Is it true you never forget your first?

[dhpgetsit]

http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/daud_photos/LilBigMuddy/Mandolin.jpg
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/daud_photos/LilBigMuddy/Mandolin2.jpg
http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo10/daud_photos/LilBigMuddy/Mandolin3.jpg

Thanks, Ken Cartwright!

[JEStanek]

I haven't forgotten my Lone Star. Yours is a nicer first than mine was. Enjoy it!

Jamie

[Jean Fugal]

My first was a cheap taterbug, traded it for a 3/4 fiddle for my grand daughter. Forgot about it very quickly. I wish I had my second one back, 96 Flatiron A5 Artist. A good friend of mine has it now and I'm happy he's happy.

[strings777]

My first was a Kentucky KM-630....not forgotten, but alas, gone with the wind...sigh.....

[Gerry Cassidy]

That's a very nice little flat top you got yourself, right there. Couldn't have bought it from a nicer fella, as well. Enjoy!

I got my first in 1976. I don't remember the name of it. It was a little A style with F holes.

I had to use vise grips to tune it. :disbelief: :)

[John Rosett]

My first was a 30's blonde Strad-O-Lin. I put a set of Kluson tuners on it, and it had a spot of melted finish next to the bass F hole. Anybody seen it?

[Pete Summers]

My first was a Japanese tater bug from TG&Y for $25 (about 35 years ago). I still remember it as having a sweet tone. Wish I had it back. I traded it for an old reverse scroll Washington mandolin after 3 or 4 years. I wish I still had that one even more, but I ended up trading it for an old fiddle and dropped mandolin altogether -- only began mandolin again a few years ago. That's the part I regret most.

[Mandobart]

Being something of a musical instrument hoarder, I still have my first violin, first guitar, and first mando (and their successors). The only instrument I've parted with yet was my first electric bass guitar, which I remember but don't miss at all.

TG&Y! Wow we had one of those in my hometown, ~35 yrs ago. Any "They Gyp You" stores still around?

[William Smith]

My first mandolin that is, was one my Grand pappy made,,,Anyone remember him from the 60's and 70's bluegrass days William Howard Smith?? From Auburn NY,later Jamestown NY area,,then California for a while then back homeway....

[crazymandolinist]

My first is a regal flat back. I don't play it because I think the top is starting to collapse and it has a few tiny splits and such, so the strings are very loose. While I could play it, it played so nice and sounded so beautiful. I'll never part with it.

[Mandolin Mick]

:)) That's right, but I wish I could forget it!!! My first was an Epiphone A model that I traded a guitar straight up for ... what a piece of junk!!! Sold it at a yard sale for something like $25 to get it out of my sight!!! :))

[JEStanek]

See, even those that say they have forgotten their first mandolin remember them!

Jamie

[Ed Goist]

Kentucky KM-172
A very good first mandolin - In large part responsible for my mandolin obsession.
(If the fretboard had been radiused I'd probably still own her.)

77172

[Randi Gormley]

Suzuki bowlback from the 1970s that I still have in its case in the living room even though the neck is more like a "C" than an "I." I'd love to replace it with a bowlback that can be played. I've just been too lazy to do anything with it!

[Wesley]

I still HAVE my first mandolin. It's a cheap plywood "Conqueror" that I paid all of $50.00 for. There isn't enough value in it to use it as a trade of something else so I'll just hang onto it. Like others here I have a very hard time getting rid of a musical instrument. Books and CD's too.

[Denny Gies]

Yep. My first was an Auria that couldn't keep E strings from breaking no matter how hard or gently they were picked. Well, memories are great but better mandolins are much better.

[Vernon Hughes]

I still have my 1978 alvarez baroque mando..It had a hard life on the road for nearly 22 years..Just did a neck reset on it and it still sounds fine! I really should post a pic..

[bazooka47]

Had to think about that one. My first mando was an very inexpensive ($45.00 in early
80's $$) model that I bought via mail order from the Navy Exchange, while I was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier on deployment in the South Pacific. Not surprisingly, it was a rather poorly constructed plywood import, but was sure better than nothing. I ended up selling it to a 2nd Class Radioman, and eventually upgraded to a Kentucky F-style. Sorry, no pic.

[billkilpatrick]

in fact, i have forgotten my first mandolin ... but not my first mid/muddy - fabulous mandolins

[fatt-dad]

Yeah, I still have my old Kay. It was given to me in the late '60s and left for a few decades. She's home now though (needs a neck set, unfortunatly).

f-d

[baptist mando55]

Aria Pro 2 pm750 bought from CE Ward .Dont know if he had been inside of it but it was very loud.The guy i sold it to said he sold it to Ben Greene of carolina road .It didnt have the best tone but it would peel paint. Very good 300 dollar mandolin

[Chip Booth]

My first was a cheap plywood Kentucky that actually played and sounded fairly decent for what it was. Eventually the neck pealed off of it, and these days a friend's young daughter drags it around the house and beats on it. At least it is still enjoyed even if it isn't suitable for playing!

[mrmando]

I haven't forgotten my first, after years of trying and thousands of dollars' worth of therapy.

I sold it to my girlfriend. Then I dumped her. It was a clever way to get rid of it, but not without its heartbreaks. Neither one of them was doing me much good at the time, but I did care about one of them. You guess which one.