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There's a popular old false statement - "practice makes perfect." It is incomplete and has led many astray. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

So if you practice...

Every time I pick it up.

I saw the Punch Brothers live in Paducah, and they tuned for EVERY SONG.

I've had two mandolin necks trimmed/reshaped. Both had quite a bit of wood removed. I had other work done at the same time, so it would be tough to attribute any tonal change to the neck work.
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I have a friend who has an older Collings. He has small hands and the V hurt his fretting hand. He had a luthier round the V to a softer V and had it speed necked at the same time. No change in tone.

I’d want to know exactly how deep the truss rod is before I removed any wood from the bottom of the neck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH6mAaQqPI4

I've been enjoying playing selections from the French Baroque Mandolin Suite by Marin Marais, arranged by Robert Bancalari. They are enjoyable to play, and as someone who really loves 17th and 18th...

The “restoration” tuners are fine. I bought the relic ones but it’s entirely a matter of personal preference. Just don’t confuse them with the ordinary Golden Age tuners. The originals on my ‘14 A...

I put a set on a 1918 Gibson A that I used to own and they were fine. I recently cleaned and lubricated the original tuners on my 1919 A2 following these...

Not sure who bought it (or indeed whether it did sell), but here is the discussion on the Cafe when his A-jr came up for sale in 2006, for an asking price of $6,900 -- rather ambitious, even if it...

George Youngblood, in Guilford. His waiting list was nearly a year long when I was up there last June. Circumstances being what they've been, he might have got caught up some. Hopefully he'll have...

I couldn't resist posting this. I enjoyed the playing, and they all seem to be having such a good time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuW7sNyz-hU&ab_channel=HarborHobo

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I was doing some research and fact checking on Francis O'Neill for this month's tune of the month over in the Newbies group and I came across a 30 minute documentary produced by the Chicago PBS...

And, that is a LaPlant, not an Ellis.

That sure looks like a great deal to me, a few years ago I looked into them and they were over 200 bucks, might have a multi channel system though....Most I have seen are only one mic systems...I`ll...

I made a bone top on a new saddle for my '22 A2 ten or fifteen years ago and it made a wonderful difference in the sound. Very clean with no tubbiness in the bass, but solid nice bass. I did have to...

I had a fossilized ivory saddle made years ago for a Ratliff F5 I had and didn't like the results. Made it harder sounding, less woody. At least to my ears anyway.

I asked John Monteleone to make me a second saddle for my Grand Artist using bone inserts under the A & E.

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I thought it gave the treble end a bit more body.

I had the same thing done...

A fair question and one I might have asked in the past. As with any variety of materials you can certainly expect a different tone than ebony. I have tried a fossilized bone cap on two of my...

Our version from 10 years ago:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYyU-XnfYn0

Just a little bit of friendly (if not helpful?) advice. Threads like these about hangers and/or stands typically also contain a warning to watch out for materials that could damage a nitrocellulose...

We have 'String Swings' as well for hanging on our wall. I took my profile picture, just for fun, right after we mounted the hangers. We tend to rotate what instruments are hung up since we only...

I keep all my currently played instruments on stands or wall hangers, in rooms with humidifiers running during the winter. I think all the hangers are String Swings, which are secure enough short of...

Yes, keep your mandolins in their cases and ask your bank to look after the cases but first make sure that they can look after them in a properly humidified and secure strongroom. That way, they will...

Opinions are all over the place on this.

Everyone acknowledges that instruments are safer in their cases. The difference in opinion surrounds the issue of the acceptability of the risk, chances of...