View Profile: bratsche - Mandolin Cafe Forum

Yesterday, 6:12pm

JeffD replied to a thread Amateurish string change execution - can I keep, or is it ruined? in General Mandolin Discussions

If it holds, just play it. Nobody has ever, ever ever, come up to me at a jam or performance and commented on the neatness of my string turnings on...

12 replies | 529 view(s)

Yesterday, 6:09pm

JeffD replied to a thread Why are good mandolins more expensive than good guitars? in General Mandolin Discussions

I am going to have to respectfully disagree. I think the market for better or worse sets the price ranges at which the mandolin will sell, based on...

34 replies | 1838 view(s)

Yesterday, 6:00pm

JeffD replied to a thread The cafe....made my day! in General Mandolin Discussions

Long before the cafe I used to subscribe to the Mandolin World News. It was a little magazine printed on several 8.5 X 11 colored sheets stapled in...

15 replies | 610 view(s)

Yesterday, 12:11pm

JeffD replied to a thread Fret markers in Builders and Repair

Yes the fifth fret is the octave of the open string below, and the 10th fret is the octave of the fifth fret on the string below. 15th fret etc. Very...

17 replies | 1148 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 3:17pm

JeffD replied to a thread Fret markers in Builders and Repair

One sees the tenth fret marked on many (most?) tenor guitars.

17 replies | 1148 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 2:27pm

JeffD replied to a thread Wrote me a new song... so I added some mando! in Videos, Pictures & Sound Files

I really like the mandolinning. Good singing too. I am not a good judge of the lyrics. I believe if I heard them 100 times, i would really like them....

7 replies | 637 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 2:20pm

JeffD replied to a thread UPS rant in General Mandolin Discussions

I have had experience with all the different shippers, and very (very) rarely had a problem with any of them. As an aside 60 miles is not a crazy...

36 replies | 1767 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 2:12pm

JeffD replied to a thread Blue Sky Boys in Old-Time, Roots, Early Country, Cajun, Tex-Mex

I have the Blue Sky Boys box set. And for a while i had those CDs as my exclusive rotation, just on all the time. You get those harmonies and riffs...

4 replies | 759 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 2:05pm

JeffD replied to a thread Fret markers in Builders and Repair

I guess a lot of this is prejudiced on what you are used to and how you came about as a musician. That acknowledged, to me, the tenth fret marker...

17 replies | 1148 view(s)

Dec-10-2019, 1:58pm

JeffD replied to a thread Why are good mandolins more expensive than good guitars? in General Mandolin Discussions

The difference between mandolin prices and guitar prices, IMO, has little to do with comparisons of relative difficulty of manufacture. It is...

34 replies | 1838 view(s)

Dec-09-2019, 10:01pm

bratsche replied to a thread Classical nerd roll call: Lyon & Healy archtops in Classical, Italian, Medieval, Renaissance

I, too, lust in my heart for a Style A mandola, but practically speaking, cannot justify the expense. bratsche

12 replies | 540 view(s)

Dec-09-2019, 5:15pm

bratsche replied to a thread Thomastik-Infeld string weights in General Mandolin Discussions

I'm glad you got your answer. I have no experience with the 174s, other than to try them on mandolas, as I don't have an octave mandolin of any...

11 replies | 889 view(s)

Dec-09-2019, 4:55pm

pheffernan replied to a thread Beginner Celtic mandolin in Looking for Information About Mandolins

Seconded. My first thought was a used flattop from a small shop or independent builder, and a buddy of mine raved about a Newell he owned.

12 replies | 327 view(s)

Dec-09-2019, 6:17am

pheffernan replied to a thread First Time Cafe Seller - Returns Cost Allocation in General Mandolin Discussions

I typically have listed instruments for sale with the explicit condition that a buyer will pay for shipping both ways in the unlikely event of a...

10 replies | 759 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 9:48pm

John Bertotti replied to a thread 2019 Tune-A-Week Project in Videos, Pictures & Sound Files

That must have been one heck of a fall! Hope you get it sorted quickly! On a bright side you do get to move back home!

218 replies | 20653 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 8:52pm

JeffD replied to a thread upgrade thoughts in Looking for Information About Mandolins

I don't know where you are in NY (guessing by your name), NY has many good places to kick a few tires and then buy a mandolin. Many. Might be a fun...

17 replies | 1380 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 8:48pm

JeffD replied to a thread Just to put myself on notice for some accountability... in General Mandolin Discussions

Let me pile on. If you wait till you feel ready, it ain't never gonna happen. I guarantee that the first time you play at a jam or with others, it...

18 replies | 1271 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 4:58pm

pheffernan replied to a thread Thomastik-Infeld string weights in General Mandolin Discussions

How short? Would they accommodate a 21.5” scale (depending on tailpiece)?

11 replies | 889 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 4:50pm

pheffernan replied to a thread upgrade thoughts in Looking for Information About Mandolins

For sure. Buy a used A5 appropriately depreciated and enjoy the ride: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/147720#147720

17 replies | 1380 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 3:24pm

bratsche replied to a thread Thomastik-Infeld string weights in General Mandolin Discussions

They do make them for octave mandolin, only they're called the Mandola set (174). (For a mandola, you'd want the Alto Mandolin set - 164 -, but...

11 replies | 889 view(s)

Dec-08-2019, 2:18pm

mandolin tony replied to a thread Loar 520E, Kentucky 630, Loar 590E or Eastman 315 in Looking for Information About Mandolins

the Eastman 305 is a much better mandolin than the Loar 600, I have both. also Kentucky mandolins are very nice. have you talked to anyone from the...

10 replies | 799 view(s)

Dec-07-2019, 11:25am

pheffernan replied to a thread Octave mandolin by Thijs van der Harst in Videos, Pictures & Sound Files

Hey Bob, do you have any similar video showing off the Smart mandola listed in your signature?

7 replies | 435 view(s)

Dec-07-2019, 2:13am

Bertram Henze replied to a discussion The Dark Island in group The Song-A-Week Social Group

That's a much more free and innocent version, Christian, not hinting at any of the sinister background stories we unearthed nine years ago. And John,...

27 replies

Dec-07-2019, 2:01am

Bertram Henze replied to a discussion Forest Wedding in group The Song-A-Week Social Group

I agree with Simon regarding that Italian angle. The pictures are interesting, too - I'd think when sitting under trees the most important thing...

12 replies

Dec-07-2019, 1:52am

Bertram Henze replied to a discussion Joan’s Jig in group The Song-A-Week Social Group

Totally missed this, and that's a pity because it is exactly the kind of video I suggested on the Cafe years ago as "play your mandolin in dangerous...

16 replies

Dec-06-2019, 4:26pm

JeffD replied to a thread Kerman Mandolin status as of 2019 in General Mandolin Discussions

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

12 replies | 564 view(s)

Dec-06-2019, 9:39am

pheffernan replied to a thread ISO Recs for Bluegrass Mandolins in the $900-1.2K rang in General Mandolin Discussions

This one seems a great buy: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/147940#147940

19 replies | 1159 view(s)