Hence, the "one in, one out" marital directive?Originally Posted by (jimmacd @ Jan. 28 2008, 19:15)
...and here my most recent acquisition, an Arches spruce over cocobolo flat-top -- which UPS is delivering tomorrow! #
Hence, the "one in, one out" marital directive?...and here my most recent acquisition, an Arches spruce over cocobolo flat-top -- which UPS is delivering tomorrow! #
Here's a less-than-crisp shot of my first mandolin, a Breedlove Quartz OO, next to the A1 that I posted pictures of here a few weeks ago.
While researching mandolins prior to my first purchase, I had concluded that I really wanted to get the best quality instrument that was realistic to buy. That is, I wanted to get a quality player, as I knew from my experience with guitars that a lower quality 'starter' instrument could be discouraging. As well, though, I didn't want to blow the bank on an instrument that I had barely played before and which I could well have ended up not liking -- granted, a hypothetical but still real possibility.
While the A1 may have usurped the Breedlove's position as my main instrument, I keep the Breedlove in my home office where I can play it to ease tension and free up my mind during the workday, and I do play it in situations where I don't want to risk the A1 -- a Robbie Burns day whisky tasting last weekend is an obvious recent example! It remains a lovely instrument.
Here's my first mandolin, bought in January! After one too many vacations without my guitar and a desire to have a more portable instrument, I got into the mandolin.
It's a "Big Muddy", the little one.
This was my first mando - an old German-built "Portuguese-style" mando which was just lying round the house. I've since passed it on to my friend's children in the hope that they may one day get the urge to pick it up and play it
Fliss
I started on on this, was in our attic for years.
My first mandolin
Spencer
My first mandolin is the one on the right. It's a Stagg, my girlfriend gave it to me as a present. I didn't even knew that it was a mandolin! Since that day I fell in love with the mandolin, and now I play it more than most of my guitars
Kenneth.
<~~~~~~first and only mandolin, haven't contracted that dreadful disease MAS yet!!!
Sorry, no picture. It started when my Dad bought me a fiddle in a pawn shop and the guy threw in a Gibson, Model A-40. That was around 1953. A year or two later I traded it for a Blond Gibson A-40 w/alligator patterned cardboard case. Paid $35 to upgrade! I still have that mandolin.
That was 55 years ago. Anybody been playing that long or longer?
Lee
Mine was a Thornward bowlback, followed closely by an Infinity F style. No pics of either.
"I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is."~John Mellencamp
"Theory only seems like rocket science when you don't know it. Once you understand it, it's more like plumbing!"~John McGann
"IT'S T-R-E-M-O-L-O, dangit!!"~Me
Still my #1 ... Pomeroy #21 "Blackjack".
-- Mandorado --
my first was a mandolute made by the Weymann company...Im so glad I bought it!
Look up (to see whats comin down)
Kentucky 350s...I had some strap issues. Haha. Currently on loan to my sister's boyfriend. Although, I think it's stuck inside his car's trunk in Marquette Michigan
Garnet Bruell
My first mandolin was a Flea Market find..... an Eagle ... not too impressive, so my six year old daughter get to play it.
"Ancora lmparo", said Michelangelo when he was in his 80's (I am still learning)
My first I bought 2 months ago, Fender FM63S. I took it to Tony Ianuario, luthier here in GA. he put on bone nut, new custom bridge, did a fret job, shaved stupid knob off back of neck, shaved neck down nice and thin, refinished neck with tongue oil instead of laquer, put an Allen solid cast bridge on it, then did set up. It is pretty sweet for under $1000. However, I am already looking to get one built custom! I've been browsing you builders on here looking for a potential builder for my new baby! After 35 years playing acoustic (martin d-28), I am totally hooked on my mando, playing AT LEAST 2 hours a day! Thanks in part to mandolincafe! My poor d-28 is feeling jilted!
The first 8 stringed goodness I've even owned, and now for sale:
=============================
Apollonio Acousto-electric bouzouki (in shop)
Mixter 10 string mandola (still waiting 2+ yrs)
Unknown brand Mandocaster (on the way!)
=============================
"Doubt begins only at the last frontiers of what is possible." -- Ambrose Bierce
'65 loar?
Harold Loar of course!
Garnet Bruell
I was lucky, My grandpa gave me this mandolin as my first, a 1941 Martin 2-20. Nice instrument but not to good for Bluegrass. I wish I would have held on to it.
Here's my very first mandolin -- a German-made Majestic flattop from the 1920s or 1930s. I inherited it from my grandfather, who bought it second-hand in around 1940. It passed to my mother when he died in 1947. It fell into disuse in the 1950s when my mother switched to bowlback. It spent some time tuned as a balalaika when one of my aunts had a brief obsession with Russian music, and my mother eventually gave it to me in my teens. I didn't start to learn it until some twenty years later, though, in 2003. It was a really good instrument for my first steps, once I had set it up with new strings and a playable action. Eventually, MAS kicked in and the rest is history.
Quite a nice instrument, actually. Modest, and never intended for anything other than amateur music, but I think it's rather more attractive than most of these German flatbacks and it was in pretty good condition when it passed to me. Sustain is pretty non-existent, but the tone is woody and loud and it's a very good match for old-time fiddle tunes. A little bit like a tenor banjo. Unfortunately, it developed a fairly nasty crack a couple of years ago which I haven't got around to fixing.
Martin
The back of the Majestic has some attractive figure in the maple and a warm finish which contrasts nicely with the blond beech neck.
Martin
I already posted a pic of my first mandolin earlier in this thread (a Fender FM-52E), but I just found this old pic of me (c. 2001) with my first luthier built mandolin, a Spicer Student Model, from Mike Spicer in Hamilton, Ontario. This was also my first wide-necked mandolin (1-5/16" at the nut on this one), which set me off on my catch-and-release quest of the past few years, for the perfect wide-necked mandolin -- but ironically, I find the 1-1/8" V-neck on my Arches flat-top much easier to play than the D-shaped wide-necks that I have owned or played previously.
"The problem with quotes on the internet, is everybody has one, and most of them are wrong."
~ Mark Twain
Mandolin shirts, hats, case stickers, & more at my Zazzle storefront
Unfortunately, yesHence, the "one in, one out" marital directive? #...and here my most recent acquisition, an Arches spruce over cocobolo flat-top -- which UPS is delivering tomorrow! #
"The problem with quotes on the internet, is everybody has one, and most of them are wrong."
~ Mark Twain
Mandolin shirts, hats, case stickers, & more at my Zazzle storefront
Older folks will remember this one. My first was Harmony Monterey from about 1977. I tried Epiphone As at the same time. This one was $30 bucks cheaper and much superior. #Its top is cracked now, but it was the best $80 I ever spent.
#
I don't have any pictures but my first mandolin was a Harmony like the Monterrey only the cheapy with the red black sunburst with painted "flame" stripes. $35 brand new in '72. I'll never forget when i figured out where that 2 finger G chord was and then finding the D. Man, I was playing a mandolin!
Oh yes, the Harmony. I bought one just like the picture as a "throwaway" for a 6 month stay in Europe, also in 1977. I left it with friends, and when I moved over here later it was given back to me. On loan to my son at the moment. 80 dollars is what I paid too, quite a nice mandolin for the price. Mike Compton said he learned a lot on a Harmony. Also had a Harmony Sovereign guitar which was also a good instrument for the price. I wonder how many others had one?
Spencer
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