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Below is a pic of the only interesting case candy I've ever come across. As you may have guessed, it was in a banjo case. Four different capos, pitch pipes, a bunch of old National fingerpicks,...

I do what Dale Ludewig suggests. I nearly had a heart attack the first time someone did it to my mandolin, but after trying it a time or two myself, it become no big deal.

Bridges will start to...

Dude, you're not following directions. Just put it in your cart and don't ask questions. You won't be told again.

Ivan, I have a feeling Dave Harvey could easily continue building mandolins under any name he chooses if Gibson were to fold up. He could even start his own mandolin line, just like Bruce Weber did...

I too use clothespins on my fiddles, which slightly reduces volume. Anything that adds mass to a fiddle bridge will help, because they are so lightweight and transmit a lot of vibration. Damping...

For folks who are considering using rainwater, it's a good alternative to distilled water but only if it's properly filtered. I've had rainwater collection systems for over 10 years now, at two...

OK, well, there's a difference between original replacements and aftermarket replacements. Since mandolins don't have matching serial numbers to their parts like guns or other collectibles, there's...

Even if we don't plan to sell them, we should also at least offer a passing thought to whoever will inherit our instruments when we die. We see it all the time here on the Cafe, where someone...

I use the same method Ray(T) and John Kelly describe. Just hook the string on the tailpiece, pull it up into the bridge and nut slots, give it a couple wraps around the tuner post, pinch the winds...

I wouldn't dare put all mandolin owners in the same box, which is to say there isn't one single answer for this. Vintage Gibson mandolins are still common enough that originality/collectibility...

I heard that toast ain't no part of muffin.

Have you experimented with Get Up John tuning? F#A-DD-AA-AD

Great looking dogs, Steve! Beautiful markings. That Manny seems to have a bookmatched back.

I love colored tuner buttons. I've seen mandolins with black and ebony, and they can really make a statement on the right mandolin. Can't say I've ever seen tortoise ones. They might just look...

We all go through phases, in a manner of speaking, through the years. I started playing mandolin many years ago, then quit entirely for a few years (family matters took priority). When I came back...

Purely aesthetics. It makes absolutely no difference in the sound or anything else.

I'm just catching up on this thread, but yeah, when I watched the video it reminded me of Thile's duos with Edgar Meyer. He's been doing this sort of free improv stuff for a while. While I admit...

Hey, no need to apologize to me! I knew your intent was just good old fashioned discussion. Despite my choice of wording and my bulldog's grumpy face in my avatar, I wasn't upset. :)

But the...

I sincerely hope that Mr. Gilchrist doesn't think that way. I would hope that he builds his instruments to be enjoyed by anyone who has the money to buy one, and that he's never "disappointed" at...

I play an Ellis F5. I have no idea what skill level is recommended for a mandolin of that caliber, and I wouldn't care if I did know. I play it because I enjoy it, and I know I can never blame the...

I think there's a quote that is relevant here:

"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull****." - W.C. Fields

I've done some busking at the local antique mall, playing with my wife. We used it as a platform for her to get used to playing in front of others without the stress of having a focused audience. ...

I dislike the use of terms like "beginner", "student", etc. There's no reason a beginner has to start on a low-end mandolin, just as there's no reason a good player can't play a low-end mandolin. ...

Absolutely!

But who can afford 4 years of that, at $41,000 per year? Unless you're wealthy already, that education needs to pay for itself.

Studying music at the university level has always been a valid choice for higher education. But it was traditionally based on the idea that fine music like classical deserved a very deep period of...