The mandolin I had the most fun playing was....

[Eric Platt]

My Californian. Okay, it's all laminate mahogany and short scale. (Think Strad-O-Lin Jr. with oval hole). Played it outside during a Finnish American Festival in Hancock, MI back in January. No worries. Sounded fine once I got it to hold a tuning.

Close second is my Big Muddy M-0. Factory second and very special price. Sounds as good as any I've played and is extremely comfortable. Haul it on trips and even to band practices from time to time. Oh, and it's the one that stays out on a stand for when I feel the need to practice. (Which is more often than I do.)

[Br1ck]

I'm not sure about most fun. I was playing a perfectly nice Eastman MD 505. I had a few fiddle tunes down, so next time I was in Gryphon I went over to the mandolins wondering if the higher model Eastmans were going to be better. Well, not really that much to my novice ear. So for giggles I picked up a Northridge F 5S. Woah, that was memorable. A whole new world of possibility and financial ruin opened up. Then I played a used Weber, a Big Mon, and a few Collings.

It was like drinking red wine and thinking it's OK, perfectly good, then one day someone hands you a glass of really good cabernet and yo go oh, no, then you try a 20 year old single malt.

But that F5S threw the desire switch.