My great grandmother was a Coulter, looks like I have a new goal for my collection.
My great grandmother was a Coulter, looks like I have a new goal for my collection.
I think the Gold Tone would get the job done fine in that setting. I still have a Hora bouzouki, I tune it in the Greek manner though. I use it as an interesting alternative to the typical lead...
Looks like the Seagull mandolin is still listed, so maybe that's enough of the mandolin market for Godin. Every company is scaling back to focus on core models it seems.
I had to have a cortisone injection in my thumb for tendonitis in September 2020. I had the cortisone flare side effect but once that cleared up my thumb was much better. Unfortunately after about...
Not much in the way of mandolin-centric options, the assorted Guitar Centers here sometimes have interesting used things show up, and the other guitar stores like Memorial Music, Rockin Robin,...
Here is my most recent recording with the bisernica as well as a kantele I built from a kit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7AvHq3BgzM
I finished reading El Norte by the way, a good read all in all. No mention of mandolins in it though sadly.
I think it is a tamburitza inspired mandolin, and mandolins themselves are found in Balkan music. Here is my bisernica tamburitza with the similar soundhole style:178085
Gibson owns Kramer and Kramer makes Stratocaster copies under the Kramer Focus model (except for slightly different headstock). They're guilty of the same thing they're accusing other companies of.
What is the scale length and tuning? Very cool indeed!
The Floyd Country Store has a jam: https://www.floydcountrystore.com/music/sunday-music-jam
A mando-themed interview would be an interesting read for sure.
Are you tuning it in the Greek style of CFAD or in Irish bouzouki GDAD tuning? CFAD tuning is the same as the four highest pitched strings on a guitar except a whole step down, so you might rather...
Hmm interesting, I'll have to add it to my reading list. I'll tinker around with the tuning and see if EADF#BE or similar works.
I think octave mandolin is well suited for playing solo. I tend to play slower pieces as well on it, that seems to be where it especially shines. Faster pieces sound fine though as well. In some ways...
I have a factory blem Gold Tone octave mandolin as well (probably a sibling to yours), it should definitely be able to serve as an Irish bouzouki no problem. If that's what you want to play, I say go...
I think the conceptual understanding of how fretted stringed instruments work will help, as will the dexterity gained from doing finger gymnastics while playing guitar/uke that a nonplayer wouldn't...
Cafe user Tavy made a how-to video for this that I found helpful when I was starting on bowlback:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlnUGKXjWJE&
Do you know where the owner of the Loar got it from? If it was never set up, that would add some extra cost to getting to the same playability level as the Alvarez. Did Alvarez owner gig/jam with it...
You're asking the wrong crowd here. It's always nice to have two instruments anyway, one as a backup for when the other is in the shop for a setup or you break a string mid-performance and so forth....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ0bt9nTXjg
If you want to branch out into tamburitza instruments to further explore Balkan music, they can be had fairly cheaply as well. My bisernica was about $200 and is a nice luthier-made instrument.
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One thing it is good for is any time you wish a 12 string guitar was easier to play melodically. Greek bouzouki is also good for that though.
The GC down the road from me has the mandolins on the highest row on the wall far out of reach without a ladder, so I've never even touched them. All my mandolins have come from various online...
It looks like a mandriola, four courses of three strings and tuned GDAE. He could string it with just 8 strings like an ordinary mandolin though just fine if the 12 is too much.