Big Fat Belly

[Dan Krhla]

Me & my mandolin both. Here's my bowlback right after I blew an 'e' string fighting with Carolan's Concerto for the SAW group.

Fighting meaning I got frustrated and ripped up and down the scales noodling till *boing*! Not playing Carolan's Concerto fast enough to cause any damage :grin:

Have flats on their way anyways.

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[Dan Krhla]

and the back / bottom. Sir Mix-a-Lot would approve?

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[Jim Garber]

Is that mandolin from Viet Nam? I always wondered how they sound and play.

[Dan Krhla]

Jim, yeah it's the Tsai one from ebay from Vietnam. I took a chance on it when I got it, but it plays pretty nice. It sounds good, as long as you understand it's not a A or an F with F holes :)

I will try to get some sound clips up. I've had it a while now and it definitely needs some new strings again.

[Dan Krhla]

I got it in 2008, new from the maker. It was $180 +$80 shipping & handling and sounds at least as good and pretty sure much better than any other $260 mandolin. Glad I pulled the trigger on it.

[Jim Garber]

That is one of the more tastefully ornamented ones I have seen from that shop. And it intonates well, too? That is good news. How is the tailpiece holding up and what strings do you have on it?

[Dan Krhla]

Jim, Yeah, definitely. There were *many* designs that were over the top gaudy. I saw one like mine in the 'finished auctions' list and waited a couple months till another one came out with similar designs. The intonation is pretty much on the money. The tailpiece actually has all 3 screw heads stripped up badly. The cloud bent once on me but it went back no problem. I had Elixirs on it most recently,but juststrings shipped my J74 flats today, gonna try them. Had regular J74, Labella and Jazzmando (same thing pretty much) flats on it at one point or another. No complaints at all, the cheap-o hard case it came with has held up well too, handle & hardware not super cheap, and it inside is lined with the softest case material I've ever seen.