Well, I have always wanted a mandolin and always wanted to learn how to play. Today my bride ordered one for me. It will be here in time for the weekend. I will post pics once it comes in. Any mandolin players with advice I am all ears!
ABS

I have no advice for you, but I recently bought a mandolin to so I would be interested in any advice also!!

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Can't wait to see it. I have no advise for you. I do not play the mandolin. I do like the way they sound though.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

No advice only to be real good to the little woman,any woman that's supportive of a guy's GAS habit is golden in my book.I found getting used to the tiny neck and fret spacing very hard but apparently Bill Monroe had huge hands and had no problems.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Eric, Chet,

Wow - pretty amazing. I've been in Idaho the past two weeks and I made the same decision while I was up there. I bought 3 books - Hal Leonard "Mandolin Method Book 1", Alfred's "Teach Yourself To Play Mandolin" and Leonard "Mandolin Chord Finder".

I got home last night and today I went Mando hunting. I decided I wanted the Fender FM-53S - right in the middle of the Fender Mando lineup. I found two FM-52E's for $250 each and a FM-63S for $600. The 53S is right in the middle and of course they had one and sold it 5 days ago...

I've got one on order as of 2pm today.

Looks like we've got us some new jam session toys...

Rick

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Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

LOL Good one Chet.

Hey ABS - I'm thinking we now need to get CC a banjo...

RickyD

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Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer

Ricky,
Sounds like a plan. I can also double up on fiddle.. I am getting ready to build one for myself so...well we can really have some crazy jam sessions..

Hi airborne - which? You're getting ready to build a fiddle or a mandolin?

I have a fancy to build a violin for my dad while there's time for him to do something with it. So I'd sure be interested to hear about anyone else doing that.

On the other hand, if it is the mandolin you're planning on building - well, we'd all love to watch that story take place! (Hint hint.)

Cheers - C

Ceri,
Build the violin. I am going to document it all and post it here on the forum. I am working to get my Fender Luthier Certification and this is just going to be one of the fun things for me.. But I will gladly share once I start the build.
ABS

I was gonna buy either a mandolin or a banjo a few months back, i ended up buying a boss super octave and bcb30 pedal board.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

Hot damn - I would LOVE to watch a thread about violin building here on the Forum! That is the ultimate in luthiery - I'm told by people that have done both that a violin is much harder to build well than a lute or guitar.

I once by chance met a Dutch violin maker who lived in Chartres in France. He showed me his very nice little workshop and then a cellist from a major orchestra arrived to try out a new instrument being built for him. He played a movement from a sonata (damned if I can remember what, annoyingly) and then there was some very learned chat about how the fiddle maker was going to take the cello apart and reshape the inside of the soundboard very subtly to tweak the tone. Fascinating - though back then (25 years ago) I understood far less of what I was hearing than I might now...

Anyhow. I'm going to be waiting with patient expectance, Mr Airborne! Respect to you!

Cheers - C

Me too, I have a 1920's with real tortoise shell pickguard (exact to the faux tortoise on SRV's Lenny reissue). It is the oldest "guitar-like instrument" in my collection.
I remember playing it when I was 5 or 6 years old. I had to fight for it when my Grandmother passed. I t was my "first" guitar technically. I was insanely obsessed with guitars ever since. It's all f'd up and has a beautiful patina. I have had luthiers (WAY MORE SKILLED THAN I) look at it and said it would cost $700+ to repair.
I think it looks fine the way it is.

Ceri,
I am anticipating it will take me about 6 months to build it...that is at a minimum...this will be my first build. I will post here and hopefully it will sound good..
ABS

My buddy plays a mandolin. They're tuned like a violin; GDAE which is backwards to a guitar. That means your chord shapes should look like upside down guitar shapes. I know it's not much but it should help you to start to wrap your head around it.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.