So Wormdiet started a harp roll call I had to start with Mando. I do play regular Mando but have played others in the Family and loved them but I actually play Flute primarily. So who else I know you guys are out there.
I used to play mandolin, both regular and octave styles. I got sick and tired of the tuning issues of double course strings. I’m much happier dealing with the tuning issues of Uilleann pipes. 
I am currently abusing the mandolin.
I would have expected it to be the other way around.
Me too. I love mando 
I started on mandolin in about '72, with a $15 model (purchased in Japan–and cheap compared to my $22 fiddle and $25 banjo).
I’ve always played Bluegrass or Old-timey on mando, but I haven’t played it in a band since I left Ft. Lewis in 1982.
I traded my 20-year-old Flatiron two weeks ago as part of the deal for a new guitar, but I may have a used Washburn on the way.
When the top of that $15 Japanese mandolin caved in, I hacksawed off the neck and attached it to an aluminum banjo shell (with resonator) that a friend was tossing after the neck developed an extreme curve. It sounded pretty good with a heavy bridge, but it seems have disappeared during our move. Folks here seem not to think too highly of the banjolin, though. (If I can find the shell, I have the neck from a dead electric guitar that I could put on it.)
I think mandolin is the answer for those of us who can’t quite hack the fiddle. It’s faster and easier than any other plucked string instrument.
I’ve never tried octave mandolin, but if it’s like tenor banjo, the stretch would probably be uncomfortable for me. As I get older, I’m more conscious of the possibility of RSI. Mandola doesn’t make any sense to me as a lead instrument. The range is odd.
I wonder whether the Arlington Guitar Show will include mandolin family instruments. Anyone know?
me here too… anxiously awaiting the return of my D-hole Hyalite from Weber… any day now…
Guilty here also.
I continued playing Mando after I gave up Fiddle, never had the time or money to get lessons.
I have tried an Octave which was really fun but I think I would prefer a Cittern so I could use my Pinkie for the 7th fret (same starting place as Mando I just don’t skip around with my fingers) then have the B string because the slide would be rough that is what happens to me while I Flatpick tunes on Guitar anyway (I don’t do chords). Tenor Banjo has a shorter scale than OM, so OM would probably be harder for you I play a TB once and loved it but I also don’t have the cash as WhOA and FAD have consumed me. I also have mild CST in my left wrist from Mando.
My poor attempt at irony.
Yup, I’m a mando picker. Currently playing a Weber.
Doc
Working on the mandolin and recently discovered the mandola. Like the mandola a bunch.
Hey Doc, what Weber do you have. I picked up a Bridger a few years ago and it just gets better.
So many instruments…so little time. Ain’t it the truth!
jim d
So, do you play most tunes down an octave from where you’d play them on mandolin, with fingering as if it were a fifth above or below?
I can see learning that way if you were starting from scratch, or early on, but it seems a lot to relearn every mandolin tune that way–and harder than going to something entirely unrelated, like guitar. But maybe I’m just over-thinking it? I guess I need to find one somewhere to try out. Unfortunately, I’ve got a feeling that I’m not going to run into a lot of these things in this area.
It is kind of like different keyed Whistles. Hey Doc I didn’t know you played Mando also.
Hey Mike,
It is in some ways like playing whistles in different keys. I’m also working on chord formations and how to move those around the fretboard to get to different keys. But mostly I’m playing the songs as I play them on the mandolin and enjoy the sound a fifth lower. As I play with others more, I’m going to have to transpose but I’m already finding the “trying” to be good for understanding the mandolin and the mandola.
BTW, the mandola is a Mid Missouri. Can’t say enough good about the Mid Missouris.
I have a Troubadour mandola for sale, as well as a Mid Mo MM-8 and a Romanian made Bouzouki. All good instruments in their price range.
Oh yeah, and a Lyon & Healy tenor banjo.
jim
Thanks. That’s what I figured.
My main concern is been playing tunes with others–even though I don’t have any others to play ITM with at the moment.
When I get my mandolin, maybe I’ll try playing a bunch of tunes a fifth off, just to see what it’s like. In Bluegrass jams we normally only play a few Irish tunes, anyhow.
I have a Rose and a cheaper Ibanez mando that I truck around with me everywhere so I don’t have to worry about mucking up my good one. I picked up the mando in late 2003, but it was pretty simple to get used to because I used to be a fiddler (not on the roof, though. I hate hights!) when I was young.
I bought a mid-missouri mandolin a year or so ago and piddle about with it but haven’t really become proficient. All that’s needed it time and that has been sorely lacking.
Right now I’m waiting on an
octave mandolin from Davy Stuart, he was putting the body together last time I spoke to him so it’s getting close!
I’m a mandolin picker too. I’ve played the mandolin more than anything (nine years), I love it. I have a Washburn A and a Goldtone F, I don’t count the broken Samick because it just hangs on the wall. I’d LOVE to have a mandola or/and a bouzouki but I don’t have the money now. These days I play mostly bluegrass on the mandolin but I love to play Irish tunes too, though I don’t play as much Irish on the mandolin as I used to.
I just don’t play as much Mandolin as I used to…