software

I bet this thread is gonna feel awfully lonelly so be sure to keep it company (answer it lol).

Ok, I'll be starting the mandolin and while I'll be having a mando lent sooner or latter I'l want my own instrument when some finantial worries go away and when my skill is up to it, so I think I should have some ideas righ now and start researching on it (that's how I bought my guitar and I don't regret havin spent so much time looking up what I needed).

Ok, I know I don't want a Gibson, there's something that just says quot;No, this is not for youquot;. I want something pear shaped (A-style, I think you call them) and possibly with a arched back but not top (that's how they're done traditionally around here and I'd like it like that).

Now, What will I gain in terms of sound hole? F-hole or circular?

Long scale or short scale? Wich one is best for lead wich one is best for chords? What will allow me to do both and wich will only let me do one thing?

What materials are normally usd for these instruments?

I'm thinking of buying something with a slotted head, lets admit it, with a pear shapped and a round sound hole it looks better with a slotted head than with quot;normalquot; tuners. Another possibility is Ebglish tuners but these are usually found on really expensive or really cheap guitars (don't ask me why don't know). I know the slotted is used on medium but they still hae bad reputation because originally they were only used on poor models while the English tuners were used on medium to top grade instruments.

Do these come with trusrods? Should I look for the ones who do or is there little to no need?

Anything I forgot? It is late but I'm excited on this and I want to start research on this ASAP.

Thanks in advance

Luís.

My friend's dad is quite the mando player. Has a few couple thousand dollar ones.

The only real answer I can give you is. No truss rods. They essentially are tricked out violins.

i have a old cheap a style mando and its a lot of fun and sounds decent. its arched on top and back. the last mando i played that i thought was cool was a tacoma.

I doubt I will be spending a lot on them. All of what I've seen around are pretty inexpensive things (150€ seems to buy you something cool). That's why I'm not buying American brands, these are Portuguese (not very likely as we only have old luthiers who sell the for thousands), spanish or italian both of wich are most likely and what we generelly use.

Brazilian wouldn't be out of the question I suppose, but I think they use a different tuning I they might be braced for it so that is the only thing that might prevent them of comming from there.

A lot of people seem to have these instruments and seem quite happy with them. I'll post a pict of what's standard around here, maybe that's why they're cheapper LOL.

Thanks on the trussrod info proxy and being tricked violins seems to make sense, they're tuned in the same way right? EADG?

Jeremy, yeah the Tacoma's look cool but I'm really looking for something more traditional. I'll look for something more advanced later on if I keep up the mando.

What would you guys look for in a mando? Scale lenghts? Short or long? Etc, ect, etc?

Thanks for the replies so far keep em comming.

See you tomorrow.

I had a custom made mandolin when I was a teenager. My dad bought it for me. It had a round sounding hloe, English tuners, long scale length and a quot;Vquot; neck. I played the classical style and the quot;Vquot; neck really fitted my hand well, which made playing a breeze. Somehow I think the ones with the round holes have a brighter sound than the ones with the quot;Fquot; slots. It is just from my memory and I may be wrong though.

Is it usually best if they are bighter or mellower? Or is it just a personal preference?

Some pics of what we find around here.

The emblematic mando around here, featuring English tuners:

The poor mans version, featuring a slotted head:^One of these are what I'm most likelly getting.^

Brazilian version, from what I'm told features a different tuning and the large body makes it a bit different in tone. I suspect it's the dreadnought of mando's:A classic, and what I'd really love but it most likelly cost an arm and a leg:Bumpity Bum Bump

what tuning do you use?

What do you mean by you?

We, Portuguese, use the same tuning as you do, or should I say, you Americans use the same tuning as we do, GDAE.

If you mean what tuning I use, I'll be using the standard, GDAE. I'm not playing yet, I'll start in a couple of weeks and if I really hit it off I'll be buying my own instrument (I have a lent one) so I'm doing my homework.

When I played the mandolin, It was mostly the classical and easy listening stuff and I preferred the mellower sound. If you want to play rock n roll with it, then you may prefer a brighter sound or it may be drown out by other electrical musical instruments. You can really feel the emotional effect of the mandolin if you paly among other non-electrical string instruments.

Judging from your pics, the poor man's version will probably give you a brighter sound than the classic version because of the size of the sound hole, but I love the look of the classic version may be it is because I get use to the look of it during my playing days.

The folks who will teach me and with whom I'll be playing with (the reason why they're teaching me is that they lost their mando players and I'll be filling in) are in a Tuna, no electric instruments will be used and we amplify them with mikes (no pups are used).

We'll play more or less what can be described as folk music. Rock will not be much of a concern right now and if I ever get into that it will be on my own (after the tuna I don't intend on playing with anyone else).

Thanks on the tip on the sound hole, I forget that would have some influence.

Some things I still need to know:

1) Are there scale lenghts I need to deal with? Which is best for what? I'm asking because the Portuguese guitar is a very similar instrument (in the same family) and we have three scale lenghts that determine if it's for chording or soloing so I'm thinking if the same doesn't apply.

2) I want something that I can use in a group and by myself. Should I take anything into consideration when buying the instrument? I know I most likelly need some sort of pup, but I'm willing to add that later on (probably a PUTW if I can get one).

Since I don't know exactly what king of folk music you will be playing. I would venture to say you can most likely get by with the poor man's version unless you play a lot of slow love songs or songs with minor scales.

As for scale length, the reason I had my with a longer scale length was because the person who made it preferred a more solid sound, a longer scale length would produce that sound and so he made it that way. I don't think you can get that nowadays unless it is custom made.

I prefer using a mic instead of a pickup. You can't get the resonance with a pickup. The rich resonance is what makes the mandolin stand out, especially when you do the fast rolling pick.

I'm asking about scale lenghts because the store from wich I buy my stuff has two models side by side and they slightly different scale lengts (not going into another intrument kind of different, more on the lines of Gibby/Fender different and you can only tell because they're side by side). I did taky into acount the rest of the differences in lenghts.

Well poor man's version it will probably be. Thanks.

Any further input is appreciated but I think thats all I need to know.