Do mandolins really "open up"...

[JonZ]

No, mandolins do not, as a rule, "open up".

Mandolin cases, on the other hand...

[P.D. Kirby]

[QUOTE=Pete Summers;943529][QUOTE
From Blueridge - "Do they make a Tone Guard for a Banjo ?" . Yep ! - It's usually called a case,QUOTE=]


Now that hurt, and you Mr. Coventry, how dare you sit there as if

[rico mando]

My late 30s Regal opens up more each time I play it, So, every few months I glue the back or top back on. I think all Mandolins can be opened up with a Screw driver, Rock or fireplace poker, the trick is closing them again

i recommend steam . better yet play it in the sauna and really open your pores as well.

[fatt-dad]

"the older the player, the harder the hearing," fatt-dad, 2011.

I kind of believe the longer you commit to an instrument (i.e., without looking for its flaws), the closer your drawn to its sound.

I think that's a component to, "opening up."

The wood stuff too, I guess. . .

f-d

[Bertram Henze]

My late 30s Regal opens up more each time I play it, So, every few months I glue the back or top back on. I think all Mandolins can be opened up with a Screw driver, Rock or fireplace poker, the trick is closing them again

[Nick Triesch]

When I was a kid my Mom would "season" her cast iron skillet with lard. Over time it would be super slick. Just wipe it out. I'm just saying......

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Andrew - Point taken & appreciated. JB - You jest put that axe down right now,'afore i go git ma gun !!,
Ivan

[journeybear]

Reminds me of that old chestnut by them Floyd boys - "Careful With That Ax, Eugene" ...

[Bertram Henze]

There's more in an AXE than meets the eye...

[B. T. Walker]

Do mandolins change over time affecting their tone? I believe so. The change may be so slight for some factors that change is not immediately appreciable, but over time will become noticeable. Some factors may change quite rapidly obviously changing tone, particularly temperature. Temperature, humidity, how often the instrument is played, how hard it is played when played, and likely lots more affect the change.

I don't think it even has to be wood for change to happen -- my Mix A4 (#38) used to sound tinny when new, but as time passes, it sounds better and better. Some of this is due to me adjusting to the idiot-synchrasies of the mando, such as getting used to the thickness of the neck, focussing in on that sweet spot when picking to draw out the best sound, and limbering up my own joints while playing. Common sense dictates that tough-as-nails carbon fiber shouldn't wake up/open up, but my personal experience tells me it does.

Read this thread. Is it gravity, air pressure and air movement, or something else? I never got to repeat the experiment!

[Ben Milne]

So would a Shutt mandolin be any more resistive to such a process?

[ralph johansson]

I wonder if the mandolin wakes up, or if it's the player that gets better at playing that particular mandolin. Each instrument is different in subtle or not so subtle ways, and it definitely takes time to get fully accustomed to any new instrument.

The answer should be obvious. The player adjusting to the instrument is not a matter of months or even years. Given the fact that most of us play several instruments, if it's not immediate it will never happen at all. And the issue is really whether instruments become more responsive and resonant over time; properties that often just a single chord or scale will reveal.

[Jim]

"the older the player, the harder the hearing," fatt-dad, 2011.

This certainly explains why I think I sound better!

[journeybear]

Another reason could be, as I tell our audiences, "The more you drink, the better we sound!" Being in the unique postion of both player and listener, I have to regulate this effect closely. I have to be careful to not be enjoying the music so much that I become less able to produce it satisfactorily.