A year or so after receiving my Bales 4-string mandolin I've finally started using it onstage. #Apparently Bales is out of business. #Too bad. #It's excellent, a flawless instrument. #Bookmatched flame maple top, flame maple neck, beautiful rosewood fingerboard, great attention to detail. I wasn't sure how I would like the four, versus eight string setup, but it's good. #So far I'm using it less like a tiny screaming guitar, and more like a mandolin. #For 850 bucks, this instrument seems like a bargain. #Anybody else own one of these?
______________________________ Your problem is, you think you have enough time.
Those fretboard dots look a little large, but I really, really like the body design. Something about the proportion of the lower bout to the shoulders is very appealing to me. Fully hollow? It'd be real fun to wrestle with OD and feedback with something like that. Have you tried dropping it to mandola tuning on a lark? That can be a lot of fun, I keep my four string Ryder in CGDA now, so my five string is the only electric I have with an E on it.
The dots (MOP, I think) are smaller than the distance between the strings. #They are in proportion to the neck, at least to me. #I have seen Gibsons with oversized dots, and I don't like the look. #It's a semi-hollow body--I kinda like that it is influenced by other designs but is not an exact replica. #The amber top is inspired by 20-year-old ads for PRS guitars. #Haven't tried mandola tuning yet, but in the future, who knows?
______________________________ Your problem is, you think you have enough time.
Of course, after reading Taboot's post, I measured the dots. #They're about 1/4", same as a Tele. #So, yeah, you could definitely make a case for smaller dots. #Yeesh--I can't believe that I'm thinking about this now. #Must refocus.
______________________________ Your problem is, you think you have enough time.
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