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I play both. My mandola is an arch top F hole instrument, and has a beautiful "singing" voice, in the way that a mandolin does. I primarily use it in an acoustic duo with guitar, playing...

Agreed, those caught my attention as well.

Enjoy! I have one, and it's a great little instrument. I think I prefer it in CGDA rather than GDAE. Tenor tuning seems to bring out something special, where in octave tuning it sounds more like a...

your link has an F in it.

Yeah I guess it is about time! Go to: chipbooth.com and check out the song Sugar Mountain in the music player.

This song was recorded a year or so ago with this mandola and one of Lawrence's...

I play both, and if I had to only have one I would choose the mandola. It is the perfect instrument to accompany a guitar, and melody playing is so rich and sonorous. Don't get me wrong, the OM is...

That I own: '06 Gilchrist M3
That I have played: John Reischman's Loar

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(I've really got to take some better pictures someday...)

Very nice! Eli plays a Brock OM and custom oversized J45-ish style guitar, his bandmate Cahalen plays a Brock mandolin, and Eli just took delivery a couple of months ago of a Smart A style mandolin...

This sounds to me like you may not have played a good mandola. Much of my mandola experience is with Lawrence Smart's instruments, and you could not possibly describe them in this way. A good...

It sounds to me like you are trying to learn songs you have in memory but you may not be referencing recordings of them. What I suggest is find a recording and listen to the melody vs the...

Check out my article: Strategies For Improvising Part I "The Right Note at the Right Time". Arpeggios can be used as references for chords tones, and as such are an invaluable tool. Obviously you...

I attach mine to a James tailpiece. I open the hinged top of the tailpiece as though you were going to change strings, clip the mic to it, which is very secure and allows for correct placement, and...

Invaluable.

Appreciating acoustic tone has a learning curve. A person needs time and experience with a lot of instruments. I had owned or played dozens of nice instruments such as Gibson, Weber, Breedlove,...

I agree also, but tone is personal. The OP will just have to find out what works best for them. There is likely to be some trial and error, as we all know!

That, and I will add if the student is good. It's the student's job to apply what he is learning, keep up with lessons, and not assume that just showing up makes one a great player.

Battle of Evermore

Next, an octave mandolin that is Lawrence's first version of a "junior" style instrument. It has a simple sunburst, single ply binding, minimal inlay and modest, yet still attractive woods. It is...

Lawrence recently completed several new instruments. First up, an F style mandola custom ordered by a Cafe member with Fern inlay and block abalone fret markers. Lawrence has recently made a change...

Welcome aboard, beautiful work!

Look close, it's actually a 6 string, essentially a 5 string with an extra lower string. It still has the reentrant "5th string". It's not what you normally think of as a 6 string guitar banjo thing.

I want to work in that office.

I don't think the capo police are in force when discussing larger mandolin family instruments. Most folks just seem to be suggesting (correctly, IMO) that a mandola isn't well suited to play capo-ed...

I would go for the 22" for myself. I have played one 20" Weber and it was quite underwhelming. The instrument was very comfortable to play but didn't have much going on, and I feel like at least...

Sell them both and buy something nicer?