I can not warm up to the A style. It will not "stay put" when playing seated for me. Feels like a football! I find no difference between the two when standing and playing.
I can not warm up to the A style. It will not "stay put" when playing seated for me. Feels like a football! I find no difference between the two when standing and playing.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a vet.
I have both an A-style and an F-style. Before I got the F-style, I thought I would like the way it hangs on a strap better, because of the scroll. With my A-style (Weber Bitteroot), I tie a leather strip around the base of the neck, under the extension, and attach my strap to the leather strip. It actually hangs very nicely, and feels balanced. My F-style (Summit) actually feels less balanced, and seems more "neck heavy". I don't like the headstock diving when I let go of the neck, which only happens on the F-style. I think it has more to do with the headstock mass than anything else. The typical F-style headstock must weigh significantly more that a typical "snake-head" type headstock. So, I actually feel more comfortable playing my A-style, which I would not have predicted. But in the end, I play my F-style more often. The look just fits the bluegrass music. That said, I'm not getting rid of my A-style anytime soon.
I can think of a number of different instruments that don't have nearly the heterogeneity of styles that mandolin-family instruments offer. Lucky for us that we have all this to choose from.
There really are no right or wrong answers here. The choices are all good, depending on the indivuals' preference, and perhaps genre of music. The world of mandolins sure has a lot to offer and we are each lucky to have found these instruments. I count myself lucky, that's for sure.
These choices also give us a lot to debate here on the Cafe. Again, lucky us.
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
whew, I bet you don't hear "heterogeniety" over on the banjo forums! (g)Originally Posted by Bob Clark
Russ Jordan
"Those who know don't have the words to tell, and the ones with the words don't know so well." - Bruce Cockburn
Yes, I often find F styles uncomfortable . . . especially under my left butt cheek where my wallet sits . . . ouch!
As long as I get to play, I don’t much care. The talking about it takes more effort that playing.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
I have both A & F body style Mandolins. Love them both. I played for many years before I warmed up the the F style.
I have played both seated & standing. I don't find either body style "Uncomfortable". Now, I tend to keep straps on even when seated. It just evolved over time. With the F style sitting, I like the lower body point as a leg rest.
My aesthetic observation is, I think A's "look" better played while seated & F's "look" better played while standing.
Joe B
Has anyone? I was gifted a beautiful hand-tooled leather strap to go on my F5, and I find myself wrestling with it a lot more than the Long Hollow Softies I use on my A-styles. Similarly, I struggled with braided straps in the past. I'd be curious if anyone has found a better solution.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
You realize that you do have other options . . .
Steve
I have only owned A5s. I like them plenty but only prefer them for the price.
IMO, if F-style mandolins were half the price of comparable A styles there would be no viable market for A style mandolins.
I must admit that if I had no sight, I'd never buy an F style. But.... I LOVE the beautiful curves of the F style.
I agree with Steve; a nicely designed 2-point is also a thing of beauty!!!!
Phil
“Sharps/Flats” ≠ “Accidentals”
No F/A content.
As a few others have said, but here it is again. If you stand at all, wearing a strap while seated means keeping your instrument in the same playing position for either. I always use a strap while standing or sitting.
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!
My favorite, though, is the two pointer. Especially an asymmetrical two pointer.
One issue seems missing from this discussion. F hole mandolins focus sound 4-6 feet in front of the instrument. My own F hole mandolin is strapped on to me at about waist high because that's most comfortable. But when I perform in a string band quartet, I often bring the instrument up to chest high, just to hear my own playing better. It seems to be a rather common phenomenon among mandolin performers.
Explore some of my published music here.
—Jim
Sierra F5 #30 (2005)
Altman 2-point (2007)
Portuguese fado cittern (1965)
I forget who it was that helped me at the mandolin store , Brian?, anyway I bought a nice strap from him when I bought my MTO. He strung the neck end in between the top two and bottom two pegs on the head. It made it sometimes awkward to tune but it was very well balanced. When I get my f style soon, I’m going to strap it the same way and to heck with what everyone else thinks.
Peter Kaufman violin
Old Wave two point
I had two F styles, both cheap instruments (pressed top Ibanez, and Eastman 315), and when I first started, it was important to me for some reason to have the look of an F style. Now, I only have a couple A styles, a Washburn and a Collings, and I like them way better than either of the F's I had.
+1 for using a strap both sitting and standing.
I run the straps under the fingerboard extension and around the heel. On the F's I used the traditional "strap hanger" approach. Was happy with all of that, and I don't think I'd be happy tying a strap anywhere near the headstock. Used to do that on guitars, don't like it. I'll put a button in a heel before I do that.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
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HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
Are you still on the subject of sitting, or was it not comfortable either way, sitting or standing?
I'm just curious if it was sitting, do you rest the waist of a guitar on your right leg? I used to do that, and I know very well that most folk musicians do that (folk used widely here, basically non-classical), but a few years back I began resting the waist of a guitar on my right leg, in the classical position, and find it way more comfortable for different body styles. Took a while to get used to it, but IMO well worth it. I can't play a guitar on my right leg anymore, puts my body in a weird position.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
I've tried out a variety of F styles just to hear them and I've only found one (a 1913 Gibson F oval hole) that didn't immediately feel like it was going to take a header off my left hand onto the floor. I'm probably just unlucky, but I find the Fs awkward and badly balanced on my lap -- I play seated 99 percent of the time. I think they're lovely looking instruments, but they've just never been comfortable to me.
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1920 Lyon & Healy bowlback
1923 Gibson A-1 snakehead
1952 Strad-o-lin
1983 Giannini ABSM1 bandolim
2009 Giannini GBSM3 bandolim
2011 Eastman MD305
I think he meant he went from right leg to left leg which is the classical guitar approach
2012 Weber Bitterroot F5.
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