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Thread: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

  1. #51
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    I started playing guitar around age 12. In the late 1970s I took up bass because all my friends played guitar and I thought I could get more gigs on bass. About 10 years ago I took up mandolin, and I consider it my first instrument. Recently I took up cajon and I love it, but I still play guitar and bass occasionally. I would never walk away from the guitar, I'm just not that great at it.
    Living’ in the Mitten

  2. #52
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    Hi everyone. I'm new here, my first post. I'm a longtime bluegrass/country player, playing just guitar. Made a pretty good living all there years with just my guitar. I've owned a cheap mandolin for about 20 years, but never got past learning 3 chords. The cheapo just didn't motivate me, so I never really jumped in. I recently, through a guitar trade, acquired a 2015 Fern, and for the first time, I've dived in for real. I haven't given up guitar, but every day, every chance I get, I have the Fern in my hands and am making a real effort to get decent at it. I'm loving it! I feel like I'm 12 again and setting out for the first time. Wish me luck!

    Tony

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  4. #53
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    Guitar has been an 'albatross around my neck' since I started mandolin, always ending up playing 6-strings instead of 4-courses, for... reasons. Last year, took a mandolin position in a cover band, and it has changed everything! Also took in a nice Charles Walter upright piano for the home, and between those two factors, guitar has effectively disappeared from my life! Just took fifteen years. :\

    Mandolin now has completely taken over as my 'default view' of a fretboard, most all tension issue are gone, and tremolo is an 'on demand' service. Not sure if the Weber itself has finally 'opened up', or if I'm hearing technique improvements from a more relaxed approach, but MAS is dead, too.

    Came away from our last gig enjoying a longer vista from a new higher plateau. Feels like a fought the Big Boss and Leveled Up!

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  6. #54
    Davor Tomasic
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    At age 12 I took my mother’s old abandoned student mandolin, put 6 strings on it, tuned it as a guitar and started picking out melodies. Parents got the hint and soon I got my first (classical) guitar. Played guitars for a 12 years or so - acoustic and electric – rock, pop and even some jazz. But, when life happened and the kids started arriving, sold all of them and dedicated time to family.

    Fast forward, moved to US 25 years ago; one day, strolling through the Mall of America, entered music store (they still existed then) and bought a cheap classical Yamaha guitar. That incident re-kindled the love affair. Strat came soon after.

    But then, after moving to New England more than a decade ago, my musical taste had changed. First took classes in flatpicking, then even got myself a banjo for birthday. Learned decent clawhammer and some tenor as well. Even tried some bluegrass. Three years ago started learning Dobro, attended some local jams, had lots of fun with it. Still played guitar and banjo and even performed and recorded with the local guitar orchestra.

    Then, a year ago went to Mandolin, Guitar and Dobro Camp, interested in both guitar and dobro sessions. But, after hearing the faculty concert fell in love with mandolin. Bought one as soon as I came back, “just to try how it feels”.

    Well, it felt small and crumpled for the left hand, but sounded nice and now it was tuned same as tenor banjo, not as the guitar…

    Now have 3 mandolins, play them daily for hours - from Bach to Italian to Celtic and bluegrass. Other instruments are envious and yearning for the touch, but I’ve realized - the circle has now completed and am simply that same 12 year old boy, just in slightly older and bigger body, finally not fighting its true destiny...

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  8. #55

    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    I couldn't give up guitar if I wanted to. None of my jam-buddies can recognize chord shapes on the mandolin.
    "I play BG so that's what I can talk intelligently about." A line I loved and pirated from Mandoplumb

  9. #56
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    Yeah, I pretty much did that back in the early 90's. I had been playing guitar for 20 years and was in a church music group with four six string guitars...boring! I got a bonus at work and spent part of it on a plywood POS mandolin made in Korea. It was a terrible instrument, but I really liked playing it and I worked up chords for a tune for church and played it there a week after I bought it. A year later, I got a more serious mandolin, an Alvarez A800, and was playing more mandolin than guitar.

    Later, I started playing octave mandolin, harmonica, tenor banjo and dulcimer and mostly left the guitar behind. I still own a guitar. I like it for two things: 1) Accompanying myself singing, because I can hit more chords in first position. I am not much of a singer, so that doesn't happen much. 2) For figuring out chords from a recording. For some reason I can hear chords better on the guitar than on GDAE instruments. But with the chords for almost everything on the 'net, I don't do that much anymore either.

  10. #57

    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    57 years old, been playing guitar since I was 12! Been playing mandolin for around 6 years now.

    I still play guitar, especially when singing at jams and gigs, but spend a lot more of my time playing the mandolin these days.

  11. #58
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    Default Re: Anyone stop playing guitar for Mandolin?

    I've played guitar for 40-odd years and have always kept a mandolin around since first picking one up about 30 years ago. I was off again/on again with mandolin for most of that time but in the past couple of years it has become by far my primary instrument, followed by violin. I keep guitars around for recording and occasional solo performance but almost never take them to jams any more and have in fact come to regard guitar more as a social chore than an instrument of choice. If I wind up involved with any bands that might spawn out of current jams I'll be on mando almost exclusively except for occasional fiddle breaks.

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