In 1977 I bought a 23 F-4 and that brought me up until about ten years ago when the fever caught. Never look back. I'm just trying to figure out how to buy a Dudenbostel? Alas.
In 1977 I bought a 23 F-4 and that brought me up until about ten years ago when the fever caught. Never look back. I'm just trying to figure out how to buy a Dudenbostel? Alas.
John
2012 Collins MT-2 Birds Eye Maple
1924 Gibson F-4
2010 Custom National Resonator (one of a kind)
1930 National Resonator with new custom neck and "Doug Unger" inlay and back painted by Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong
2005 Godin A-8
2013 Kentucky KM-1050 "stage and club mandolin"
You ain't peddlin' vaccuum buddy she's gorgeous!
I made it a couple of months before doing a huge upgrade myself. I was "wishing" and let myself strum around on the high dollar wall and fell in love. I dropped a pile of money and haven't looked back.
Agreed. I love my MF so much that I actually think about it when I'm at work and I spend, probably, 10 times as much time playing now that I've got it (I've had it for a few months and no slowdown yet). The price tag was a tough pill to swallow but luckily I'm at a point in my life where I could do it and not feel too guilty.
My GFs: Collings MF, Mandobird VIII, Mando-Strat, soprano & baritone ukuleles tuned to GDAE and a Martin X1-DE Guitar.
I don't fight MAS - i take a long look at my bank balance & that tells me all i need to know !,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
I play several instruments, and when approaching a new one my strategy was always the same: focusing on playability, I looked for a 'trial' instrument I could get as cheaply as possible, then played it for a while to see if it's something I thought I would stick with. If not, I sold it, and any loss on the deal would simply be a low-cost 'evaluation' fee. But if it was an instrument I really wanted to learn, then I dumped the cheapie and went looking for the best instrument I could find.
I've never had a 'collector's mentality' and never owned more instruments than I actually had time to play. I believe all any of us musicians really NEED is an instrument that constantly inspires us to pick it up and play it, so I have always been guided by my ears rather than my wallet. I'm only interested in really 'Exceptional' instruments (my own term for the small handful of instruments that are among the best I've ever played), and looking for anything less seems pointless to me.
Now, I'm a person of modest means, but I have never bought an instrument that was merely 'very good' simply because it was a good deal, and I've never eliminated a truly Exceptional instrument from consideration because it cost too much. In my experience, it's a heck of a lot harder to find an Exceptional instrument than it is to find the money to pay for it. If I really wanted it, I found a way.
And once I found an instrument that was Exceptional, then my MAS, or GAS or whatever simply... disappeared.
I've managed music shops twice in my checkered career and I can tell you that the entire musical merchandising industry is based on marketing the primal myth that if you just buy this new pick, tuner, strings, method book, instrument or whatever you can instantly play better. It's the engine that keeps MAS churning.
There's a reason the pros sound great, even on a cheap instrument: they put in the work. Once you have a good instrument, there are no more excuses. Get an instrument that really inspires you, then, to paraphrase Frank Zappa, "Shut up and play yer mandolin."
Then, both your ears and your wallet will thank you.
Last edited by jmagill; Oct-05-2013 at 6:50am.
Jim Magill, Director
The Swannanoa Gathering
Warren Wilson College
PO Box 9000
Asheville, NC 28815-9000
828-298-3434
jmagill@warren-wilson.edu
www.swangathering.com
I bought my Mid-Missouri because I wanted a domestic flattop, and to make sure it was the right one, I purchased a Flatiron 24 days later followed by a Redline 13 days after that and a Gypsy 20 days further. Then, I got curious about carved instruments, so I bid on a Gibson, and f holes, so I picked up a Collings. It turns out that I could be happy with any one of them. I'm just happier with all of them.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
Not very long, at all.
If I want it, and can afford it, I buy it. Fortunately I have not got expensive tastes and , being single, don't have to ask anyone. A new instrument can make you play more and that makes you play better. There is also nothing wrong with the entirely hedonistic buying a mandolin because it makes you happy.
Jim Richmond
6 years one mandolin....after 4 years started looking for an F style....found it walked away because of price....told my wife about it...she went back and bought it and gave it to me for Father's Day....that has been 2 years...I love that mandolin as it serves as the best Father's Day gift ever (after my children of course). Have built an A style one since. Next on the list is find an old beater to re-store....a lot of ways that you can give into MAS.
Just long enough to convince my wife that it was ok to get it
I Pick, Therefore I Grin! ... "Good Music Any OLD-TIME"
1922 Gibson F2
2006 Gibson F5 Goldrush
2015 Martin HD28-V
2017 Gibson J45
My MAS rules:
1. Money permitting, there's never a bad time to buy yourself a present.
2. The only reason you need is "because I want it".
3. If you have MAGS (Mandolin Acquisition Guilt Syndrome), then sell an instrument that (a) you don't have a sentimental reason for keeping (My dad gave it to me, for example) or (b) that isn't covered under (a) but that you haven't played in over a year.
Oh... and one other thing... I try not to have too many instruments in the same category (F-style, f-hole, F-style oval hole, A-style...). Ideally, I'd like to have two in each category that interests me; one that's awesome and one that sounds good, but can be replaced without too many tears. That's the one I'd travel with.
To those of you who keep tabs on my posts (scary thought), my attitude towards MAS *has* changed.
CeeCee, Self-appointed Supreme Arbiter of All that is Good, Just, and True
1 Spousal Unit, 4 cats
1919 Gibson A1, Girouard custom F5, Collings MF, Northfield F5-S, Eastman 815, Eastman 514, Eastman 315, JBovier ELS-VC electric mando
The difference between theory and practice is smaller in theory than it is in practice. anon
The LM700 I had lasted not quite two weeks, a Brentrup A only a few days, but the G5 is for the long haul.
2005 Rigel G5 #2196
2005 Phoenix Jazz #400
1988 Jeff Traugott Acoustic #4
2012 Eastman 905 Archtop Guitar, BLOND!
Remember to grin while you pick, it throws folks off!
I have had several bouts of MAS. But, I have sold all but one instrument, and for the moment I am totally satisfied with my Collings MT I have no mando-lust. Envy me LOL
Rob
Follow the Flatt Stanley Incident on Facebook
Listen to original tune "When You Fly" by my old band The Kindreds
I had been feeling bad about the spending associated with my growing collection of mandolins (and other instruments) until yesterday, when my partner pointed out she spends more on some dresses than I have on any of my instruments. I'm still not entirely sure whether I'm excited about the green light on instrument spending or perplexed at the apparent cost of some outfits...
John
If you succumb to buying an expensive instrument that 1) Doesn't meet your expectations 2) Only soothes the MAS for a while you can sell it on the classifieds and move on. Always do your homework and don't pay too much. Don't live your short pathetic life always wishing for this or that. Live a little. Enjoy, savor, be happy and share you never know what tomorrow will bring.
I was a guitar addict since the 70's so MAS was a relief, mandolins take up less room around the house.
I always buy with cash and always used. For more expensive purchases, waiting till I have the cash keeps impulse buying and resultant buyers remorse out of the picture. Sold several that didn't quite do it for me and my Stradolin has more or less cured my MAS for the last 18 mos.
Jim Richmond
I've had 4 mandolins in less than 2 years . Fight MAS ? ....good one .
I'm embarrassed to give a complete answer to this. I have been playing for 2 years and have acquired a few mandolins... Resistance is in fact, futile... However, I am loving my new 1985 Stiver A...
If money was no object. If there was no spouse to negotiate with. . . How many mandolins would you want to own?
I have five mandolins of playable quality. I could manage just fine with my Cohen, although I'd miss my A3. I've never owned a Nugget, Dude, Gilchrist, or the other "top shelf" builder's mandolins. I mean if I got a screaming good deal, maybe I'd spring for an a-model or so, but I guess I've learned, "What's the point?" I'll remain a mandolin picker that has 2 years experience 20 times over again. I'm a sofa hobbiest.
I've kept a mandolin fund for the last 10 years. I've bought and sold probably 25 mandolins over the years. Bottom line (to me), most any quality-made, well setup, solid wood mandolin will meet my needs. After my ears adjust to the subtile distinction between sound and playability, I'm happy.
MAS is a funny thing. It makes us revert to a hunter-gatherer mindset. I have to hunt the best deal, the best quality, the best sound, the best status. In reality it takes us away from actually playing the dang thing! It also gives us a common basis to share on a forum. It's much easier to talk about mandolin purchases than to showcase our picking.
So, I've sold off two great mandolins in the last year, 'cause I wasn't playing them and they didn't trump my a3 or my Cohen.
The best way to combat MAS is to order a mandolin from a builder that has a 2 year wait. Then you'll have 2 years of daydreaming.
One more thing. I'm of the opinion that it takes a few months to know if you want to keep a mandolin. It's amazing just how often my first impression was wrong. You see if you are used to playing one mandolin and grab a great mandolin to try, your ear may not be quite ready to appreciate the great mandolin. You've been sensitized to what you've been playing.
That's all the BS I got for today.
f-d
ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
'20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A
overnight
Danny Clark
When I decided to get back into Mandolin on a serious level a couple of years ago, I bought a Collings to replace my aging entry-level mandolin. That was a huge upgrade for me and catapulted me into a mandolin obsession. I really wanted to achieve a higher level of skill and started taking lessons again (after many years) to fill in the gaps where I was lacking. At my lesson one day, I was looking at the mandolins at the shop and my instructor told me about a customer who was in the night before and tried every mandolin in the shop. He said, "This one outshines all the rest." It has a lively, brilliant sound and I bought it on the spot. So one year after buying my Collings, I bought an even better Weber. It was with a sad heart that I sold my Collings because, while I loved the sound, I really don't need two mandolins...maybe someday, but not now. If I was terribly wealthy, I would have a collection...but as for now, the mandolin I play is the one that is going to keep me excited about this journey I'm on.
It's a daily struggle. Two steps forward, three steps sideways, 5 steps back... more like a dance than a struggle... and I have plenty of instruments to accompany it...
To answer your question, I couldn't see owning more mandolins than I would play regularly. It would be a crying shame to have a bunch of nice mandolins that never get played. And I'd hate to have to keep switching out mandolins just to keep them all played-in, like it were some sort of chore. I'd rather have "the one" that I'm smitten with, to play the snot out of on a daily basis, that I'm so familiar with it's like an extension of my body. The only reason I can think of that I'd want to own multiple mandolins is for variety of sound. I'd like an oval-hole, for example.
But to your second point, I wouldn't necessarily say that MAS takes people away from playing. If anything, it likely inspires MAS sufferers to play more than they would otherwise. Getting excited about a new mandolin surely must lead to more playing time than plunking away on one that a person is bored with?
Set a budget as to how much you'd like to spend (or can reasonably spend) and when you reach that number, if you still want a nicer mandolin, then just buy one. At the end of the day it's just a simple consumer purchase. Do you want the item? Can you afford it? If both answers are "yes" then buy the item.
I wanted to upgrade from my Kentucky KM-350 pretty early on, but at the time, I was also aware that jumping up a few hundred wasn't going to be worth it. I decided $3500 was a good amount, set that aside over three or so years and when I had the amount, I started shopping around and in a few weeks found an early Brentrup F5 for that amount on eBay. MAS solved.
If I had unlimited funds, I'm sure I'd buy more mandos, though I feel like I'd probably end up being a "catch-and-release" buyer who holds on to a few but buys and sells a lot just to spend some time with a lot of different mandolins. However, I'm also a realist who doesn't make a lot of money (and thus does not have those unlimited funds), and as such, I tend to think along the lines of, "why have more than I need", and since I have what I need then this whole idea of MAS seems like a sort've silly little bit of nonsense that the mandolin community likes to constantly obsess about. Sometimes it seems like folks on these boards obsess over MAS more than they actually obsess over the mandolins that are the root of the obsession. In the end, it's a a consumer good. You want to buy it and you either have the money and buy it, or you don't have the money and you don't buy it...not sure why it has to be more of a big deal than that.
Last edited by Alex Orr; Oct-07-2013 at 3:52pm.
I played a very cheap A model (can't even remember the brand) when I first started on mandolin in 1977. In 1980 I went to Mandolin Brother's in Staten Island, NY and came home with a 1980 Flatiron 1SH. Flatiron was still a new company, independent and hand crafting budget mandolins in Bozeman Mt. I played that mandolin at thousands of gigs from 1980-2013 and only began to consider replacing it when the neck joints began failing, and the heel began seperating for the second time. Does that make me the champion at resisting MAS? 33 years...not too bad.
I recently got a The Loar LM-520-VS and (after a fabulous setup) am totally loving it. My recent search for a mandolin has sort of left me still in MAS mode and I'd consider the right vintage Gibson if it came along and I could afford it.
2018 Bowerman A-5
2013 The Loar LM-520-VS
2011 Fender FMO-66 Octave Mandolin
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