The Obvious 12/26 Question

[kymando]

Got a Kentucky KM252 from my wife. She’s a beauty. (And my wife is too.)
Need to learn how to play. The mandolin.

[seankeegan]

Got a Kentucky KM252 from my wife. She’s a beauty. (And my wife is too.)

Nice first post!

Congrats on your new mandolin, and welcome to the Cafe

[Steve 2E]

Santa asked me to take care of this one.

The scraggly ribbon was a bow until a certain cat decided to help me untie it.
Red Valley flattop. Sounds great, fun to play.

Hey Hank,
Is that the Billy Brown custom build? (All of that flamed maple is kind of a giveaway)
I had my eye on that one, but I guess I was on the naughty list!
Nice acquisition!

[Happymandolin]

An Eastman Mandola - MDA 315 :-)
Dealing with FedEx was tricky - 3 failed delivery attempts in which we waited at home all day twice. And 3 trips to the warehouse ,once told to return, the second time they couldn't find the box but the third time was the charm :-)

[HonketyHank]

Hey Hank,
Is that the Billy Brown custom build? (All of that flamed maple is kind of a giveaway)
I had my eye on that one, but I guess I was on the naughty list!
Nice acquisition!

Yup. It really looks good but the video sound sample (and construction sequence) is what convinced Santa to make the leap.

[Jim Garber]

Not really mandolin-related but my wife gave me a subscription to fiddle video.com A, which is exactly what I wanted because of the excellent players/teachers on that site : Kevin Burke, Andre Brunet, and Patti Kusturok. Exactly what I wanted.

[John Rosett]

Not a mandolin, and not exactly a Christmas present, but I took delivery of a telecaster style guitar that's been in the works for over two years. The body is made out of a 1951 Fender steel guitar body that was too beat up to be used for anything.

[Jim Garber]

Not a mandolin, and not exactly a Christmas present, but I took delivery of a telecaster style guitar that's been in the works for over two years. The body is made out of a 1951 Fender steel guitar body that was too beat up to be used for anything.

Hard to picture how the body was made though I assume that the steel's body was stripped and pieced together to make the width of the Telecaster? Looks like anice old piece of wood.

Not to derail this thread but I recently saw Bill Kirchen play. He is a true master of the Telecaster. Here he talks about how he modifies the Tele controls to get some great effects—essentially turns the control plate around as well as the switch and swaps out positions for the volume and tone. I may try it with my '72. His Tele was made in NY with pieces from flooring from old buildings. It sounded amazing when he played it.

[John Rosett]

It did take a lot of work to piece it together. Parts of the pickup and string mounting holes are visible on the back:

[Lilyaperi]

I did, and that's what brought me here! It was a total surprise of a gift--while I do sing in a crew that does folk music, and have been dabbling with concertina for a few years and now and again toy with bodhran, I've never really done anything at all with strings. To be honest, this beautiful little thing kind of terrifies me. I've been cradling and gazing at it with a strange mixture of fear and excitement, kind of like someone who's never had much exposure to kids but has been suddenly handed a baby to hold lol. But, I subscribe to the Online Academy of Irish Music, and my boyfriend is well-versed in all things plucked strings, so I have high hopes of learning how to make it sing!

[journeybear]

Welcome to the Mandolin Café, and the wild, wacky, winsome world of the mandolin! Is it safe to assume this was a gift from your string-playing boyfriend? Perhaps he sensed something in you that you hadn't, some sort of innate or instinctive interest in the instrument. I hope his hunch was on point, and that he will be able to help you along the way toward bonding with it. One of the best things you can do is bang around on it until things begin to make sense, without judgement or self-criticism, just natural curiosity. You'll get more familiar with it as you progress, and learn through more conventional approaches, but you should start your journey at zero. Feel free to ask any and all questions here. And have fun!

[Lilyaperi]

Technically, it was from my mom, but they plotted it together behind my back I should have known it was coming; he had made comments a few days prior about how with my small hands and shorter stature, maybe I'd enjoy a smaller string instrument better, one that wouldn't require as much finger yoga to be able to move deftly for playing the Irish tunes we both love. The self-criticism thing is definitely something I need to release, because now that I have one, I'm determined to do it justice! Thanks so much for the warm welcome, I've already learned loads just by lurking and trawling the archives (boy, are people opinionated about their picks! Lol it's been super informative!)

[HonketyHank]

... (boy, are people opinionated about their picks! Lol ... )

They are all opinionated. I, on the other hand, just quietly know.

Welcome to the cafe, lilyaperi, and Happy New Year!

[anon-rickf]

Got this Martin 00-28! Ok, I got it for myself but nobody else was stepping up and somebody had to do it.

[Magnus Geijer]

My wife got me a banjolele! I think that's close enough to count. This thing is riot.

[Don Roon]

It's a 10ft.,,2 wt. Nymphing rod...

You must be working lots of small streams.....I've often thought about a 2 wt but went Takara for fun.

[yankees1]

Well, Due to the Rubner tuner delay my Christmas present from my wife won't be ready until March ! New Girouard F4 ! Went with Schaller Grand Tuners.

[Jim Garber]

Well... not exactly a Christmas present but I worked out a mutually pleasant trade with a fellow MCer for a lovely Campanella A-5. I had only played his early mandolins many years ago but this is #90 and has a sweetness all the way up the neck and is very responsive. It is so very hard to put it down in order to leave the house.

[William Smith]

That's a very NICE Camp! Jim. I love the looks of that and if it sounds half as great as she looks you did very well.

[Jim Garber]

I love the understatedness of his design. This is the first mandolin I have owned with larger frets (I think they are EVO with that goldish color) and an armrest and this plays so nicely and, even more important, is much different in tone than any other mandolin I own or even have tried. I was even thinking I didn't really need it but after playing it a bunch—well, you all know...

[Elliot Luber]

I inherited a Strad-o-lin from a friend's uncle earlier in the fall, and it's all fixed up now, so I played it for Christmas.

[Jill McAuley]

Well... not exactly a Christmas present but I worked out a mutually pleasant trade with a fellow MCer for a lovely Campanella A-5. I had only played his early mandolins many years ago but this is #90 and has a sweetness all the way up the neck and is very responsive. It is so very hard to put it down in order to leave the house.

Oh, well done Jim, that is an absolute beauty!

[Don Roon]

I inherited a Strad-o-lin from a friend's uncle earlier in the fall, and it's all fixed up now, so I played it for Christmas.

Hi...what did it need to bring it up to playing status? I'm looking at one now (on line so far). It's a 1950's model and word "STRATOLIN" is all one word...no hyphens.

Thanks for any info.

[Mandobar]

Well... not exactly a Christmas present but I worked out a mutually pleasant trade with a fellow MCer for a lovely Campanella A-5. I had only played his early mandolins many years ago but this is #90 and has a sweetness all the way up the neck and is very responsive. It is so very hard to put it down in order to leave the house.

[Don Grieser]

Well... not exactly a Christmas present but I worked out a mutually pleasant trade with a fellow MCer for a lovely Campanella A-5. I had only played his early mandolins many years ago but this is #90 and has a sweetness all the way up the neck and is very responsive. It is so very hard to put it down in order to leave the house.

Congrats, Jim.

I had a bad case of scroll fever and landed a Stanley F5 right before Christmas. Nice complement to my Heiden and Passernig.