MAS or not

[kedge]

Have read so many threads about MAS. So here is my question. I have been playing for about 3 years, almost every day, and now that I'm really retired, several hours a day. I play a bunch of traditional fiddle tunes and some bluegrass, as well as dabbling into hard rock. I take great enjoyment in the learning/growing/playing process. I have an Eastman 505 that I truly love the sound and feel of, and am certain my skill level will never exceed it's ability to deliver.....however.
The few music stores close by only have "entry" level instruments. Now that I have time, I would like to take a trip to Lexington Mass to visit a shop with many upper-end instruments. I know of no other way to actually play some of these other mandolins. I am curious. But will I only be opening pandora's box?
Should I just continue being content with the girl I brought to the dance?

[Randi Gormley]

Well, that's a question only you can answer.

I owned several perfectly fine instruments and felt no need to buy another despite trying some in both high-end and box stories and messing around with some at workshops and camps. I found them fine but nothing worth paying my hard-earned money for. And that kept me for about 10 years, until arthritis and carpal tunnel combined to make my favorite mandolin impossible to play. four or five years ago now, i wandered into Acoustic Music in Guilford (CT) because i had heard they had a Pava and I was curious; they didn't, but i found an instrument that fit my hand and one i could play for hours without pain -- and it also had a really spectacular sound that gave me a much better bass end, which i had also been looking for. So I upgraded to an old Gibson. And since then, I haven't had any interest in buying another instrument and barely look at the others in my stable.

So, yes, I own six mandolins (or seven if you count the Rogue), but I only play one. And don't see a need to change that.

[MikeZito]

That's a tough answer, without knowing your general personality.

I fully admit that I have a compulsive personality, and am a habitual collector of many things - so it is VERY easy for me to fall into various types of buying and/or collecting frenzies. However, on the other side of the coin, I know many musicians who have never felt the need to own more than one of any instrument throughout their entire lives. Yes, they may exchange and upgrade instruments from time to time (which is only natural as your playing progresses, or you develop new playing styles or techniques), but they still rarely own more than one guitar, mandolin, etc.

My 2-cents says go to Lexington and enjoy the experience . . . just leave the checkbook and credit card at home!

[CWRoyds]

Back when I only had a lesser mandolin, I went and played a bunch of top level mandolins, and it ruined the way I looked at my little mandolin.
I had no idea how much better the top level mandolins would be than the one I was playing.
They were just on a completely different level as acoustic machines.
It put me on a mission to get a really good mandolin because I couldn't stop thinking about how awesome the mandolins I played were, and even though I still love my old mandolin, it just didn't thrill the way it did before my eyes were opened.

I ended up buying a Northfield Artist model, which can hold its own against mandolins WAY above its price range.
I am perfectly happy with it, and don't often find mandolins I would trade it for, and when I do they are $12-$20k or more, so I couldn't have them even if I wanted them.

Now I love going to stores to check out the cool instruments, BUT I already have a beautiful Northfield Artist model, so even if I love something I find, I will still be going home to my beautiful mandolin...
If you go checking out nice mandolins you just might come home with a new mandolin, or you might find yourself looking at your current mandolin in a different light. I would bet you will find yourself trying to figure out how you can swing getting something nicer.
It is a risk, but probably a risk worth taking.
A really fine mandolin is a thing of beauty.

[yankees1]

Only YOUR ears and fingers can answer that ! Maybe your pocket book too !

[Jim Parriott]

I'd counsel you to, yes, make the trip and play many mandolins to see what moves you in the way of sound. But pay particular attention to what neck shape and fret board type that you like. D or V? Radius of flat? Big, medium, or small fret wire? What size nut do you prefer? Those are the things that will make a huge difference in playability to you, and your progress forward. Even if you don't buy a new instrument, you'll come to an understanding of what you're looking for in your next mandolin.

Go. You'll have a great time and learn a lot. Good luck!

[MontanaMatt]

Be careful

[dorenac]

Lots of good advice here and I'm sure it will help you sort things out. My own story, in short, is I had a late teens F2 many, many years ago. I got severe tendonitis, bordering on carpal tunnel. It forced me to sell the mandolin and give up playing for over a year. But I couldn't stand it, I NEEDED to play mandolin. So after a lot of research and sampling I found a higher end mandolin that I could play for hours without pain. The time off from playing no doubt helped, too. Ever since I have happily played a very nice, high end instrument. It has all the tone and ergonomic characteristics that allow me to play hours on end if I want. More recently I got a high end octave mandolin which also is playable and enjoyed pain free. Bottom line is, as you've already read from others, play and sample all that you can. And you might be surprised what a better mandolin can do to help you improve.

[liestman]

I would say "What did you work for all those years? Don't you deserve something nice?"

[UsuallyPickin]

Well …. Mandolins come in good , better , better yet, incredible and beyond reach for most of us. Another way to put it is less than 1.000.00$ , 1,000.00$ to 3,000.00$ , 3,000.00$ to 6,000.00$ , around 10,000.00$ and around 20,000.00$. That is of course not including Lloyd Loar Gibson signed instruments. The best way to understand the differences in playability and tone is to play and hear them. A day trip somewhere you are able to do so is a pilgrimage of sorts and necessary. Keep in mind the automobile analogy. A KIA will get you where you need to go. So will a Porsche. You can get a speeding ticket in either. But they are no where near the same. Enjoy your research. A better instrument encourages you, challenges you and brings a new level of joy to your play. Take your Eastman with you so you are able to compare on the spot tone and playability. On MAS it is difficult to have to many mandolins but it is possible to have enough. R/

[Mandoplumb]

You have the onset of MAS. It will only get worse so you may as well start treatment now.I bought my lifetime mandoli in 2000. Since then I've bought 6or8 other mandolins, keeping my lifetime mandolin because it is. Last year I bought my second lifetime mandolin which I will keep but will buy more I'm sure.

[William Smith]

HA that's a good one! I bought my lifer mandolin in 2002 and I've had probably 100 or more that have came and went since then so just "Roll On Buddy Roll On!"

[Br1ck]

Yes and no. Yes you will unleash daemons, no you shouldn't leave them in the box.

Here is what I found with both guitars and mandolins. You can get a very nice guitar at the D 18 or J45 level, likewise in mandolins like the Northfield F5S, Weber Gallatin, Pava Satin, etc. If you own any such instrument, you will be able to play anything in a high end store and leave without that horrible lust for better. Sure you will play mandolins that sound a bit better, are shiny, have scrolls and beautiful inlay, but they will cost a large to humongous amount of money, just to get from 0 to sixty a half second faster.

After you have a year or two under your belt on the low end of the really good stuff, you can pay serious attention should you come across something you really can't put down. If you buy used, you can play an instrument for a couple of years and not loose more than a couple hundred bucks if that.

I had a 505. It got me hooked but good, and it will be worth keeping for travel or camping. But a Silverangel , Collings MT, etc. will open up the universe to you.

[RustyMadd]

I think Br1ck has a very good point.

Heck life is short, go, see how it plays out. Heck there might not be anything you like enough to pull the trigger on. Why worry? Eat, drink and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The worker deserves his/her wages. You be the judge. Blessings

[JeffD]

Get the very best you can as soon as you can. Enjoy the potatoes out of it. When another opportunity strikes, do it again.

[fatt-dad]

you should. But. . .

Your ears and fingers are calibrated to your current instrument. You may find mandolins that are set up better (you'll therefore love the action). They will all sound different; however. It's then hard to really know if different is, "Better." I'm more drawn to efficiency. Not to dismiss sound/tone, etc.

Have fun. I'm sure you have a few good stories with your Eastman!

f-d

[Br1ck]

I'll add that you should try to arrange a set up while you wait if it needs it. At least an evaluation. There are things that may or may not be to your liking. But you have by now been playing a decent mandolin, so you should know, when you pick up another mandolin, what the differences are and if it feels better to you. Eastmans have thin necks, and skinny frets, and a radiused fretboard.

If you pick up a Gibsom F9, for instance, you will notice the flat fingerboard and chunkier neck. Might you like it? Only you will know.
Listen to the tone. To me the G string makes or breaks the mandolin. Then play up high. Some mandolins loose something up high, but make up for it down low. Everything is a tradeoff. What you are willing to trade for is what you will learn after you have your first really good mandolin. Get sucked into bluegrass and that wonderful oval that sounds great in your living room gets burried by the banjos.

This is where Pandora shines. There are reasons to have two, or three, or four.

I have the beater, the Celtic wonder, the fiddle tune machine, and the plays well with others. I'll think of a great reason I'll need more. But Pandora hasn't started talking murder...yet....but the purses are multiplying.

[Kevin Winn]

Lots of good advice here and I'm sure it will help you sort things out. My own story, in short, is I had a late teens F2 many, many years ago. I got severe tendonitis, bordering on carpal tunnel. It forced me to sell the mandolin and give up playing for over a year. But I couldn't stand it, I NEEDED to play mandolin. So after a lot of research and sampling I found a higher end mandolin that I could play for hours without pain. The time off from playing no doubt helped, too. Ever since I have happily played a very nice, high end instrument. It has all the tone and ergonomic characteristics that allow me to play hours on end if I want. More recently I got a high end octave mandolin which also is playable and enjoyed pain free. Bottom line is, as you've already read from others, play and sample all that you can. And you might be surprised what a better mandolin can do to help you improve.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, I'm curious as to the different features that allowed you to play pain-free. Neck shape? nut width? Just wondering.

[Eric Platt]

Would also suggest going and trying out other mandolins. You may fall in love with what you see and play. Or you may not. Depending on the music you play and how you play it, some of the well known names might not work for you.

Recently was thinking about a Collings MT. After trying it a few times, realized that while I liked the sound, didn't like the neck at all. So didn't get it. Hard choice, but pretty sure it was the right one.

[Denny Gies]

The box is worth opening. It's fun to play different instruments. So what if you get MAS; you can always trade your first born for a shiny new thing. Good luck.

[yankees1]

Would also suggest going and trying out other mandolins. You may fall in love with what you see and play. Or you may not. Depending on the music you play and how you play it, some of the well known names might not work for you.

Recently was thinking about a Collings MT. After trying it a few times, realized that while I liked the sound, didn't like the neck at all. So didn't get it. Hard choice, but pretty sure it was the right one.

Kind of like dating isn't it ?

[Br1ck]

At the risk of hijacking the thread, I'm curious as to the different features that allowed you to play pain-free. Neck shape? nut width? Just wondering.

I believe a high end mandolin plays easy, or pain free, as a byproduct of excellent build quality, specifically fret work. Too few are willing to pay someone $150 to set up their $400 mandolin. I firmly believe fretwork to be the deciding factor. Sure different necks are going to feel better to you, but perfect frets are by far more important to me. A luthier can spend an extra two or three hours on setup because they are competing for your six thousand dollars, where a sub thousand instrument gets the good enough treatment. This incremental difference puts playability over the top.

It takes some experience to really focus on the subtlety of the feel. I can enjoy a flat board, radiused, skinny or wide neck, big or small frets if the setup is superb. Sure I have my preferences, but I can adapt. Just a little hump in the fretboard throws things off.mlevel it out and you glide over strings with only poor technique causing problems.

Like tires wearing out, fret wear can sneak up on you.

If you buy from a top notch dealer, especially one local to you, they will ensure nothing drastic has changed during shipment. Otherwise a visit to your local tech is in order.

[Mickey King]

Moving up to a better instrument as your skills improve is not MAS I n my opinion. Suppose you started on a Rogue, it’s only natural to move up to a better mandolin. It’s when you have a perfectly good mandolin and have an obsession for more mandos that’s MAS.

[usqebach]

My only additional advice is to plan a two day trip. The first day you will be overwhelmed with the different variety and different variables inherent in each instrument. The best decision you can make on the first day is to throw out the ones that clearly don’t work for you. Then, take the rest of the day to rest(!) and consider what is really important to you for your future instrument.
Go back the second day and play only 2 or 3 instruments, but play them long enough to warm up in your hands and get a feel for what a long session will feel like.
I think you’ll be amazed how the reality of an instrument differs from your pre-conceived opinion of it.
Or, you can ditch the advice, grab the nicest one you can afford, and plan on selling it in the cafe classifieds if it doesn’t work out for you! (Been done before!!)

[Ray(T)]

This does sound like the early symptoms of MAS. Not that MAS is necessarily a bad thing if you only own one mandolin - what do you do if something should happen to it?

If you do go in search of another, you might be advised to take the one you have with you for comparison. There’s nothing as annoying as falling in love with a new “girl” only to take her home and find she sounds no different to the one you already have.