review of the rigel I just got.

**kjbllc** · Jun-28-2019, 6:29am

I like it a lot, not having any experience on any acoustics my review is not backed up by experience , so you can take it with a grain of salt.
I really like the sound and the playability, much better than the godin a8 . very nice resonance, I like the radiused fretboard , for me it makes some chords easier like f7 .
The instrument was taken very well care of , there is a crack on the FF bottom right as you look at it, which was repaired and fully disclosed by the seller , so no problem there, but the rest has almost no wear , for a 16 year old , it is in great shape.
well balanced , maybe a little stronger on the E would be good, but again that may be normal for mandos. on violins getting a sweet E is a challenge. The pickup works great , the neck feel is also very good for my hands.
I am used to a speed neck, but a little hesitant to do this to this neck as it is very nice wood and flame, so I will play it for a while before thinking abou that.
What recommendations do you have for a case. I would like to leave the strap on, in the case, I cannot do this with the tweed case that came with it. .
thanks for all the help with this!! kevin

**MikeZito** · Jun-28-2019, 6:55am

Hey Kevin:

I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the Rigel. The best mandolin I ever owned was my old Rigel R-100 Custom. Being a non-traditional, non-bluegreass guy, every aspect of the mandolin was about as good as I could possibly ask for; (okay, I'm really not a big fan of the headstock shape - but that can be overlooked).

I can't be sure, but it seems to me that if you leave the strap attached to the bottom end pin of the mandolin, and then lay the rest of the strap over the body and neck, I would think that everything should fit in the case? Just a guess.

Again, congratulations, enjoy and keep us posted . . . maybe even some photos or videos would be nice!

**tmsweeney** · Jun-28-2019, 7:29am

I have several mandolins, my wife keeps asking me when I am going to sell my Rigel ( G-110).

Nope ....that one is a keeper - I've always been very impressed with the Rigel tone and play-ability, I can't think of I Rigel I played that I didn't like, the one Mandola I had a chance to play briefly is still in my finger's memories.

So congrats I'm sure that is a great mando!

**RobP** · Jun-28-2019, 1:59pm

Glad you like it! My way of solving the strap/case dilemma when I had my Rigel was to take off the strap, roll it up and it fit in the storage compartment. And, I never liked the big bulky rectangular case that it came in, so eventually I bought a shaped case from Rigel.

Enjoy!

Rob

**Eric Platt** · Jun-28-2019, 2:40pm

Glad you like it. Tough to give advice on the strap. On mine, I just take it off and put it up by the headstock. Or, use a different case. My Collings spent last weekend in an oversized plastic case. In that one, don't need to remove the strap. And a larger accessory pocket.