I get the idea of the chord leading the melody, more from guitar playing, and that of letting the octaves ring out. Although I know the open chords (from Irish bouzouki) I find I have too little room to finger more than a couple on my narrow mandolin neck. I guess I could try with a capo on bouzouki or tenor guitar...
Anyway, thanks for taking the trouble to try and explain! Do you often play your mandolin outside in the snow...?
"What's that funny guitar thing..?"
Congratulations on your mandolin. I am pretty new at the mandolin, too--less than 6 months. But I've been playing the violin a long time, over 20 years, and I am finding the mandolin is a natural shift for a new sound.
My first mandolin was also a Seagull S8, but I did not like it. It was very well made though it needed an adjustment. The bridge had to be lowered. I believe the frets are too high too and could be lowered, as well. Even after I lowered the bridge, I still found the action harder than some of the higher end mandolins I had tried.
In the end, I sold the S8. I was looking for a sound that may be different from what many North American players are seeking. To me, the S8 sounded tinny and over bright. It might be well suited for blue grass or country. But I live in Nova Scotia and we play a lot of Irish and Scots music here, where warmth and sustain are much valued, and I was fascinated with the mellow, sweet sound of the German mandolins, too. I couldn't afford $5000 Canadian for a German made bowl-back mandolin but I found a superb alternative--the Kentucky 272. It had the warm, sweet sound and great sustain I was looking for out of the box. I changed the strings to GHS Silk & Steel and replaced the tailpiece with an Allen AR-2 and found that Inexpensive Dava Grip Tip picks with delrin tips give the almost string noise-free sound of expensive German Wolle picks, and now I have a setup I am very happy with.
But the S8 can probably be modified in all kinds of ways, too. I really liked it's flat bridge. I think that's one of the reasons it has so much volume. And you can probably get all kinds of tonal character changes by changing the bridge material. I'm sure you'll have fun exploring its potential.
I hear you Cliff.
I got the bridge lowered a bit on my Seagull as well, and it is easy to play now.
I'm not going to pretend that it has the tone of my more expensive mandolins (Sobell and Collings), but I don't think it's too bad, as I hope my Facebook clip shows. You could perhaps say it is a bit tinny and bright, but as I get to know it I feel I am getting a better tone out of it.
Anyway, it is not an expensive instrument and I do think it's pretty good value for money, as well as being really easy to travel with and very effective in situations like pub sessions.
David A. Gordon
The more I see them the more I want one.... I feel a case of MAS coming on.
Sorry......none at A Sharp or Dusty. You’ll have to wait. Ha ha!
Thanks
Several mandolins of varying quality-any one of which deserves a better player than I am.......
Those are my places. Are you in the PNW too? Go to those places?
Update: just read your profile. Bend, OR. Right on!
Last edited by Zach Wilson; Jan-05-2018 at 10:00pm. Reason: I figured it out
Me too...how did this start?
Definitely a good value for the money, especially if that's the tone you're going for. No one can fault their construction--the S8's are solid and they look great. I do wish they'd shave the frets down a little and do a better adjustment of the bridge action, but all in all a great instrument.
I am going to stick with my Kentucky 272 til I can (hopefully) one day find a classical German bowl or deep back at a price I can afford. Given the terrible exchange rate between CAN and the Euro, that may be a while.
I played one recently in a big box store near my house and surprisingly enough it was set up perfectly. It might have to do with how meticulous the store is. However, they usually don’t have their mandolins set up very well. And mostly they have Fenders or Epiphones. They have lots of Seagull guitars but this one was the only Mandolin.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
David A. Gordon
Hi again Cliff.
I should maybe make it clear that I am not North American at all. I am Scottish, and like you Nova Scotians (where I have visited and performed) I play mostly Scottish and Irish music.
I take your point about warmth and sustain, but I must admit that I was a bit surprised when you said that you are looking for a German bowl-back for playing Irish/Scots/ Cape Breton etc. That is very rare, in my experience.
Is it perhaps more common in Nova Scotia?
David A. Gordon
No, it's not common. In fact, I'd probably be the only person playing one for a hundred miles. But I fell in love with their tone upon hearing the classical playing of Caterina Lichtenberg. When I heard Lichtenberg play her wonderful mandolin, I thought: That kind of voice would go beautifully with some of the music we play around here. Can you imagine Lonesome Eyes or Farewell to Nova Scotia on a mandolin with that clarity and sustain?
Happily, the way I have my Kentucky 272 setup, I think it sounds close, probably even warmer. In my very limited experience, well made, solid wood flat backs generally seem to be warmer than bowl backs. But you know how hard it is to make a good comparison from a recording. And I've only ever gotten to try fairly cheap inexpensive antique bowl backs. I'd love to get my hands on a good bowl back or deep back well made German mandolin to compare. One of these days . . .
I was playing one of these in my local shop today. In addition to the other interesting design features already discussed (neck through body, canted top) I noticed that the S8 has an elevated fingerboard. That is, the fingerboard is not attached to the top and is ‘elevated’ about, oh, I dunno, less than a millimetre above the top. You can see daylight, but not much. Anyway, seems like a nice touch. Way better than just gluing it to the top. They really are nice little instruments. This one was set up perfectly and sounded pretty darn good (though I always have trouble really hearing instruments in a shop).
This mandolin has a lot of volume and growl. Got a gig bag to go with it. Ordered from Canada, and the exchange rate for both mandolin, bag, and shipping was cheaper than I could of gotten the mandolin locally.
However did have a tuner knob break. Seeking a replacement. Unsure what tuners Seagull uses on the S8.
• Seagull S8 • Weber Y2K6 • David Hudson Bloodwood Didgeridoo (C#) •
I would think the dealer in Canada would order you a replacement set for no charge. Unless this is a used S8.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I wonder if they would ever make a cedar-topped variant, their cedar topped guitars are nice and might offer a less bright tonal option. I have cedar-topped 12 string that sounds great.
Easy to wonder... Why not contact the company and ask? You never know.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
The S8 I tried was the burnt umber model whose look I do like. What I am trying to figure out is why there is a price difference in the two unelectrified models. They seem to be made of the same woods and hardware and the only difference I can figure is the finish and a different-colored pick guard. In the US the general difference in retail prices is $50 more for the burnt umber. Anyone have a clue?
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Godin released at of their new guitar line-up in the burnt umber color at NAMM (?). An guessing it's some anniversary color.
Probably takes more time getting it done right, or could be a native ochre.
Got mine from Canada. With the exchange rate you can get one for less, even with shipping.
Was undecided for a time, locally the difference was $100 between the umber & natural.
If was going electrified would get the burnt umber for sure. The knobs seen to not stand out as much.
I emailed Seagull about the cedar tops for mandolin and no response yet. They make the M4 dulcimer-esque instrument with both a cedar and mahogany top, I supposed that could be another option (or make an M4 with a cedar top).
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