Well, you can't really call it an Axe. :wink:
Definitely more of a hatchet size.
Fiendishly tiny neck, so fingering is diabolically tricky. But I thought that if I persisted for a while it would help my fingering on the guitar. Hopefully the guitar will feel amazingly ROOMY after the mandolin!
Surprisingly fun to play around with. :) Only a Chinese cheapo and the electrics are really weird. I think they put two tone pots on. Maybe they ran out of volume ones, as the one marked "Volume" makes no difference at all to the level! They're getting another into the shop next week, so we're going to compare and see if mine is really a stuff up, or whether it's just a case of "you get what you paid for - a cheapo." Still sounds OK though, which is all that matters.
It's made me take another look at the old wreck we have hanging on our wall. It belonged to my wife's grandad and has been extensively screwed up and bastardised. For instance the tuners on the right are made from two sets, one against the other, giving one spare non working peg! And there's no back on it either. :shock:
Might be a fun project trying to get some sound from it. There are obviously two E strings missing at the moment, but the spots where they attach look Ok.
Anybody had any experience of these? "Banjolins" seem to be a rare beast around these parts now.
Cheers, Chris.
Looks like it will be fun Chris.
If I ever get down to visit my daughter her husband offered to give me lessons on mandolin and banjo. He is a high school music teacher and band director and pretty much plays everything but his love is strings. I am always uncomfortable playing around him but he always puts me at ease after awhile.
Just out of interest, how's a mandolin tuned? In pairs like a twelve string?
And again just out of interest, how's a banjo tuned?
:D :D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Yep, mandolins go in pairs: GG DD AA EE, in fifths.
Nice hatchet Chris_C.
Now I really regret not buying a mandolin from my friend's dad for $60 a few months ago.
"If I had a time machine, I'd go back and tell me to practise that bloody guitar!" -Vic Lewis
Everything is 42..... again.
Nice catch there Chris. WE expect some Led Zep sound-bites pretty soon. :)
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
And again just out of interest, how's a banjo tuned?
:D :D :D :D
Vic
Apparently (according to ezfolk.com) single strings most commonly tuned so:
D - 1st string
B - 2nd string
G - 3rd string (one octave lower than the 5th string)
D - 4th string (one octave lower and the 1st string)
G - 5th string (the short string on top when holding the banjo)
The beast in the second picture is a hybrid of the two - banjolin. It's got the banjo body but a mandolin style neck, and is strung as a mandolin - i.e. the four pairs, instead of single strings.
As Paul says, the mandolin is EE, AA, DD, GG which is rather like the 6th, 5th, 4th and 3rd strings on the guitar. The big difference is that on the mandolin the G is the bass string (if you can call it "bass"!) and the Es are the thinnest and highest strings. The opposite to the guitar.
So the chords are all arse-about compared to the guitar. :? And require the fingers of a pixie, or so it seems....
Don't expect anything too tuneful from me for a while yet :wink:
If I ever get down to visit my daughter her husband offered to give me lessons on mandolin and banjo.
Take the lessons Nils - please. :D Then I can pester you for tips!!! :twisted:
Ah well, Chris, at least you can have fun with your new "hatchet"...even if it is bass-ackwards!!!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
very kewl Chris! i have always loved the sound of mandos & banjos.
#4491....
nice hatchet chris.
mandos are alot of fun.
pots are the same weither for tone or volume if I undersand things correctly.
the difference is the wiring. the tone pot usually has a cap on it to bleed off the treble.
so maybe those chinese wired things funny.
nice hatchet chris.
mandos are alot of fun.
pots are the same weither for tone or volume if I undersand things correctly.
the difference is the wiring. the tone pot usually has a cap on it to bleed off the treble.
so maybe those chinese wired things funny.
Thanks for the pot info mate. I expect it's just dodgy wiring or soldering. Good excuse to pull it all apart anyway. :D
Of course, you realise this is ALL YOUR FAULT for posting that pic of all your amazing gear and giving me mando GAS!! (Although yours might have been lutes....???... now I haven't got one of those yet.... aaarghh... :shock:
I'm now a mandolin player of one whole day's standing, having never picked one up before. Although I've been playing guitar for over a year and have reasonable callouses, that teeny fretboard and tight little pairs of strings sure played merry hell with my finger tips. :cry:
I did manage to coax a few noises out of it though. Not exactly Bill Monroe, but what do you expect for one day..... :wink:
MP3 for the Mandolin Minded Musical Masochists to Mutter at...
very kewl Chris! i have always loved the sound of mandos & banjos.
Listening to that mp3 should cure you of that mate. :wink:
Cheers, Chris
nah, i'm a glutton for punishment :wink:
#4491....
sounds good to me, nice looking hatchet :D I just ordered one, in fact it should be on my porch any time now. This is just a cheap beginners model, but it had good reviews. I just wanted something to add some texture to my recordings.--the dog
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/519327/
sounds good to me, nice looking hatchet :D I just ordered one, in fact it should be on my porch any time now. This is just a cheap beginners model, but it had good reviews. I just wanted something to add some texture to my recordings.--the dog
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/519327/
you will be happy (assuming they send you a good one)
i tried out several of these the other day when shopping at MF in KC. they are surprisingly nice for the money.
#4491....
OMG--You get to actually shop at MF :!: :?: That would be like dying and going to heaven. Talk about having a GAS attack :lol: :lol: :lol: --the dog
