All the mandolin I'll ever need

  1. Dave Weiss
    Dave Weiss
    When I first started looking at the Big Muddies they didn't appeal to me at all. Pretty plain looking, flat, nothing special...

    I started out with a Kentucky 162 and quickly upgraded to a Kentucky 505, but was constantly fiddling with it trying to get it to sound "right". It was about that time that I found the Mandolin Cafe (blessing and a curse) and read a bunch of really good reviews on the Big Muddy/Mid-Mo mandolins. The thought of a mandolin with a non-adjustable bridge and truss rod was really starting to appeal to me, so I gave Mike Dulak a call. We talked for a good long time and I ended up ordering a mandolin, a wide neck walnut model. After I got it I switched back and forth between the 505 and new Big Muddy. The Big Muddy sounded and played sooo much better than the 505 that I sold the Kentucky.

    About a year later The Loar came out with the new LM400 and I was drawn back to the dark side. I HATED it and passed it on...

    I was a couple of bucks ahead so I ordered a M-0 (standard neck) from Mike and made arrangements to pick it up in person in St. Louis. We were passing through and had the opportunity to have dinner with Mike and his wife. Great time, great mandolin...

    A couple of months later I spotted a Weber Hyalite at a great price on the local Craig's List, so I got it and sold my wide neck Big Muddy. The Weber sounded pretty good, but it didn't play as easy or sound as good (to me) as my Big Muddy, so I passed it on...

    I recently got a hold of an Eastman 605D (2-point). A very elegant mandolin. I got it at a good enough price to have it fitted with a Cumberland Accoustic bridge and get the nut and frets worked on. It doesn't hold a candle to my Big Muddy, I can't wait to pass it on...

    All of the mandolins that I've had have been touted as sounding as good as mandolins costing thousands more. Glad I didn't have to spend thousands to find out. I'll stick with my Big Muddy and as soon as I move this latest "Asian Beauty" I'll be ordering another Big Muddy (M-3).

    Dave
  2. Japhy
    Japhy
    Dave I hear ya buddy. I am loving my M11W! Sitting in my lap as I type here. Last couple of days I've noticed a slight intonation problem. So I adjusted it and worked it out. I notice though that my bridge must sit quite crooked for good intonation. Is this normal? I've thought about maybe getting another bridge for it. How crooked is your bridge? Thanks.
  3. Dave Weiss
    Dave Weiss
    I can't imagine a new bridge will change anything. I've had that happen, but figured out that I'd mis-calculated and after readjusting got the bridge back to a "normal" position. I check intonation with a tuner. I loosen the A and D strings and then tune the E and G open and fretted at the twelfth fret. I usually tap the bridge one way or the other for final adjustment, bring it all back to tune and play the snot out of it.
  4. Japhy
    Japhy
    Yea that's the way I did it too. Maybe I'm just going to have to move that bridge around until it's straight and intoned. That could be tricky.
  5. Dave Weiss
    Dave Weiss
    Make sure you check the tuning on the open strings after each adjustment...
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