Hi all
Being a guitar builder, I' been reading this forum for a while but only decided to register today. Why ? because I'm slowly falling in love with mandolins. I have one that I bought years ago thinking "hey, I'm a guitar player, this should be pretty easy"and that, off course, wasn't played that hard : too much effort, not so much time to play, new chords shapes, why is this thing so small, etc...
I'm sure you've heard that many times, my mandolin ended in a corner of the room, only getting dusty. About a year ago I re-opened the mandolin case and decided to give it a go, for real this time. At first learning the chords and only playing stuff I play on guitars, songs I know by heart, but gradualy entering the mandolin world, trying some bluegrass stuff and others... I'm currently learning some Cello suites from Bach too... I slowly realised that the mandolin suits every style of music, and is a lot of fun to play.
I've said I'm a guitar maker, mostly flat tops but I've built a few archtops and even a violin in the past, so I've decided that the next step for me is to give it a go on building a F5 mandolin. I intend to keep it for a while, then sell it. And see if it sells easier than guitars...(hopefully)
After this long intro, here's my question to the builders on this forum : I feel that the mandolin world is a bit "traditionalist" in terms of shape, colors and design. I don't know much, I've only been diging into the internet for a few weeks, but it seems to me that most builders settle on the A4-5 or F4-5 designs, probably because that's what their customers are expecting from them. But I've also seen builders (Holst, Monteleone, Sorensen to name a few) who came up with very clever and gracefull designs, or at least very eye catching for my taste...
But I realise I'm talking about some of the best mandolin builders, well and long known by the mandolinist family.... which I'm not.
So what is easier to sell ? Am I looking at it right, thinking that most players looking for a handmade mandolin will be after an F5 copy ? Should I work on a more modern design or should I follow Loars plan? Do you feel that the market is looking backward, or forward ?
I don't mind the answer, I like both ! I'm just curious to hear your impressions...
Cheers
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