Back playing my bowlback.

[Rex]

After experiencing a lot of hand pain to the point that my playing was suffering, I sold my F style mando last year. I also loosened the strings on my bowlback a couple of turns. The proceeds from the F5 were used to purchase a Manuel Rodriguez classical guitar. The pain was much reduced with the nylon strings. A few months ago the pain was almost completely gone. I have also been taking glucosamine. Recently I tuned up the Dogals on the old bowlback, since my hands felt so fit, and started playing again. What a joy. It all came back quickly (but thank goodness the pain has not returned). And those 18 month old Dogals sound great still (but I have a new set so I think I'll change them anyway). The shorter scale and lighter tension on the bowlback are very kind to my fingers. My time away wasn't a total loss, I learned to play the Sarabande and Double from Bach's Partita I in Bm on the guitar, among other pieces. Anyway, it is good to see so many familiar names still on the board.

[Jim Garber]

Hi Rex:
Welcome back to the Brother- and Sisterhood of the Bowl. Glad your hands are forgiving you for past trangressions. Scary stuff.

BTW what sort of bowlback do you play?

Best
Jim

[Eugene]

Indeed, Rex, welcome back. It's been a while.

[Rex]

Thanks for the welcome. Jim, my mandolin doesn't have any markings or label. I suspect it is a budget version from Washburn or some similar American mass production giant. The spruce top is gently arched between the bend and the neck, the rosewood and mahogany back has thin maple strips between the rosewood and mahogany. The sides are rosewood. The tuners and tailpiece are cheap and the pickguard is just a big sticker. There is also a cheap sticker around the sound hole. The neck is perfect and so is the fret job, intonation is perfect with the Dogals (thanks to this board for recommending them years ago), but the position markers are crooked. So it is a mix, good workmanship and materials where it counts and cheap stuff that hurts the looks but not the sound.
Hey Eugene, I seem to recall you also played classical guitar. I have really enjoyed mine and will be dividing my playing time between both (but not adding to my total playing time). The guitar actually has been very rehabilitative and theraputic to my fingers. Motion and exercise and heat have all been part of that equation.
Oh, let me add one more thing. Thanks to everybody for not buying my bowlback when I had it listed in the classifieds! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Eugene]

Hey Eugene, I seem to recall you also played classical guitar.
Absolutely, Rex. Check out http://www.columbusguitarsociety.org/ and stop by a concert or informal meeting whenever you're in the neighborhood. It can be more than just mandotherapy.

[Rex]

Here are some poor pictures of my instruments:
http://www.geocities.com/beads_59/mandolin.html
Click at the bottom of the first page to get to the next.
I need to get some sound on the site also because it really does sound better than it looks.

[vkioulaphides]

Welcome back, Rex. Looking at the bowlback you posted, I was struck by how virtually identical it looks to one I have. Mine has a label that reads:

The Kaiser Music Store
45 The Arcade
Cleveland

That is of course not the builder but some retailer.

Sadly, however, mine is not playable; the frets are placed in all the wrong places, so that no adjustment of the bridge will ever yield correct intonation. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif And, on the other hand, a brand-new fretboard would far exceed the value of the instrument.

[billkilpatrick]

your hand problems struck a responsive chord - to say nothing of twinging a tendon.

i experienced the same sort of thing playing my oud. i dropped the bass strings down a bit to ease the tension and forced myself to lighten-up on the finger pressure but the results were so-so. i rarely play it these days.

never mind... help was soon at hand (heh-heh) as i also play charango with a gg-bb-eE-aa-dd tuning and that, oddly enough, gives me no problem what-so-ever. could be because of frets or a tighter fingering pattern perhaps but who cares!... the thought of not being able to play was more painful to me than any pain in my hands.

i remember seeing a wildly ecentric film about glen gould in which the actor who plays him soaked his fingers in hot water before performing in concert. any medical feed-back on the long term effects of that? nothing better than a low-tech medical remedy that really works.

nice looking instruments rex.

ciao - bill

[Eugene]

32 Short Films about Glenn Gould, I love that movie! Not that I'll ever play anything like Glenn Gould (I can muster an occasional Gould-like grunt), but I run the hottest water I can tolerate over my hands and forearms before I play. It seems to lube the tendons and loosen my ordinarily stiff hands nicely. I have no idea about long-term effects, but, if anything, I suspect you are decreasing the likelihood of long-term damage by so loosening things.

[stevenmando]

Hi people I play bowlbacks and would not play anything other than a bowlback they are just great and I love the sound , sweet and melodic as a summer rain . I hope that does not sound stuffy ? The strings are a light gauge but the sound is great,I guess this is my own prefference. I purchased mine at a store in Studio City,Studio city music in Los Angeles about 15 years ago and it is still as beautyful as ever.Im not sure who is manufacture but a young man who repares mandolins commented thats it is a beautyful and fine instrument.

[Bob A]

Regarding deteriorating hands: it was at one time a treatment for such problems to dip hands in melted wax (paraffin?) to treat the pain of arthritis. Of course, hot water is also an option. I'm informed the paraffin treatment is still in use, and useful.

I am not aware of what difference, if any, there might be between the two methods (water & wax) other than the wax will remain in place and keep the heat in longer.

Steven, welcome. Your praise of bowlbacks could never be seen as stuffy, especially by the likes of the folk here. If you have the capability, a picture of yours would be welcomed as well.

[stevenmando]

Thanks Bob, at the present time I don,t have the capability to post a picture of my bowlback but I can discribe it, its a dark honey colored with a melodic sound, a treasure to play and a treasure to see I wish I could post the picture but hopfully soon I will be able to ,thanks steven.

[Rex]

Heat has also been part of my hand therapy. Heat and exercise promote fluid transfer into and out of the joints, which is essential because they do not have a blood supply to do that. I soak my hands in hot water every day.