Color coordinating on my "Poorman's EM-150"

[Terry Allan Hall]

Finally got around to installing volume and tone control. but when I looked in my parts box, found I only had off-white and bright green knobs ...so, in the spirit of non-obnoxiousness, I went w/ the off-white knobs...

OTOH, I'm thinking black knobs might look better...thoughts, my fellow mandolinistos?

[mandroid]

Advantage, you have an elevated fingerboard, so you get to fit the pickup
further from the bridge than Gibson did.

happy pickin' ..

[Terry Allan Hall]

Advantage, you have an elevated fingerboard, so you get to fit the pickup
further from the bridge than Gibson did.

happy pickin' ..

Yeah, and it sounds much more "acoustic-ish" at that location...a lot of electrtic mandolins I've played sounded too much like electric guitars, and I really wanted it to sound naturally like a mandolin, just at a higher volume.

After playing/examining a friend's EM-150, and comparing it w/ my "Poorman's EM-150", I was pleased to discover that a laminated-topped mandolin with a P-90 p/u, even w/ the name "Gibson" on the headpiece, still sounds like a laminated-topped mandolin with a P-90 p/u, when played unplugged.

This little Rogue has a great neck and excellent fret-work/intonation, so I'm very pleased with it...and the fact that it didn't cost $1500-2000 is pretty cool, too (I've got just a touch over $100 invested into it, all told)! If the neck ever warps, I'll just yank out the electronics and get another lam-topped mando.

Got a nice solid-topped mando (Gold Tone GM-50) on it's way to me for unplugged playing, until I can afford a nice F-4, but this'll be my electric mando for a long time, I suspect.

[mandroid]

I think they added some patches on the inside around the hole when planning to put the PU in there .
Same pickup goes on the TG 150, an arch top F hole Tenor Guitar.

[Terry Allan Hall]

I think they added some patches on the inside around the hole when planning to put the PU in there .
Same pickup goes on the TG 150, an arch top F hole Tenor Guitar.

Would the patches have been to further eliminate the possibility of feedback issues, as does the laminate top, or to make ithe EM150/TG150 less likely to cave in, due to having to cut through the bracing, to install the P-90?

I use a piece of 10mm craft foam between the p/u and the top, both to raise the p/u closer to the strings and to deaden the top a bit, for feedback suppression, which cuts down the unplugged volume considerably (possibly by as much as 50%). This makes for virtually squeal-free performances, but I prefer to use a 40-watt amp, usually run about half-way up. then mic'd into the PA.

OTOH, a friend, who's having me do the same alteration of an F-model Rogue, has used my mando through his Marshall stack, set on "decalcify" (), and it only fedback when he stood facing it from about a foot away. It'll be interesting to see what sonic mayhem he'll create with his.