Question for mando junkies

[Br1ck]

My MAS has taken the direction of looking to acquire a variety of tones as I look to buy more mandolins. I now have a nice woody and resonant A style and a surprisingly decent F. I'm eyeing either a better F style or a vintage oval hole as my next possible purchase

Now I know with guitar junkies, there are some that collect nothing but D 28s, and some
(Like me) that like a variety. But with guitars, after getting to six or seven, I've plugged most holes and would have a hard time justifying buying an 0 size when I have a 00 already. Crap, already done that, well you get the jist.

What direction do you go? Buy yet another bluegrass machine because that is what you like, or seek a wide variety of flavors? What is your delusional reasoning why you want another.

How many house remodels have been bartered in a quid pro quo with he other half?

[Roger Moss]

Mandolins are far out and that's a fact but you can always branch out into different instruments. I moved into dulcimers and settled into merlins. I then tried out cigar box guitars. If you think there is a lot of variety in mandolins try out cbgs. They are as varied as snowflakes. No two are exactly alike.

[Tobin]

I'm eyeing either a better F style or a vintage oval hole as my next possible purchase

Just my personal opinion, but I think MAS is best treated by upgrading to a killer mandolin first, then branching out for variety. Some people like to have lots of mandolins in the low- to medium-quality range, and while it may satisfy a desire for variety, it doesn't satisfy the desire for quality. That's the direction I went, anyway. I upgraded to my Ellis F5, then branched sideways to a Pava A-style, then a vintage Gibson F4. From there I went off the rails to different instruments (vintage Gibson H4 mandola, Weber Bitterroot mandola, then on to banjos and fiddles).

There are many forks in this road we call MAS. The good news is that choosing one fork in the road isn't a permanent decision.

[Mandobart]

I only have 4 mandolins. One is my beginner Ibanez which I will move along soon (so it doesn't really count). One is my only solid body electric, a Mandobird VIII. Another is my Morris hybrid F4 which I dearly love and won't part with. The other is an F5 by Tom Jessen which I recently bought and can't see parting with either. I play other mandolins occasionally but honestly am not tempted to add another.

I have one great 10-string mandola which I love to play. I don't want for another.

For octaves, I have my starter Michael Kelly octave plus which I upgraded the saddle on so now it plays and intonates correctly. I want to move this along as I never really play it thanks to another custom Tom Jessen OM.

On mandocello, I originally bought an Eastman guitar bodied MDC-805 which I really enjoy, however, I got a custom 10 string F4 'cello (again from Tom Jessen) a few years back which is my favorite instrument all around to play. Wasn't sure what to do with the Eastman, so I converted it to a 6-string jazz box complete with magnetic neck pickup.

For me I want to have a nice jazz/classical mando, a bluegrass mando, a loud rocker/twangin' mando, a 'dola, OM and mandocello. I don't feel the need or desire to have more than one of each. I really don't get the guitar pickers with 5 flattop dreads or my fellow mando players with multiple F5's. But its not hurting me any - buy what you want!

[Denny Gies]

Call Randy Wood and get him to make you an F 5. You won't be disappointed.

[billkilpatrick]

Over the years, I've bought far too many weird and wonderful instruments and if I were given the chance to do it all over again, I'd keep the fiddle and leave the rest of them right where they were on ebay or wherever and buy a really nice, "killer-diller," big-bucks mandolin.

[catmandu2]

What direction do you go? Buy yet another bluegrass machine because that is what you like, or seek a wide variety of flavors?

If BG is the thing, then I'd think BG machines would be the way to go. Personally I go in varied musical directions - all kinds of things happen to impel me in those directions. Perhaps, acquiring a (different) instrument will compel you into new forms/idioms (if that's of any interest). I've gotten into all sorts of things this way - French folk, bal musette, gypsy, cajun, cumbia and Latin forms, ISTM, early gaelic, European and Asian forms, not to mention the more conventional (US) forms classical, jazz, banjos, fiddles..

Sometimes, a new instrument will help you 're-imagine' that (repertoire) which you already play - I wound up playing much of the same repertoire on several different instruments, etc.

[pheffernan]

What direction do you go? Buy yet another bluegrass machine because that is what you like, or seek a wide variety of flavors? What is your delusional reasoning why you want another.

My delusional reasoning is that new instruments keep me inspired to play music, which is important to me. I also persuade myself that a used instrument appropriately depreciated is a safe purchase from which I should be able to recover my initial investment in the event that I decide to do so. As for direction, I tend to develop an interest in a type of instrument and, over time, buy multiple iterations of that type before identifying the keepers and consolidating. I started on a flattop, liked it so much that I quickly owned four, and through them I learned of my preference for a pancake which informed my decision to order a Poe Scout. The original four are all gone, and the last two of them were sold directly to fund that purchase. Similarly, I once owned as many as six A5's -- including a Silverangel like you, a Collings MT, a Pava, and a Stanley -- before settling on the Hester and Passernig as the best combination of tone, playability and aesthetics while moving the others. There are some types, like carved ovals, where I could do a little more experimenting (I'm looking at you, Bill Bussmann). And fortunately there are others, such as resonator and octave, where I feel little such urge. Last, there remain some types that I have not yet explored, such as F5's and mandolas. Those can hopefully be sources of inspiration for a future day.

[William Smith]

Call Randy Wood and get him to make you an F 5. You won't be disappointed.

I second that, Randy is the MAN! I have him re-working my 1934 Gibson F-7, He is putting on a new F-5 scale replica maple neck with matching F-7 pearl inlays in radiused ebony board and head and he has my 1958 Gibson F-5, He is doing a re-graduation and making a new replica neck with all the same inlays that were originally on it, blocks and flowerpot.
I'm a fan of the old Mutts.

[mandroid]

No Blue grass gig openings & festivals are too far away . So Cost Prohibitive..

so I play with a few friends.. old folks playing old folk music.

My motto , 'Nobody will Loan me theirs to find out what they're like so I have to buy it myself.'.


Like My D'jangolin . its not a BG Look but it is loud & bright.. & my 1922 A4

Theres a few electrics in the closet .. too.

[allenhopkins]

...seek a wide variety of flavors?

That.

What is your delusional reasoning why you want another?

Nothing "delusional" about it. I didn't have a National steel-bodied Triolian mandolin, so when I found one at a dealer, I bought it. I was looking for a bowl-back mandocello, so when someone who saw my post on the Cafe contacted me about a Waldo, I added it to the two other mandocelli I already owned. I don't own two instruments of the same make and model; don't see the need for that.

How many house remodels have been bartered in a quid pro quo with he other half?

Doesn't happen. I do a couple hundred small-potatoes music gigs annually; the money I make I feel free to spend on music-related things. Household expenses come out of another pot. I kicked in some "music money" on the last car we purchased, since it's used to get me to gigs, and also use these funds for my computer, since I keep music records on it (and post on the Cafe, etc., etc.).

No negotiation needed -- my music more than pays for itself, even if I decided I really wanted that Weber Gallatin "sopranolin."

[Roger Moss]

Got one of these?

https://youtu.be/V7KtgjbxeMs

[Paul Busman]

Over the years, I've bought far too many weird and wonderful instruments and if I were given the chance to do it all over again, I'd keep the fiddle and leave the rest of them right where they were on ebay or wherever and buy a really nice, "killer-diller," big-bucks mandolin.

I'm with you, sort of. I've also bought tons of instruments that I simply had to have over the years, only to have them sit around gathering dust after an initial fever of playing. As far as mandolins go, I have 3 modest instruments: an F, an A and an electric. I play them all, and for me they're good enough. I'd enjoy a high end instrument but there are too many other areas in my current life vying for the dollars. BTW-- I have a very modest Irish Tenor banjo and feel likewise about it.

[Randi Gormley]

I normally don't consider myself a mando junkie -- then I realize I own six mandolins (not counting the rogue), plus 2 flutes (one of which needs work), half a dozen recorders, a balalaika and various and sundry drumming instruments -- and that also doesn't count the piano, my husband's guitars, uke and banjo, the two fiddles, my daughter's drum and bell kit ... harmonicas, jaw harps, a borrowed bodhran ... Oddly enough, I don't intentionally set out to buy anything unless it's a gift (like the dulcimer I gave my oldest, two of the guitars, the banjo and the uke for my husband). I just kind of acquire instruments, like I acquire old books. But for what it's worth, I guess I go for variety. None of my instruments is exactly like the other, either in voice or look.

[JeffD]

My MAS has taken the direction of looking to acquire a variety of tones as I look to buy more mandolins. I now have a nice woody and resonant A style and a surprisingly decent F. I'm eyeing either a better F style or a vintage oval hole as my next possible purchase

Get a nice flat top.

[MontanaMatt]

Before I discovered the mandolin I had a bad case of fiddle acquisition syndrome, having nine nice ones at one point. They all had their own voices. I unloaded five to buy my Weber and haven't looked back. I am now developing MAS! I recommend making money as a professional musician so you can "justify (rationalize) [deduct]" your journey. I am inspired by the members that have had lots of mandolins. I'm on my third so far.

[Jill McAuley]

At one point I had multiple mandolins, always justifying it by the fact that I needed a back up instrument in the event my main one was in the shop. Alas finances didn't allow me to maintain that situation so I'm a one mandolin household now, and justify that by the fact that I have an awesome tenor banjo to play when my mandolin is in the shop (such as now - it's at the luthier's as we speak). I reckon I'm fine with the status of "only one mandolin in the house". Famous last words.

[Mark Gunter]

We're most of us in about the same boat, except for specific style instruments and quality axes owned, many of us want more ... for me right now it's a sweet little oval-hole mandolin. Eventually I'll find her.

In the guitar realm, I have all that I want and unless I just happen to come across something I can't refuse, I'm pretty much done there.

Other than mandolin, it has to be a mandola or OM soon in my future, and I may take the time to build my own mandola or finish the parlor-guitar-to-resonator-OM I started. I think about both those ideas a lot.

[catmandu2]

RE Jill - I long ago read an interview with Laurindo Almeida who said he had rooms full of guitars, and shed them all for a Takemine E-90 - I suppose he went for performance function over else at that point. This inspired me, for I had roomsfull myself... (I've succeeded in dispersing at least one of those rooms since, and have only 2 mandolins myself).

... I am inspired by the members that have had lots of mandolins.

I'm inspired by those who have but one!

[darrylicshon]

I love variety, I have F holes oval holes , resonator, banjo mandolins, and electrics , all sound different. None cost alot my J Bovier cost the most , I have been saving for a better one , but I'm probably getting the Eastman octave next , and start saving again

[Mark Wilson]

Just my personal opinion, but I think MAS is best treated by upgrading to a killer mandolin first, then branching out for variety.

[fatt-dad]

Buy a paddlehead and a pancake.

f-d

[Roger Moss]

Occasionally I find myself crawling through the same ruts ad nauseam. When I do I try to shake things up. That's when I blunder across something new. That's how I found mandolin in the first place.

[Charlie Bernstein]

I have two mandos. I'm about ready to sell one.

I have two folk guitars and want to sell one, but my wife is against it.

[Mandoplumb]

I normally don't consider myself a mando junkie -- then I realize I own six mandolins (not counting the rogue), plus 2 flutes (one of which needs work), half a dozen recorders, a balalaika and various and sundry drumming instruments -- and that also doesn't count the piano, my husband's guitars, uke and banjo, the two fiddles, my daughter's drum and bell kit ... harmonicas, jaw harps, a borrowed bodhran ... Oddly enough, I don't intentionally set out to buy anything unless it's a gift (like the dulcimer I gave my oldest, two of the guitars, the banjo and the uke for my husband). I just kind of acquire instruments, like I acquire old books. But for what it's worth, I guess I go for variety. None of my instruments is exactly like the
other, either in voice or look.

That's my problem, I just acquire them, I'm in a music store for some innocent reason, need picks or strings, and a mandolin on the wall starts talking to be, and the next thing I know I'm pulling out my credit card. The thing is once bought the d##n things won't leave and my house is getting full.