Do we have any mandolin players in CA? I have played guitar for most of my 47 years. I toyed with a mandolin a couple times over the years but never had one. I sold a couple of instruments a couple weeks ago to finance my purchase of a Loar LM-600vs with a Cumberland Accoustic Bridge upgrade from folkmusician.com. I haven't gotten it yet and can't wait to get started. I have a pos that i borrowed from my cousin a month or two ago. The couple other times I tried to play a mandolin I can only explain it this way: Since a guitar is tuned in 4ths and a mandolin is tuned in 5ths it was like I was learning spanish and speaking it but still thinking in english. I have now been playing lead guitar at my church for the last two years and my guitar playing has improved and I have a lot better understanding of scales now. This time when I got the borrowed mandolin, it's as if I am now speaking spanish and thinking in spanish (does that make sense?) I primarily will play bluegrass and am looking forward to expanding my talent.
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Hazel Dalgleish Johnson is a friend of mine- a top mandolin player.
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My BIL is a mandolin player. Has several including a custom that is supposedly made by the top mandolin maker in north america. Twice a year, Evan Marshall comes by to play with my BILs band. Here's a video of Evan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCIJPCbAO1U

The BIL isn't that good, but he ain't shabby either.
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Not many then? Awesome.
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I play mandolin just because it's fun. The scale really is easier.
Practice four finger open position scales, FFOP.
Check out this site, they have a forum: http://www.mandolincafe.com.
Don't get a banjo. :-)
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I don't play the mandolin, but i know a few people that do.

Andrew Hendrix of the band "yarn".
Jesse Cobb formally of the Infamous Stringdusters
My brother. :-)
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My brother plays mandolin. He's played violin for many years, so the mandolin was super easy for him to just pick up and go (same strings/tuning).

I've messed around on it a little, but can't play much except some basic chords. And twinkle twinkle little star.
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This is the song that got me playing mandolin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mflN7IrDMvk
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Joined a week or two ago, but it sure is a lot slower moving.
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Found you.:-)
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sent you a friend request. Now instead of cross thread talking we can cross talk to another forum entirely.LOL
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Just bring back The Maduros already, Gainey. :-)
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Some mando p()rn.
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I am not quite ready (rich enough) to have a flatiron buddy.:-)
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I'll bet that Loar is going to look and sound just as good. When I bought the Flatiron they didn't have anything cheaper that I liked the sound of. The F-types tend to have a bright ringing sound where the A-types seem to be smoother and more vocal. I wanted the loudest, ringingest mando I could find. Mine is a Festival, there is another level up, the Preformer. That one is fully bound and almost twice the price.
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I remember seeing a couple As a few years ago at a local music store and they were nice but way outta my range. I wanted an F as well because I will be playing bluegrass on it mostly so that's the style everyone likes even though you can get more for your money with an A.
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Check out LaPlant mandolins. Great instruments, and the maker Lloyd LaPlant only lives about 10 miles from me. My brother had a problem with a bridge on his violin, and brought it to Lloyd. Lloyd removed teh bridge, sanded it down proper (a partial "setup" of a violin, I'd wager), and at the end of the process, my brother asked him how much it was going to be to fix. Lloyd only wanted to hear him play a song. He is great people, and makes amazing instruments.
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Just did a little searching on pricing of his instruments. Lloyd is old-school (built his first guitar in 1959) and doesn't really use the internet. But whilst searching some other discussion boards, I did see that a brand new mando from him runs a little north of 6K. Not saying they aren't worth it, but it is a high price of admission.
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They are works of art that can be played also. He probably can sell everything he makes and has a waiting list.
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Completely agree, and yes he does sell everything he makes, and has a wait list.

You never see used ones up for sale, which also says a lot.
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