan and well-padded. It happened to fit my Gibson 330, so I was happy. After a couple trips, I put the gig bag on eBay. Loved the bag, but didn't love talking "Taylor" at the airport with a bunch of yuppies......."what model do you play?", etc. When I explained I play a Gibson ELECTRIC guitar and I carry it in a bag that happens to say Taylor, they really couldn't comprehend the concept, but still wanted to talk "Taylor' anyway. Just a guess on my part, but I'm thinking Taylor guitars have almost as strong a fanbase as Taylor Swift. Anyway, if you want to travel quietly through airports, just get a plain ol' black gig bag. However, if you are lonely, buy a tan Taylor brand gig bag--even if you don't have the right guitar.....

Second thought: I imagine there must be similar confusion with the fine points between, Euphonium, Baritone Horn, Tuba, French Horn, English horn, Contrabassoon, and Bass Clarinet--at least to the layman.

Like others, I have employed tennis racket bags to house both ukes and mandolins--used ones are available at every Goodwill store for a coupla bucks. I also keep a couple guitar gig bags in the trunk of my car in case I happen upon a guitar at a yard sale or church sale without a case. Good protection until I can get it home.

[k0k0peli]

I'll fool them! When my new instruments arrive next week, I'll restring them -- an 'uke set-up as a 4-string mandolin, and a mando morphed into an 8-string 'uke. Or maybe I'll just play a Cümbüş o'ud in public more often. Nope, it sure ain't a ukulele!

[Bertram Henze]

Last sunday, I heard the most misplaced guess so far (to me): "that's a shawm, right?"
Better yet, the incredulous face when I told him that a shawm is a wind instrument; I blame this on those pseudo-medieval musicians who often use an OM in lieu of a truly medieval lute, that's the way the association is made with any medieval-sounding instrument name.

[Samuel David Britton]

My mandolin has been called a ukulele, banjo, guitar, and a Bass.

[k0k0peli]

Last sunday, I heard the most misplaced guess so far (to me): "that's a shawm, right?"

My mandolin has been called a ukulele, banjo, guitar, and a Bass.
It's not that the rest of humanity are idiots. Rather, folks who don't focus at least a little on the details that interest *US* may seem like unschooled dolts.

Most of the folks I've encountered while hauling cameras around haven't the foggiest notion of distinctions between SLRs, TLRs, RFs, P&S's, folders etc. I'll setup my 9x12cm Conley folder on a tripod and passersby will stop and stare. "Is that a theodolite or something?" No, it ain't.

Just so, many non-musicians (and some musical folks wearing mental blinders) have fuzzy mental images of 'instruments'. I'm there myself when it comes to Latino axes -- I hear 'tres', 'cuatro', 'baja sexto', etc, and my mind's eye only sees a blur of bodies and necks. Or I could put my cuatro-menor in with a batch of mandolas, citterns, bozoukis, etc and not be able to say which was which. Someone with less musical experience might just think that anything big is a guitar and anything small is a 'uke.

It takes cultural immersion. Story is told of a late-19th-century Japanese diplomat newly-arrived in Europe, being taken to an orchestral concert. Symphonies and concerti -- Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms. Afterwards, the diplomat politely thanked his hosts and asked why they played the same piece of music over and over. Unless you're acculturated, it all sounds the same. And unless you're informed by experience, all those soundboxes with necks look the same.

[journeybear]

Last sunday, I heard the most misplaced guess so far (to me): "that's a shawm, right?"

You missed the chance to say, "Oh no, it's much larger than a shawm. It's a sackbut." Or perhaps a rebec. At least that's a string instrument (albeit bowed).

[Bertram Henze]

...Afterwards, the diplomat politely thanked his hosts and asked why they played the same piece of music over and over.

I have heard people ask the same question at our ITM sessions.


You missed the chance to say, "Oh no, it's much larger than a shawm. It's a sackbut." Or perhaps a rebec. At least that's a string instrument (albeit bowed).

Yes, but leading people into deeper darkness is reserved for my day job as a consultant. Never on sessions. :whistling:

It's a long time since I have seen the rebec played - in my elementary school days, I played in a small orchestra (one of the teachers was into Rennaissance instruments), and some of the boys played rebecs; I played a Schmalzither (an early yet chromatic relative of the mountain dulcimer, four-square, three-stringed).

[journeybear]

My introduction to Renaissance instruments goes back to high school. A group of five guys in the next class up were serious Tolkein geeks, to the extent of learning the elven language and dressing up in their versions of hobbit garb. (It was the freewheeling late 1960s, and the books were current and very popular, as was letting your freak flag fly.) One of them had a connection to the Yale music collection, and they would occasionally show up with the odd shawm, sackbut, and crumhorn. Crazy stuff. They were really nerdy, but they had this cool if pretty nutty thing going for them. Years later one of them answered my ad for mandolin lessons, and he was my best student - not surprisingly.

[Petrus]

One day perhaps, mankind will crash a mandolin into Mercury ... and people will say, "Hey, did you hear they crashed a ukulele into Mercury?" :grin:

[Bertram Henze]

One day perhaps, mankind will crash a mandolin into Mercury ... and people will say, "Hey, did you hear they crashed a ukulele into Mercury?" :grin:

No, they'll say it was a hoax staged by Gibson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9tiuqE-PU_I#t=68). :mandosmiley:

[DataNick]

OK,

Had to post this one. I just got back from Pahrump, Nevada where my band, High Mountain Road, played the Acoustic Grass festival.

Yesterday after our first set, our guitar player's girlfriend tells me that people really were excited about us and that the lady behind her was telling her friend on the phone about this "fantastic band who had a black guy playing the electric ukulele!"

She said that the lady was so excited she didn't have the nerve to correct her. Electric Ukulele, are you kidding me? And I was playing "miked", no pickup! Brother!

[Petrus]

She said that the lady was so excited she didn't have the nerve to correct her. Electric Ukulele, are you kidding me? And I was playing "miked", no pickup! Brother!

To be fair, was she standing really far back in the audience? (Or was it not that big of a room ... )

[DataNick]

To be fair, was she standing really far back in the audience? (Or was it not that big of a room ... )

The stage/audience area was "small" by most festival standards. The "riser" type bleacher seats were situated maybe 40-50 ft from the stage conservatively speaking (could have been even closer). It was close enough where you had to be careful about eyeballing the good looking women.

[journeybear]

The thing is, F-style mandolins look sort of futuristic, it's easy for those unfamiliar with them to assume they're electric, maybe even nuclear-powered. ;)

[Bertram Henze]

F-style mandolins and Gibson Les Paul guitars are stylistically close - maybe close enough to make people think that any stringed instrument with that look is electric (Les Paul shape => electric, little guitar shape => uke, the combined conclusion is kind of logical).

[biosplonk]

(Les Paul shape => electric, little guitar shape => uke, the combined conclusion is kind of logical).

Um... maybe. I think this might be a bit of a stretch. But then again, I lack any other more plausible explanation. People see what they want to see I suppose. But what are they hearing?

After having read through the thread again a a bit I feel like those folks who get mistaken as having "little guitars" makes the most sense, because to me that just says that the person's only real exposure to stringed instruments is with arguably the most common type and they just assume they're all like that. I am more surprised by the folks that identify it as a maybe more obscure stringed instrument. Is it that Ukes are just a lot more common than I realized? I had just sort of assumed that mandolins were at least as common in the wild as ukes are but I may have a bit of a bias.

[Bertram Henze]

...But what are they hearing?

I guess most hear some rhythmic sound, some might even hear music, but those who can actually distinguish single instruments are few and far between. The human brain is wired to associate what it hears with what it sees at the same time (and within the same timing) and to assume that what it sees must be producing the sound.

A somewhat pathetic example is this video from german TV during the 1970s - note that you see a drum set and a resonator guitar, but you hear mainly a synthesizer carrying the melody, with some drums and guitar in the background, the whole charade called Dan the Banjo Man, with no banjo in sight. I dimly remember it was in the charts for months...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJXyyOzLKh0

[mmukav]

I play a Godin A8 in my Celtic band. Since it looks like a small guitar I get all kinds of questions!

133711

[biosplonk]

Yes! I've looked at the Godin before as my band plays plugged in. I would have to make a whole new shirt for that :-)

[Purdy Bear]

As a relative novice to both the Ukulele and the Mandolin, I would have said is it a guitar. Until recently the only Ukulele I knew about was actually a banjo. I've educated myself some what about the Ukulele, as I now play one (1 month 1 week in), and begun to do the same with the Mandolin (3 days).

I never knew there were different styles of Mandolin, like the A and F shapes, nor the Folk/bluegrass types. I thought all bowl backs were lutes, but from the research I've done so far, I think they are in the same family, coming from the Oud.

I'm still trying to sort out where the whole Guitar, Mandolin, Ukulele fit into a family tree.

The thing that still confuses me is how something that is a 4 string, tuned like a Ukulele can still be a bass guitar. Please just be patient with us public, its probably the first time someone has seen the instrument let alone know what it is!

[k0k0peli]

As a relative novice to both the Ukulele and the Mandolin, I would have said is it a guitar. Until recently the only Ukulele I knew about was actually a banjo. I've educated myself some what about the Ukulele, as I now play one (1 month 1 week in), and begun to do the same with the Mandolin (3 days).

I never knew there were different styles of Mandolin, like the A and F shapes, nor the Folk/bluegrass types. I thought all bowl backs were lutes, but from the research I've done so far, I think they are in the same family, coming from the Oud.

I'm still trying to sort out where the whole Guitar, Mandolin, Ukulele fit into a family tree.

The thing that still confuses me is how something that is a 4 string, tuned like a Ukulele can still be a bass guitar. Please just be patient with us public, its probably the first time someone has seen the instrument let alone know what it is!

Yeah, the whole thing about the evolution of o'uds/lutes into guitar-like-objects and more is pretty baroque. 'Ukes are younger members of the family and haven't had time to evolve as many different configurations as vihuelas, cuatros, charangos, dobros, etc. (Mandos are sort of like fretted viols and have their own distinct history and more consistent structures.) 'Guitars' may range from 1 to 24 or more strings, be hollow or solid or resonating, be long-necked or neckless (like lap steels) or multi-necked, play in any range from sub- to super-sonic, and may even be imaginary ('air guitar'). Lute taxonomy evades me. That makes it hard to collect the entire set. :(

[David L]

My introduction to Renaissance instruments goes back to high school. A group of five guys in the next class up were serious Tolkein geeks, to the extent of learning the elven language and dressing up in their versions of hobbit garb. (It was the freewheeling late 1960s, and the books were current and very popular, as was letting your freak flag fly.) One of them had a connection to the Yale music collection, and they would occasionally show up with the odd shawm, sackbut, and crumhorn. Crazy stuff. They were really nerdy, but they had this cool if pretty nutty thing going for them. Years later one of them answered my ad for mandolin lessons, and he was my best student - not surprisingly.

(Nerd alert) The books were written in the 1940's, so weren't really "current" in the 1960's.

[allenhopkins]

...The thing that still confuses me is how something that is a 4 string, tuned like a Ukulele can still be a bass guitar...

Assume you're referring to the U-Bass, which is a uke-sized bass guitar, that isn't really tuned like a ukulele (fourths-and-a-third), but like the bottom strings of a guitar (all fourths), only an octave lower. Due to the "miracle" of silicone-rubber technology, you can have a short, flexible string that resonates in the bass range.

There are several brands of these: Kala U-Bass, Road Toad, Gold Tone. I have the progenitor of the family, the Guild Ashbory solid-body "bass guitar," which is mandolin-sized but plays bass.

Appearances sure can be deceiving, and confusing. I continue to maintain that the mandolin is susceptible to mis-identification, partially because there are so many mandolin silhouettes. An F-5 looks much different from a bowl-back, but they're both mandolins. The general public doesn't get this.

[k0k0peli]

Appearances sure can be deceiving, and confusing. I continue to maintain that the mandolin is susceptible to mis-identification, partially because there are so many mandolin silhouettes. An F-5 looks much different from a bowl-back, but they're both mandolins. The general public doesn't get this. As I mentioned, a 'guitar' may have none-to-many strings and/or necks and a wide range of shapes and sizes but when they're played by 'guitarists' they maintain some identity and public recognition. Mandos merely have much smaller public impact now, unlike during the heyday of mando orchestras.

As for tonal range, as with the uBass, much can be manipulated with sound boxes and/or MIDI interfaces. I could run the output from any solid-body lute (guitar, mando, 'uke, cuatro, shamisen, etc) through some electronics and produce nearly any possible (or impossible) voicing from sub-bass to ultrasonic, from realistic to totally synthesized or sampled. Playing a MIDI guitar lets me be a pipe organ, helicopter, monkey chanter, pile driver, whatever. The tonal range is limited more by filters and speaker size than by the instrument itself which merely provides raw meat for the electronics to digest and spew.

How can we tell if something is actually a mandolin? It is if I say so. Yeah, I got the power...

[Cobalt]

I used to regularly get asked, "What's that called?" or "What do you call that?" when people saw my mandolin. My standard answer was, "It's called Frederick". :)

[Bertram Henze]

"It's called Frederick". :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIETme5l7MU

But seriously, we should not take our tiredness out on some unsuspecting person who plucked up the courage to actually ask an innocent question. Make sure they get your good-natured banter.

[Cobalt]

But seriously, we should not take our tiredness out on some unsuspecting person who plucked up the courage to actually ask an innocent question. Make sure they get your good-natured banter.
Fair point. Actually it's been a while since I've used that line, I seem to be be hanging out in different circles nowadays.

[journeybear]

That's MY line! :mad: It only works if the question is phrased right - as you said, "What do you call that?" (A good punch line requires the right set-up, and in this case, it calls for the verb "call").

I've got nothing against informing the public about mandolins, but sometimes ... I feel like I get asked this sort of question a lot, or too much, or more often than I'd like. And if I'm in the right mood, I might just give a little zazz in my response. I usually give this a beat or two to sink in and gauge the person's response, and follow up with a more considerate answer, "Just kidding, it's a mandolin," something like that. As Joni Mitchell said, "Leave them laughing when they go." ;)

A few years back, after a gig, someone came up and asked me, "What do you call that?" I probably had had a few, the tips were probably low, the bass player had probably given me a few digs, the girl I'd had my eye on had probably left - whatever - so I must have been in a mood. Apparently, my answer was, "Molly." I say it that way because I don't really remember saying it, my mind being elsewhere. But the pedal steel player just about cracked up, and told me so later. We had a good chuckle, and I realized that I had finally come up with a name for my mandolin, after having been unable to name her for a couple of years together. The name has stuck, and it's been just fine ever since. Pretty much. :whistling: