One mando kind of picker...

[Mike Snyder]

A one-mandolin man for many years, I knew when I first played one of Mike Blacks mandolins that I would own one eventually. The F5 is more versatile and gets played out more because I need the chop in Bgrass situations and the volume in ITM sessions, but the A4 gets the nod for old-time sessions and tune learning work. One will do, but two will do, too. Then there's a tenor banjo..............

[Shelagh Moore]

I don't think I would go back to using one as my three mandolins are used for different things. I like my Taran Springwell for Irish/Scottish/Appalachian, my Nava for classical, jazz, latin and general folk and my National RM1 for blues and rock and as my usual session instrument.

[FLATROCK HILL]

...it seems superfluous to keep an instrument around for a beater. I just don't get the point.

I get enjoyment out of having a mandolin with me whenever possible. Sometimes that involves:

Camping/campfires, canoeing, hiking etc.
Long trips in a car packed to the rafters, that may not always maintain an ideal temperature to preserve the integrity of hide-glue.
Barrooms full of careless beer swillers (including 'yours-truly' on rare occasion).
Jams, where the guy who claims to be an X-rodeo star (and has the belt buckle to prove it) wants to see if he remembers how to play Wheel Hoss on your mandolin.
Volunteer work at nursing homes where wheelchairs sometimes double as battering-rams.
Airline travel!

Keeping an instrument around for a beater may very well be superfluous in your situation. For some of us, a beater makes sense.

[Phil Goodson]

I use one mandolin 99 times out of a hundred when I play out with others. It's a Duff F5 and sounds great and is loud. Does everything I need and more.

I have a couple more that I play occasionally at home just because they have a different sound and are interesting, but they offer no advantage when I play with others.

[goose 2]

I have a Gibson DMM that I play constantly. I take it to festivals, camping, gigging, etc. I guess it's my beater. I own another mandolin that has been loaned out to a buddy for a few years now. It's a great mandolin but I only want to play " the one '. When I sent it to Dave Harvey last year to be refretted I just played a lot of OT banjo and guitar while waiting for its return. I have owned it for 13 years and have never considered another. I play different styles of music and it sounds great for all styles of music.

[Cosmic Graffiti]

I am a one mandolin guy. I got a 1924 Gibson LL Era A model that I absolutely love. I think if I ever decide to try something new I would probably go up to the A to Z model.....But I just love the oval hole Gibson sound from that era.

[Jim Garber]

I have a closetful, of course, but essentially I play my Brentrup A4C for almost everything. That is my first choice, however for large OT jams, if I m playing mandolin I use the National RM-1 and for classical, the Lyon & Healy. However, if I were forced to keep one, I suppose it would be the Brentrup with which I can play just about any genre.

[Kalasinar]

Currently i have my Eastman MD504 as my main mandolin, my Hynds Pocket Mandolin for travelling (as i wouldn't like to take my Eastman too far afield or where i would have to travel by bus/train/plane), and my starter Tanglewood Mandolin (which will be sold as soon as possible...hopefully). So once my starter mandolin is gone, i will be content with the Eastman for home use and the Pocket for travelling. It would be nice to own a restored bowlback someday, as they can be got for a reasonable price, but otherwise... mandolins are simply too expensive for me to keep buying more. I also doubt i could ever spend £1000s on a mandolin... i would be terrified of it being damaged/lost/stolen. I'm a drummer with a kit and one of each size/type hand drum too, so space to keep all my instruments is also a difficulty!

[Br1ck]

Let me clarify my opinion a bit. Let's just eliminate all the instruments people keep around because they don't feel selling them is worth the trouble, and then eliminate the mandolins people keep for more hazardous situations, as by default that implies owning one good instrument.

What I'm honing in on, and you see this on guitar forum signatures too, that folks will have four or five mid grade instruments, say like Eastman MD 505s and the like, arguabley pretty decent instruments. I can surely understand wanting an A style, an F style, and an oval hole, but not to me before having one really nice instrument. I'd gladly sell three Eastman/ Kentucky mid line instruments to buy one Collings, Pava, etc.

Now I know you will find instances where exceptional mandolins can be found unrelated to cost, but on average, ponying up big bucks gets you better instruments. To me big bucks is $1500, a pittance in the scheme of things. To some big bucks is $500, to others $5000. It's all relative.

If I heard the difference, or knew enough about the exact tone I was looking for, I'd certainly sell three $5000 mandolins to fund that one $15,000 instrument, or three $300 instruments to get a used Kentucky 950.

And least I be viewed as insensitive to economic realities, it took me 20 years to work up to my first Martin, but I never had two guitars in all that time. I was trading for better when I could.

So I just do not understand the owning of multiple lessor instruments instead of one better one at any relative price level.

[JeffD]

I am on an extended trip for work, clear across the continent from my home. I have been coming to this work site once a year a long time.

Several years ago I got smart and bought a mandolin that I leave out here, so I don’t have to schlep it across the country.

So while I am working out here, I only have one mandolin. While back home I have more than several.

What I notice most is that I concentrate more on my playing, when I can just pick it up and play. I don’t have all that noise in my head deciding which one to pick up, and whether or not the one I do pick up is the right one for what I am doing, or wondering how would this sound played on that other one.

Was it Devo, or Talking Heads, that said it – freedom from choice.

And while I enjoy it immensely, when I go home and have my stable of fun to choose from, well, I enjoy it immensely.

[JeffD]

I can only speak for myself. I have a diverse collection (assemblage really), but don’t want one of each. I have never sought to “plug the holes” in my collection.

And while I do have instruments that are best for this or that application, I did not go about deliberately trying to cover all applications.

If I am absolutely honest with myself, which is rare - here is what I do – I see pretty things I want and I buy them. Limited funds available gives me some degree of impulse control, and a talent for overthinking things provides interesting rationalizations for each purchase.

There is no over-arching philosophy or strategy to my acquisitions. I am sure of that. That is the work of a curator, which I am not. Not for free anyway.

[Demetrius]

Wow! I've been away from the computer but thank you so much to all who have brought some really interesting answers to the question of this thread. I don't know, I just find it so interesting hearing about everyones machine/machines... Tools of the trade so to speak. I've sat through and read every comment on here and I've gotta say each post was driven by passion for the mandolin and man do I appreciate that. I like the comment, I've never played a good mandolin that I didn't love. Or something along those lines. It's true! If someone put passion into making it than chances are that'll transer over to the player. It may not be thier #1 or the love mandolin of thier life but there is still an appreciation when playing a good hand made mandolin. On the other spectrum I've played factory built ones that I've really enjoyed too. If it has 8 strings and tuned in 5ths Im automatically drawn to it. Carry on fine folks!

Dem aka Mando man

[JeffD]

Were music my trade, my instruments would be tools of the trade, and I would have an organized purposeful collection. Like a socket set.

In contrast, what I have is the result of following the ambling drunken twisty path of my heart, mitigated by times of limited resources, and the brief sanity of priorities.

[red7flag]

So I just do not understand the owning of multiple lessor instruments instead of one better one at any relative price level.

Br1ck, Your assumption is that that the 20k+ instrument is better than my Ellis at 10k+. While a number of people would agree with that assumption, the 20k+ that I have played were not better tone wise for me than my Ellis or that the difference was so minor that it would not be any where close to worth the additional 10k to achieve. So would I pay 10k and sell my Ellis for a Dude (for example), when I can keep the Ellis and buy my Hester (an excellent instrument in its own right) and have both. For me that is a no brainer..

[foldedpath]

I don't think anyone else has mentioned this particular side of multiple instrument ownership yet, so I'll mention it. One reason I just want one mandolin is that I like to change strings frequently; about every 3-4 weeks to maintain the sound I'm looking for. And I don't enjoy string changing any more than anyone else.

I also have to keep strings fresh on several other instruments that I play on a regular basis: the octave mandolin, and the steel string and nylon string acoustic guitars. That's four instruments and 28 strings to change. It used to be worse, when I had a couple of electric guitars to maintain, plus several Dobros in different tunings (although those didn't need string changes very often).

This has put a brake on wanting to own too many fretted string instruments, especially anything I'm not playing on a regular basis. I sold off a bunch of guitars and one mandola in the last 2 years, and it now feels liberating to "only" have to change 28 strings every so often!

[JeffD]

So I just do not understand the owning of multiple lessor instruments instead of one better one at any relative price level.

Its very simple actually.

Well I think its simple anyway

I just got what I wanted at the time with the funds that I had at the time. My only goal is to play, and to be fun to play with.

While the best instruments do have specific advantages in playability, tone, volume, and all, and while I do think one should always get the best that can be reasonably afforded, I don't have a long term goal of owning the best instrument I can. Not if it gets in the way of playing a lot and learning to be fun to play with.

[jshane]

I have a Pava. Since it has been able to give me everything I have asked it to do, I havent felt the need to own another.

Oh, sure... I have "lusted in my mind"... but still remain a 1 mando guy.

[Paul Hird]

Although I have three, as you can see in my signature, I always grab my Yellowstone. I am however, taking my Special Edition to our jam circle tonight. Only because they wanted to hear the difference between the two Webers.

[Ken Carroll]

I have a Johnson mando that I bought used and really enjoyed fixing it up. I will keep playing it until I get better.

[fernmando]

I have had multiple mandolins in the past. One gets played, the others languish in their cases. I actually NEED more than one guitar, but one mandolin will do. My main instrument is mando, but I just don't get to play mando with others as often as I'd like. I have owned several Eastmans, a Cole, Stiver, Ratliff, 2 different Gibson F-5s, Tennessee, Adams, maybe more. These days I am playing a like-new Gibson A-5L from January 1989. It does about what I want it to do, and I will play into it what I want. The thing about a quality mandolin is that it will respond to your playing and grow with you. It is my intention that the A-5L will be my forever mandolin. I am in my early 50s, and though I don't have oodles of money, I can afford a few things that I couldn't afford in my 20s. So, I could see me trading up for an Ellis A one day, but I don't plan to do that. My 27 year-old A-5L makes me happy. Think I'll go play it now.

[Tom Wright]

I only play 10-string now. And only maker has a standard-design pin-bridge 10-string, so I have two Buchanans and a 3rd in the future.

[George R. Lane]

Wow! I've been away from the computer but thank you so much to all who have brought some really interesting answers to the question of this thread. I don't know, I just find it so interesting hearing about everyones machine/machines... Tools of the trade so to speak. I've sat through and read every comment on here and I've gotta say each post was driven by passion for the mandolin and man do I appreciate that. I like the comment, I've never played a good mandolin that I didn't love. Or something along those lines. It's true! If someone put passion into making it than chances are that'll transer over to the player. It may not be thier #1 or the love mandolin of thier life but there is still an appreciation when playing a good hand made mandolin. On the other spectrum I've played factory built ones that I've really enjoyed too. If it has 8 strings and tuned in 5ths Im automatically drawn to it. Carry on fine folks!

Dem aka Mando man

D. How is the Gil doing these days?

[Al Trujillo]

I have one - an f-holed Weber Gallatin A that is my first mandolin. When I began shopping for one I spent a bit of time on MC reading and analyzing what everyone was saying about mandolins in the price range I was considering (somewhere between $1k and $2.5k). Though this is the first mandolin that I've ever played I've become very fond of it. I would like to buy a second mandolin...this time an oval-holed A style. I've narrowed my choices to another Weber or a Pava. I don't play with another player so I'm quite happy with the sound level coming from my current mando and I don't feel the need for an instrument that cuts and projects through a bluegrass group. Maybe someday, but for right now I'm happy with what I have and with what I want in my next one.

[zedmando]

Good morning all!

Who here is a one mandolin kind of picker?
What make?
And why?

I only have one--but then I have been playing mandolin for less than 2 years and I also play guitar & bass-so I have other choices to play.
I consider myself primarily a guitar player, then a bass player--and I'm learning mandolin.

And maybe one day I will get an acoustic mandolin, but for now it's an Epi Mandobird that is that one mandolin.
I like variety--so if I get another it would need to be different enough--an acoustic mandolin certainly woudl be that...

[mrmando]

a one mandolin kind of picker?

Heretic!