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Thread: What's the best mandolin?

  1. #1

    Default What's the best mandolin?

    The one I'm thankful to be playing right now.
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  3. #2
    Dave Sheets
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Well said!
    -Dave
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Just like cameras, IMO the best mandolin is the one you have with you

  5. #4
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    From the same point of view, the worst mandolin would be the one I am afraid to take out of its case because it reminds me of what a fool I was to spend a fortune on a whim that proptly left my head at the time of delivery.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    I thought the best one is the one you're looking for to replace your current mandolin.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  9. #6
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    The best is my Dearstone, the second best is my Kentucky KM900. Two of the best mandolins, just one of many things I have to be thankful for today.

  10. #7
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    For me, it is my Phoenix Neoclassical. I have had a few mandolins on my way to this one and have played a bunch of others. I love this Phoenix. While I may buy additional mandolins in the future (the one being built for me now doesn't count as it is a piccolo mandolin), I think this is my main player for life. I have had it long enough now to be pretty sure of that. This is the one for me, hence in my little world, the best.

    I hope you find one you will be as happy with as I am with this one.
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  12. #8
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    For me, it's any of the mandolins in my "stable!" And they are all perfect for me, and I am thankful!

  13. #9
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    The one I am playing at any time. There are "better" out there, but for right now, and my needs, these are the best.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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  14. #10
    Registered User Mike Snyder's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    One Gibson, one Mike Black. Hope I never have to choose between them.
    Mike Snyder

  15. #11
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    From Bertram - ".....a whim that proptly left my head at the time of delivery. " I fully understand that Bertram. I could paraphrase that - " Tis better to journey hopefully than to arrive''. In other words,the ''expectation is 'better' than the fulfilment''.

    To answer Br1ck's question - For me,always the one that i can't afford - to be able to place it alongside my other 3 ''best mandolins'',
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
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    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    From Bertram - ".....a whim that proptly left my head at the time of delivery. " I fully understand that Bertram. I could paraphrase that - " Tis better to journey hopefully than to arrive''. In other words,the ''expectation is 'better' than the fulfilment''.
    Or as Harry Chapin put it "It's got to be the going not the getting there that's good."
    Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album

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  19. #13
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    If anybody is content with staying in orbit around a dream, that's good on them.

    I am still trying to consult myself on what I really want; since that involves actually meeting my real self, it is a somewhat grisly outlook (not dreamy at all), but I am convinced that this is eventually unavoidable anyway and I might as well go straight into it.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  20. #14
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bertram Henze View Post
    I am still trying to consult myself on what I really want; since that involves actually meeting my real self, it is a somewhat grisly outlook (not dreamy at all), but I am convinced that this is eventually unavoidable anyway and I might as well go straight into it.
    Good luck with that! I can never seem to get that meeting on my calendar.
    Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album

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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Thinking seriously (for once), I have several (well, more than a dozen actually) and they're all different. I think its a matter of choosing the right one for the job in hand rather than agonising over which one is the best.

    I remember all the arguments people had in the 1970s as to whether Gibson guitars sounded bett than Martins!

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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    There really isn`t a "best" as we all like different things in a mandolin, one day one mandolin sounds the best and then on another day another one sounds the best...Like asking which car or truck is the best, which one is the best for what your needs are...I have never seen the "perfect" mandolin and I doubt if I ever will...There is always something that seems like it could be improved.....

    Willie

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    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    For the foreseeable future it would be my Collings MT-O for me. I've had it since September of last year and felt zero MAS in that entire time. I was playing it last night and marveling at both it's sweetness and warmth. Gonna treat it to some new Rubner tuners for Christmas!
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jill McAuley View Post
    For the foreseeable future it would be my Collings MT-O for me. I've had it since September of last year and felt zero MAS in that entire time. I was playing it last night and marveling at both it's sweetness and warmth. Gonna treat it to some new Rubner tuners for Christmas!
    I must admit, I love my mandolin, but I have been lusting for one of those. QUIT, QUIT,QUIT
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    I thought the best one is the one you're looking for to replace your current mandolin.
    That's the next best one which will eventually become the best one until the new next best one.

  29. #20

    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    The one in the hands of a master player.

  30. #21
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    The next one you are thinking about buying ! Wienman F5 ?

  31. #22
    Dave Sheets
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by pops1 View Post
    I must admit, I love my mandolin, but I have been lusting for one of those. QUIT, QUIT,QUIT
    From personal experience, it is probably wise not to think about MT-Os too much....:

    (Not that I regret it ).
    -Dave
    Flatiron A
    Way too many other instruments

  32. #23

    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    There's so much focus on tone; however, I find I'm far more focused on how it feels and plays. I tend to be very accepting of whatever tone any acoustic instrument produces (because, really... what's the choice? Not like you can replace the amp/pedals/etc.)
    ---
    Cheap Craigslist Guitar | Mandolin Made of Wood | Upright Bass with Strings

  33. #24
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    When I was in the USN, these were the two best boats in the navy:
    1. The last one you were on
    2. The one you're going to next.
    Which was the worst boat in the navy? The one you're on right now.

    There are those of us who decide its better to want what you have than to have what you want.

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    Default Re: What's the best mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by SixPants View Post
    There's so much focus on tone; however, I find I'm far more focused on how it feels and plays. I tend to be very accepting of whatever tone any acoustic instrument produces (because, really... what's the choice? Not like you can replace the amp/pedals/etc.)
    No but you can replace the instrument. In fact without the tone I would never own it.

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