A Few Mandolin Newbie Questions

[MarkF786]

I have a few questions as a newbie to the mandolin. I hoped the experts here might be able to help.

- I've played acoustic guitar for many many years, but find the mandolin is much harder to fret, causing my fingers and hands to hurt. Is this normally harder to fret a mandolin than an acoustic guitar? It's not the tips of my fingers that hurt since they already have callouses, but rather it hurts in the bones of my fingers. I'm using medium strings and the action is set fairly low (.024" at the nut and .060" at the the 12th fret).

- Do players typically place their left thumb on the back of the neck, like a classical guitarist, or do they typically wrap their thumb around the neck?

- How do players typically hold the mandolin? With a strap?

Thanks for the feedback!

Mark

[Tobin]

Yes, the mandolin takes more finger pressure. If your fingertips are already hardened, you're going to primarily feel it in your bones and muscles and tendons and such. Double courses under higher tension = more finger power needed than a guitar.

But - make sure you are only fretting firmly enough to get clean tone. Many people have a tendency to put a death grip on the strings, or slam their fingers onto the fretboard to compensate for the high tension string courses. It really takes a lot of discipline to lighten your fretting fingers and find the sweet spot.

On thumb hold, go to YouTube and look for Mike Marshall's tutorial videos. He will show you the best grip much better than I can explain it. Basically, your thumb generally goes on the side of the neck, not flat underneath (except for particular chords where you need it).

[pdogood]

I have a few questions as a newbie to the mandolin. I hoped the experts here might be able to help.

- I've played acoustic guitar for many many years, but find the mandolin is much harder to fret, causing my fingers and hands to hurt. Is this normally harder to fret a mandolin than an acoustic guitar? It's not the tips of my fingers that hurt since they already have callouses, but rather it hurts in the bones of my fingers. I'm using medium strings and the action is set fairly low (.024" at the nut and .060" at the the 12th fret).

- Do players typically place their left thumb on the back of the neck, like a classical guitarist, or do they typically wrap their thumb around the neck?

- How do players typically hold the mandolin? With a strap?

Thanks for the feedback!

Mark

Hello, The string tension on a mandolin is much greater than on a guitar. You are depressing two string at a time creating (twice the tension, twice the strings) a steeper angle because of the shorter scale of a mandolin. The pain will go away. Good Luck

[JeffD]

If you haven't seen this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmagoBQunZI), now is the time.

Make sure your action isn't too high. You might be fighting more than you need to. If not, then its just time in the saddle. You'll get there.

[roysboy]

I found after playing a flat fretboard for about a year that going over to radiused fretboard made a HUGE difference in terms of ease of playing. No more aches , cleaner fretting , much better response , fuller sounding chords , just a far more enjoyable playing experience .

[HappyLife]

Somebody else can confirm this, but I think string heights sound really high. I recall recommended was .010 at the first fret and .045 at the 12th. When I adjusted even my cheap little mandolin to the appropriate numbers it made a world of difference. Good luck with it.

[MarkF786]

The .024" at the nut is good, leaving .011" height at the first fret. But yes, the height at the 12th fret is a little high. On the Ovation mandolin I'm using, I can't make it any lower without resulting to extreme (and expensive) measures. I plan to buy a new mandolin in the future (currently leaning towards a Breedlove), but I'm making the best out of what I have in the meanwhile. I spent a lot of time already on the Ovation to get the action as low as it is now.

[Pasha Alden]

Hi Mark

Similar problems. Also started with an ovation. Now ovation and Jbovier.

I can confirm the cramps will go away. One's hand does become stronger.

Best with your playing