Campfire travel Mandolin

[RHDean]

I'm confused, I see many a thread and new ones popping up daily inquiring about a good travel size Mandolin, for camping etc. The post usually end up talking about tonal qualities, all wood, $400 plus dollars, etc blah blah blah.
Now I can appreciate you may have been just playing that $10,000 Gibson the night before, but is it so hard to pick up a $50 no name beat to crap Mando for a campfire??
I thought that's what a campfire instrument was, just a beat up ole playable, in tune but functioning instrument that got new dings and dirt on it, spilled beer, heard all the campfire lies told in bedded in the instrument type of fun.
Do you wear a suit to the campfire, or flip flops and shorts with a Hawaiian shirt?
Can you drink Miller High Life, or does it have to be Champagne?

If it were me, I'd buy a no name Mando, scuff it up, carve a werewolf pentagram on the body, tell everybody I got it from a one eyed Gypsie Witch who cursed anyone who laughed at it, then we'd all bust out in laughter, pass it around even to those who can't play, have fun, worse that can happen is your out 50 bucks and buy a new one next trip.

My question is...what do you use your travel Mandolin for?

[Roger Moss]

I don't travel so I don't need one, but I agree with you. Especially in a camping situation, a $50 Rogue shoud be the correct choice unless a cheap instrument just ruffles your effete feathers more than you can bear. A Rouge, while less than desirable sonically, is a very hardy and durable mandolin, and well up to the task of withstanding the rigors of outdoor use. Some people, though, just can't bear not wielding the very best in every situation. Good for them. But there's nothing wrong with carrying along an instrument that can double as a canoe paddle or ward off ravening coyotes if needed. Especially since if you do have to sacrifice it, you really haven't lost much.

[Eric C.]

$400 is pretty cheap for a mandolin. Guess it boils down to what are doing/who you are sitting around a campfire with. All due respect, a $50 rogue won't quite cut through a couple of guitars and a banjo or two.

[RHDean]

If a $50 Mando can't be heard, how does a smaller bodied travel Mando project??
There's also the option of adding a pickup, and using a battery operated cheap or homemade amp.

[RHDean]

Are cheap Mandolins really that quiet they get drowned out by guitars, I know banjo's can be quite loud, but I must be getting into the wrong instrument if I can't be heard or enjoy playing with others without owning an expensive Mandolin, I doubt people take their $5000 Martin to campfires, not trying to be disrespectful to the Mandolin community, I'm new and trying to understand more about the Mandolin itself.
And yes, $400 can be expensive to those on a tight budget to justify that amount for a camping instrument.

[RHDean]

I don't travel so I don't need one, but I agree with you. Especially in a camping situation, a $50 Rogue shoud be the correct choice unless a cheap instrument just ruffles your effete feathers more than you can bear. A Rouge, while less than desirable sonically, is a very hardy and durable mandolin, and well up to the task of withstanding the rigors of outdoor use. Some people, though, just can't bear not wielding the very best in every situation. Good for them. But there's nothing wrong with carrying along an instrument that can double as a canoe paddle or ward off ravening coyotes if needed. Especially since if you do have to sacrifice it, you really haven't lost much.

hahaha, the answer I was hoping most would post, but hey, we're all different people right? A canoe paddle...I almost spit a mouth full of coffee at my computer monitor, thanks for the morning laugh!

[Roger Adams]

Personally, this "campfire" idea may be nothing more than just another excuse to buy another mando! For the last festival I attended, I convinced my self that I needed to leave my "good" banjo home in favor of a beater that I had hanging out in the closet. Boy, did I miss having my "good" banjo! To me, unless your camping is more along the lines of an expedition, or your mates are really rowdy, having a dedicated camping instrument seems a bit of a rationalization. I am careful with all instruments, regardless of value, and the adventures we have with instruments only adds to their value.

[Michael H Geimer]

Bought a used Mid-Mo/Big Muddy for < $300 for the very purpose of going to NC with friends. Couch surfing that trip meant I had budget for the instrument. Jammed at a whole hog Pig Pickin', jammed at LEAF, jammed at The Westville Pub. Solidly served its purpose on that trip.

After that, it was 'game on' for the little guy, and it has gone seemingly everywhere with me over the past 10-years. There's a pic somewhere here of it camping up over 14K' or out at the beach. Something to be said about having put every scratch on an instrument, because this one was pristine when it came to me. Ooops.

[Teak]

My question is...what do you use your travel Mandolin for?

I will use a travel mandolin for when I travel.

Not by car, where I have sufficient space, but by jet whereby the gate agents control what goes into the cabin. Lately airlines have been restricting the size of drag-on-boards (aka "carry ons") and I am afraid that one of my expensive mandolins would get bumped into stow away baggage. There have been many reports of late about airlines abusing stringed instruments and those include small ones like violins and violas. Here is one example:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/0...nstrument.html

If they are not willing to protect a very expensive instrument for a professional musician, what chance do I stand?

So, yeah, for my airline trips to visit the grandkids, I will gladly take along a $hundred mandolin that has the same neck size and shape as my expensive ones so that I can keep my fingers calloused up for when I get back home to play with my trio. I don't care so much about the volume of the travel mandolin; the wife wouldn't mind me playing softly anyway.

[RHDean]

Great stories, thanks for sharing

[bruce.b]

I like the looks of the new Montana Lutherie Ranger travel mandolin. I’m not planning on getting one, but I would choose that if I needed something for camping. Backpackers and bikepackers will sometimes cut the handle short on their toothbrushes, take a titanium spork, and debate whether to take an extra pair of socks. Obviously, for those types of campers, a mandolin that is even slightly smaller and lighter is a huge deal, perhaps the difference between taking a mandolin or not. It needs a well designed, minimalist gig bag too, which is where I expect this will come up short.

[RHDean]

Again, everyone has different needs, it looks like a nice instrument, my only gripe would be it's another $400 Mandolin

[Br1ck]

My advise to beginners is to buy a decent instrument like a KM 150, and keep it when you buy a Weber or Collings, etc. Then you will have a nice player for sketchy situations.

It is also a matter of what you can tolerate once you have gotten used to a decent tone. One man's beater is a Rogue, another's is an old Flatiron that has seen better days. But once you have done a face plant while camping with a mandolin in your hand, you appreciate the need. My Michael Kelly is plenty good for camping and around the backyard, but the tone is typically Pac Rim, but still better than the travel mandolin I played.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

A campfire travel mandolin isn't always for campfires. Sometimes for traveling around Europe by a combination of boat, plane, train and bus. When you are already carrying a suitcase, a small backpack, a man purse, and then you add on a mandolin, size becomes a critical consideration. And for weight the cliche, "take care of the grams and the ounces will take care of themselves", becomes meaningful.
Usually we travel by RV where I carry what I consider my two travel instruments, a mandolin and a dola. These also see duty at campfires, though I would not use them for canoe or overnight backpacking. I have owned both a Travelin and a BackPacker which both saw duty as a travel instrument in Europe and served their purpose well. So, yes a travel instrument fits a niche. You sacrifice tone and volume to have something to noodle on.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

A campfire travel mandolin isn't always for campfires. Sometimes for traveling around Europe by a combination of boat, plane, train and bus. When you are already carrying a suitcase, a small backpack, a man purse, and then you add on a mandolin, size becomes a critical consideration. And for weight the cliche, "take care of the grams and the ounces will take care of themselves", becomes meaningful.
Usually we travel on land and are in an RV where I carry what I consider my two travel instruments, a mandolin and a dola. These also see duty at campfires. I have owned both a Travelin and a BackPacker which both saw duty as a travel instrument in Europe. So, yes a travel instrument fits a niche. You sacrifice tone and volume to have something to noodle on.

[RHDean]

I agree, a campfire mandolin and a travel mandolin, can have two entirely different meanings and requirements.

[CES]

IMO, a beater and a "travel mandolin" serve different purposes. A beater is for your campfire/lake/camping/drunken jam type setting, where damage may occur. But, since it's happening to your beater, it's mojo, not the end of the world like it would be if it happened to your "baby." A travel mandolin needs to be proportioned minimally, and quiet is OK. It needs to easily fit in a backpack or carry on sized suitcase, and nice but quiet is perfect for hotel room (or bedroom next to your friends/family) picking late at night.

My beater currently is an Eastman 315 I picked up for a hair over $400 on clearance. Despite its adventures, which have been considerable, it still looks basically new. I would fly with it, but would keep it in a backpack in its cheap gig bag rather than in its usual Travelite case that might draw attendant attention. Not wanting to lose even the Eastman to customs or airline shenanigans, I bought a Kala Waterman soprano Uke last year to take on a trip to Europe, so I'd be able to keep my callouses in some kind of shape and be able to decompress after long days. It fits completely in my backpack and has only required explanation in the XRay machine once. I much prefer playing mando, and, heck, have to take a Uke chord chart with me when I do this, because I don't really ever play Uke otherwise. But, it serves its purpose very well. And, I played it in pouring the rain at Neuschwanstein, which was kind of fun.

As for guitars, I used to have an Applause that was my beater, but it eventually got to the point of needing a neck reset, so I recycled the back and used the rest for firewood. A Guild D40 Blem I got for about 500 bucks including the TKL case 15 years ago now serves that purpose. Its got some battle scars, but they all come with good stories, and I actually still play that guitar not infrequently in church as well, as it's an excellent sounding spruce/hog strummer.

If you need a true travel mandolin, you'll either need to modify a regular one, take your chances, or consider something like the Ranger or Martin Backpacker. I don't find the price on the Ranger off-putting given its build quality, but, if you do (and I can remember a day when I couldn't afford that, either), there are certainly cheaper options out there...just without the quality.

[Chuck Leyda]

My travel mandolin is my mandolin. Same with my guitar and octave. If I buy em, I play em anywhere. They look beat up after awhile but they still play well or maybe even improve.

[RHDean]

My travel mandolin is my mandolin. Same with my guitar and octave. If I buy em, I play em anywhere. They look beat up after awhile but they still play well or maybe even improve.

Funny how the last 20-30 yr generations have clung to "vintage" "classical" "collector" in dire hopes of owning and playing cautiously, but when these instruments came out, those musicians weren't looking for something that hadn't existed yet, they bought them to play!
I'm like that with my trucks, my dad will buy a new 60k GMC and drive it like a car, hauling items cautiously, I'll take a 10yr old super duty and give her almighty hell and make it work like a truck. I'm not saying you take something valuable and trash it, that's just idiocy, it just funny comparing history with today's views.

[MikeEdgerton]

I find it amusing when people paint with broad brush strokes.

[JonDoug]

No doubt, we all have our own situations and druthers. Unlike the OP, I don't play often with others with my travel mando--it's mainly for practice. But like the OP, I see the low monetary value of a "beater" as a tangible asset! I've "fearlessly" taken my "plywood" mando in a gig bag on planes, boats, and cars, and left it inside unguarded tents all day at campsites, knowing I had little at stake. Without it, I would lack a number of cool experiences, such as playing to the setting sun on Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park one fine summer evening.

[Roger Moss]

One man's beater is a Rogue, another's is an old Flatiron that has seen better days.

My highest aspiration is to one day be able to afford a beat - to - hell Flatiron. Probably forever out of my reach.

[Ranald]

I thought that's what a campfire instrument was, just a beat up ole playable, in tune but functioning instrument that got new dings and dirt on it, spilled beer, heard all the campfire lies told in bedded in the instrument type of fun.
Do you wear a suit to the campfire, or flip flops and shorts with a Hawaiian shirt?
Can you drink Miller High Life, or does it have to be Champagne?

I think I've camped next to you and your buddies, banging out 'Wagon Wheel" on $50 instruments at three in the morning. That's why I stopped going to the national and provincial parks on weekends, especially holiday weekends. Give me a site next to the guy who's not afraid that his drunken buddies will destroy his expensive mandolin (porcupines are another matter). I'll ignore the fact that he dresses in all the latest, trendy wear from the outdoor cooperative. We'll sip his champagne and toast the setting sun while listening to loons on the lake, then I'll invite him to my campfire and we can make music till a reasonable hour. After that, I'll crawl into the tent with my sweetie, and listen to the wolves hunting in the hills before we go to sleep. And we'll vacate our spot on Friday morning. There's camping and camping, I suppose. Each to his own.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I think I've camped next to you and your buddies, banging out 'Wagon Wheel" on $50 instruments at three in the morning. That's why I stopped going to the national and provincial parks on weekends, especially holiday weekends. Give me a site next to the guy who's not afraid that his drunken buddies will destroy his expensive mandolin (porcupines are another matter). I'll ignore the fact that he dresses in all the latest, trendy wear from the outdoor cooperative. We'll sip his champagne and toast the setting sun while listening to loons on the lake, then I'll invite him to my campfire and we can make music till a reasonable hour. After that, I'll crawl into the tent with my sweetie, and listen to the wolves hunting in the hills before we go to sleep. And we'll vacate our spot on Friday morning. There's camping and camping, I suppose. Each to his own.

Doesn't sound like all the great French Canadians I meet each winter at our resort campground in Florida. These people Party! And though they may be drinking wine or champagne in copious amounts rather than beer, I'm listening to them pick long after I have hit the bed with my sweetie. But, then again, we don't have wolves to listen to, so their pick-N suits me fine. Different strokes for different folks.

[mandroid]

My bike tour in Ireland/Scotland, I brought a Pocket mandolin, made long ago by a company in Denver 'Leo'...
13" scale, 20" overall . barely 6" wide.. flat top and back

Now I have a Carbon Fiber Mix A5, its great. no worries about wet weather camping..




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