Fun observation

[Dan Cole]

A few days ago I pulled my Ibanez 524 out of its case, tuned it and and played it. I haven't played it for a long time since I've been playing my Weber Big Sky these past 18 odd years.

I bought the Ibanez brand new as a 16 year old. It took forever to come in, i mean months. I flipped a lot of Big Macs to pay for it. Back in the day I was so proud of my new mandolin and thought it was the greatest (maybe because it looked like a Gibson). After I bought my Weber years later I really could hear the difference.

After playing it these past few days the Ibanez has seemed to open back up. It has a narrow flat fretboard,really great highs, but the bass is really lacking. If you look at the wood thickness of the top you can see its pretty thick on the bass side and thin on the treble.

The Weber on the other hand is a cannon. It has a radiused fretboard, X Braced and its really loud. It has great bass and really great treble as well. I've replaced the Brekke bridge with a Cumberland Acoustic once upon a time as well.

There definitely is a difference in the $600 1977 Ibanez and the $3500 Weber. Its interesting how much the binding yellowed on the Ibanez. Its also picked up a crack sometime in the past below the tailpiece. Its still pretty. Now I need to break out the old Harmony Monterrey I learned on as another fun check!

[Randi Gormley]

I'll occasionally pick up one of the mandolins I almost never play any more and I'm always surprised. Some of them are better than I recall, some worse. But it's always nice to visit old friends!

[Kevin Briggs]

That is fun!

I wish I had my first playable mandolin, which was an Alvarez A-100. It wasn't fancy, and didn't sound so great, but it played really easily and was a huge step up from the Stella I played prior to it. I switched form it to a Morgan Monroe and it was no upgrade at all. It wasn't until I played a Breedlove Spirit that I really noticed the difference.

That's super cool you busted it out after all these years!

[Phil Goodson]

...Now I need to break out the old Harmony Monterrey I learned on as another fun check!

What a coincidence. Several days ago I pulled out the Harmony Monterey that I bought from Big Joe years ago. It pretty much stays quietly in the back of the closet most of the time. Near mint.

Anyway, I played it for a while and was again surprised at the nice tone it had. It plays well, but not quite as nice as my others, as expected. I enjoyed the experience and now the Harmony is taking another nap in the closet for a while.:)

[JEStanek]

I think the main thing to remember with our older, less expensive mandolins is they are still mandolins and sound essentially mandolin-y to people. They make great gifts to aspiring players. But, they are fun to have on hand to place in people's hands, too.

Jamie

[Dan Cole]

I think the main thing to remember with our older, less expensive mandolins is they are still mandolins and sound essentially mandolin-y to people. They make great gifts to aspiring players. But, they are fun to have on hand to place in people's hands, too.

Jamie

I agree, my grandkids are starting to ask questions about it. I need to convert them from Brass to strings!

[MikeZito]

I think the main thing to remember with our older, less expensive mandolins is they are still mandolins and sound essentially mandolin-y to people. They make great gifts to aspiring players.

Exactly! I am sure that my first 'Santa Rosa' mandolin would be a laughable instrument if I saw it today - but at the time it was absolutely invaluable. For months I took it with me EVERYWHERE that I went, and I am very grateful for the musical lessons that I learned on it. For the $69 that it cost me in 1998, I still feel that it was money well spent.

[LadysSolo]

Now you have made me want to pull out my The Loar LM 220 to see how it sounds after spending so much of my time with my more expensive mandolins. I would let a new player haver it if they wanted it, but it was never a BAD mandolin, it just wasn't able to do what I wanted it to, or I needed more help as a player from my mandolin than my The Loar was able to give me.