I bought a mandolin a few years ago but have only just started to focus on it. It's an Eastman MD504 (A-style with oval hole). It wasn't my original intention, but I'd now like to use it for Old Time song accompaniment. When I mention this to people they usually raise their eyebrows and tell me to get a guitar. Using open chords, however, this model has quite a ring and a lot of sustain and I think it sounds good.
From what I've been told and from what I've seen on Youtube, however, I get the impression that singers using mandolin accompaniment tend to favour closed chords or dampen the strings to create a more rhythmic style of accompaniment.
So which way should I go?
Richard
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