View Full Version : How many functional mandolins exist in North Ameri
bones12
May-15-2005, 2:42pm
After reading "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt ( a rogue economist who explores the hidden side of everything), I got into a conversation with a friend about just what the estimated number of functional non-bowl back mandolins would be in North America. By adding up all the mandolins that still exist( from say 1905 onward)from known (Gibson,Vega, Martin, Bruno..) to small builders (Collings,Givens, Rigel,Dudenbostel,Nugget, et al), what might be the total number.Knowing that there are 6000 plus Mandolin Cafe users and many many bands out there, what is the population of mandolin players? This would be curious to see what the ratio of mandolins to players is in this 300 million plus continent. Supply and demand might then be imagined. Does anyone knoe what the vintage Gibson population is estimated to be? What is the loss per year in car wrecks, fires, and bad repair episodes?What is the average number of mandos owned pere cafe user (that we will admit to)? How many mandolin strings are sold yearly ? How many cases? An inventory of this might be very interesting. The book is a facinating look at how conventional wisdom is often untrue.Who can offer a guess at the mandolin population? Thanks, Doug
acousticphd
May-15-2005, 4:48pm
Another key statistic:
How many of these instruments need >$500 work to actually be playable?
John Flynn
May-15-2005, 5:46pm
I am not trying to start an argument here, but I have to ask: Why "non-bowlbacks?" Are they not mandolins? And if you are being exclusive, why not non-resonator, non-banjo mandolins and non-electric mandolins?
BTW, I have heard that the music instrument retailing industry organizations and publications have some of the kind of stats like you are looking for. I have seen some of them for guitars, but never for mandos. I wonder of one of the dealers on the Cafe' could dig out any related mando info from thier industry contacts?
bones12
May-15-2005, 10:33pm
The exclusion of bowl backs was only meant as a marker for ease in determining numbers. Any information on the estimated remaining tater bugs would also be interesting. But most interesting would be the absolute numbers of F4s or A2Zs just to choose two examples, thanks. Doug
Chris Baird
May-16-2005, 12:03am
Well lets see here... there are 6 mandolin players in my town of 9000..... that means that with the 300 million folks... plus er minus a few... and um... time a few more... well heck I've run out of fingers to count em on.. I'd say theres more than 10 that got eaten by dogs. And at least one what got hung.
fatt-dad
May-16-2005, 9:37am
There are two mandolin players in my office of 85 people. One has just one mandoiln and the other has 15. So, the average mandolin player has 8 mandolins. Considering 300 million people, then there would be about 56,470,588 mandolins in existance today. However, maybe not everybody has their required 8 mandolins - so this may mess up my calculations a little.
fatt yeah-I'm-an-engineer dad
JEStanek
May-16-2005, 9:48am
I think everyone should have, on average, 8 mandolins.
Links
May-16-2005, 10:02am
I am pretty sure that some mandolins have been converted to table lamps. Should these also be considered.
Chris: This is not the forum to show something a heinous as a mandolin hanging! That was just tasteless and you should issue an apology to the mandolin community - especially the children!
Chris Baird
May-16-2005, 11:59am
Hey, I did that "mandolin" a favor!
500,00 to 1,600,000
300 million people = 100 million households
50% have some musicial instrument = 50 million households with instruments.
E-bay ratio of instruments to mandolins give roughly 1 mandolin per 100 instruments gives 500,000.
Estimating 80% of all instruments are guitars and then using the ratio of google hits for guitar vs mandolin gets the 1,600,000 value.
JEStanek
May-16-2005, 12:19pm
Chris don't admit to anything that could be used in a court of law. That was clearly a suicide... That mandolin had come unstrung.
Bones12 wrote:
"Any information on the estimated remaining tater bugs would also be interesting."
He seems to be insinuating that the only tater bugs are remnants, as if no one in their right mind would actually build a new one. Methinks Bones12 should visit the classical forum for a bruising. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
b.pat
May-16-2005, 12:59pm
Sure looks like a " Mando-linching " to me. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
B.Pat
Nathan Sanders
May-16-2005, 1:12pm
How many functional Loars are there?
If I owned one, there'd be one less. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
This is a REALLY interesting question, deserving of some investigation. Sadly, I'm far too lazy to contribute to the endeavor.
There are a couple factors that tend to skew results. I myself owned about four mandolins overall for about twenty years (F4, H4, A2Z, Stradolin) until I fell under the fell influence of the cafe. I now have more than a dozen bowlbacks, a Djangolin, a pair of Lyon & Healys, a Unicorn F5, and a hole in my credit rating that only death will repair.
So Cafe exposure certainly has an influence. It would be best for those who tend to accumulate mandolins to keep others from finding out about the Mandolin Cafe, or soon demand will drive prices beyond our ability to pay.
Considering there are 300 million people in America and the democrats lost the last election and global warming is shrinking both the glaciers in Alaska and the land mass of Florida and that whites are no longer a majority in California and the United States has the highest percentage of of prisoners of any nation in the world and on top of this, that we all live in the Matrix so it doesn't really matter anyways--I'll have to concur with Tim's figures.
JGWoods
May-16-2005, 7:12pm
Ok so there's a million or so manolins out there. Given that MAS has affected so many people, how many mandolin players are there?
200,000....I doubt it, and that would be if each player owned 5 mandos.
beats me
jgwoods
fmspinc
May-16-2005, 11:02pm
Why not just starting counting from today forward ...
picksnbits
May-17-2005, 7:06am
1.....
picksnbits
May-17-2005, 7:07am
2......
picksnbits
May-17-2005, 7:09am
3.......
This is gonna take a while. I'll get back with you in a bit.
4..........
JGWoods
May-24-2005, 3:54pm
5!
mandroid
May-25-2005, 2:28am
Dysfunctional mandolin players queue up #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
any MAS meds, other than beer?
mas cervesa, por favor!