Results 1 to 22 of 22

Thread: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

  1. #1
    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Missoula, MT
    Posts
    2,092

    Default I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Last night, my band played an outdoor event in Hamilton, Montana. It was about 55 degrees when we started playing at 5, and was about 42 when we finished at 9.
    I knew something was odd when I pulled my 1919 Gibson A2 out of it's case and checked the tuning, only to find that it was perfectly in tune, even though i had played a 2 hour gig the night before. I thought that it would probably go out of tune once it acclimated to the chilly weather, but no. Despite the fact that we took 2 breaks where it sat on a stand, then got warmed up by my holding it, it stayed perfectly in tune the whole night!
    Do you think that I should get it checked out to see what's wrong with it...?
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

  2. #2
    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    1,356

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    I think you should see an audiologist and see if anything is wrong with your ears, or check the accuracy of your tuner! LOL.

  3. #3
    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Missoula, MT
    Posts
    2,092

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Soper View Post
    I think you should see an audiologist and see if anything is wrong with your ears, or check the accuracy of your tuner! LOL.
    Well, it was out of tune the night before...
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

  4. #4
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    St. Paul, MN
    Posts
    2,045

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Oh man, I just hate when that happens. Here I get the tuner all warmed up and ready to go. Figure I gotta turn each tuner a good quarter to half turn, then, oops, too high. Back down and tune back up again. And it's all spoiled when the mandolin is smack dab in tune. Go figure.

    But, if you have to do something, go make sure it has enough widget oil in it. On a teens Gibson, they can get a bit low after getting cold. The figured it out later, and so I have to worry about it running over on my 1929 A Jr.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
    https://www.facebook.com/LauluAika/
    https://www.lauluaika.com/
    https://www.facebook.com/Longtine-Am...14404553312723

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Central Illinois
    Posts
    3,563

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Something must be wrong with mine also ! It doesn't sound as good as Ricky Skagg's mandolin !

  6. #6

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    I wouldn't worry too much. It is just a glitch. These things happen. Now if it were a banjo it could be a very serious symptom.

  7. #7

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    I've never played a mandolin that stayed in tune for a whole song.

    The real trick is to make it sound like you are always in tune.(Dawgism)

    Or something like that.

  8. #8

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Mandolin is Italian word for ' out of tune '

    Dave H
    Eastman 615 mandola
    2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
    2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
    Eastman MD 915V
    Gibson F9
    2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
    Ibanez Artist 5 string
    2001 Paul Shippey oval hole

  9. The following members say thank you to Dave Hanson for this post:


  10. #9
    Registered User Pete Martin's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,244

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    "I play mandolin...
    and I can tune...
    If I have too...
    I guess..."
    -----------
    Pete Martin
    www.PeteMartin.info
    Jazz and Bluegrass instruction books, videos, articles, transcriptions, improvisation, ergonomics, free recordings, private lessons

    www.WoodAndStringsBand.com
    Jazz trio

    www.AppleValleyWranglers.net
    Western Swing music

  11. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Pete Martin For This Useful Post:


  12. #10

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    I had my mandolin stay perfectly in tune for two weeks last winter. Thankfully it came to its senses.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  13. #11

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Pete Seeger,David Crosby,and Tim O'Brien are just a few people I have heard/read say,"We tune because we care."

    Short scale length on a fretted instrument made of organic material with a moveable bridge and strings that stretch a bit when plucked fortissimo=needs tuning. Also round wound strings being pulled thru a hard nut/bridge material can cause problems with tension between the nut and the tuning posts. And yet we love the mandolin and beating them into submission.

    It all sounds a bit masochistic really.

    Ihope to own a carbon fiber mando someday.

  14. #12
    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Blue Zone, California
    Posts
    1,867
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Random. Heat/cold, Humid/arid... Sometimes all the expansion and contraction just works out right. Most of the time it doesn't though.
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
    "It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."


    2002 Gibson F-9
    2016 MK LFSTB
    1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
    [About how I tune my mandolins]
    [Our recent arrival]

  15. #13
    not a donut Kevin Winn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    735

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Can't believe that someone hasn't mentioned this yet, but you clearly need to buy another mandolin... so you can A/B them and find out what's wrong with the first one.

  16. The following members say thank you to Kevin Winn for this post:


  17. #14

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    My 23 AJr Snakehead has stayed tuned to CKRE since the day I got it.
    Gunga......Gunga.....Gu-Lunga

  18. #15
    Registered User John Rosett's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Missoula, MT
    Posts
    2,092

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Winn View Post
    Can't believe that someone hasn't mentioned this yet, but you clearly need to buy another mandolin... so you can A/B them and find out what's wrong with the first one.
    Greg Boyd has a nice Givens A3.
    I'm taking donations...
    "it's not in bad taste, if it's funny" - john waters

  19. #16
    Registered User archerscreek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    128

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Did you play the lottery?

    On the rare occassion mine doesn't need tuning, I feel luck is on my side and that I should rush to the store and buy a Powerball ticket.

  20. #17
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Rochester NY 14610
    Posts
    17,378

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Rosett View Post
    Do you think that I should get it checked out to see what's wrong with it...?
    No, I think you should sell it to me. Immediately.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  21. #18
    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Blue Zone, California
    Posts
    1,867
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by ColdBeerGoCubs View Post
    My 23 AJr Snakehead has stayed tuned to CKRE since the day I got it.
    Sorry, what is CKRE tuning?

    Edit: (Oh, a radio station? Was this a joke? duhhh, sorry.)
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
    "It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."


    2002 Gibson F-9
    2016 MK LFSTB
    1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
    [About how I tune my mandolins]
    [Our recent arrival]

  22. #19

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by dhergert View Post
    Sorry, what is CKRE tuning?

    Edit: (Oh, a radio station? Was this a joke? duhhh, sorry.)
    It’s one stop below Rflat or a radio station outside of Cleveland. I forget.
    Gunga......Gunga.....Gu-Lunga

  23. The following members say thank you to ColdBeerGoCubs for this post:


  24. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Cape Cod, MA
    Posts
    207

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Rosett View Post
    Last night, my band played an outdoor event in Hamilton, Montana. It was about 55 degrees when we started playing at 5, and was about 42 when we finished at 9.
    I knew something was odd when I pulled my 1919 Gibson A2 out of it's case and checked the tuning, only to find that it was perfectly in tune, even though i had played a 2 hour gig the night before. I thought that it would probably go out of tune once it acclimated to the chilly weather, but no. Despite the fact that we took 2 breaks where it sat on a stand, then got warmed up by my holding it, it stayed perfectly in tune the whole night!
    Do you think that I should get it checked out to see what's wrong with it...?
    Are you sure it's a mandolin? Something just doesn't sound right. You were awake, right, not asleep and dreaming?

    Jack

  25. #21
    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Blue Zone, California
    Posts
    1,867
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    A few years ago, on stage just before a gig, one of the pro-level mandolin players that we've had the honor of being in our band with us looked at me as he was trying to tune his mandolin, knowing I was also working at playing mandolin on the side... He said [slightly paraphrased] "Man are all of these things such a [difficult experience] to tune???"... Coming from him this was pretty telling. I just grinned and nodded.
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
    "It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."


    2002 Gibson F-9
    2016 MK LFSTB
    1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
    [About how I tune my mandolins]
    [Our recent arrival]

  26. #22
    ===========
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Connecticut
    Posts
    1,628

    Default Re: I think something's wrong with my mandolin.

    One time I bought a mandolin on the internet. I was thrilled when it was shipped to me across 3/4 of the country and arrived perfectly in tune . . . then I played half a song on it and ruined the thrill . . .

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •