Qball, Mixing string materials isn't necessarily too far out on a limb. Norman Blake does it on his guitars. But mixing gauges on mandolin pairs seems a bit over the top. But, it might work. I've never tried it. No, wait, I have used the old black string band tuning with octave strings on the G and D. That works pretty good, but you have to get the tension/gauges right on the finer strings.
Re: Mon. Yea, it is odd how much effect he has still. Not only did he change the whole course of my life, but still kicks me in the pants. I had three different folks mention "Southern Flavor" today, so I went and listened to his cut of it with Marty Stuart(or was it Eddie Munster?) playing guitar. I never really cared that much for the tune, but as soon as he hit that first slide up the A string and hit those unison E's, I sat up straight, spellbound, amazed at what I was hearing. Sheesh. I spent an awful lot of time over the years foolishly being under the impression that I'd learned how to play all Bill's tunes and getting good tone. But all that got shot down real fast. I had forgotten what a powerful sound it is/was and I remembered why I was so turned on by it in the first place. All I know for sure is that all I know is what I know and that that's not necessarily all that much. <G> Now what? Tomorrow I'll start again and see what comes of it. TBug On Sep 8, 11:23 pm, qball <[email protected]> wrote: > Tater- here's a oddball idea...one that i have been trying out on > #528........ever tried mixing Gibson Monel's and exp 74's ?..one of > each per course.. > ok..its a bit cuckoo....I know... > a little steel.....a little phospherbronze....mixed string > gauges...probably a terrible idea...in fact i'm sure it is.....forget > i said it..... > then again it might work for you.. > Moving on... > Thats quite a story about your visit w/ Mr. Mon's Loar... never > occurred to me that he may not have had his mandolin set up the way he > liked for so many of those years.... > never occured to me that he would tolerate anything that wasn't up to > snuff... > thanks for setting him up propper...chalk one up for Tater... good on > ya > its funny how things work in this life...how we lost him back in > 96' .... and how much a part of life he is everyday.. > have a great time at camp... > Best....Qball > > On Sep 7, 3:00 pm, mistertaterbug <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Qball, > > I use D'addario's mainly, the EXP74's. I tried the 75's, but #536 > > didn't respond well to them. Sometimes I use stainless steel because I > > really do like the sound of steel strings better, but they're pretty > > noisy, at least in my hands. I use the 80/20 bronze EXP77's on my F4. > > They feel/sound softer. > > > Monroe's action varied I think. Back years ago when he didn't trust > > anybody to work on it, the action was way up. Seems like the neck > > joint must've gotten too hot or something and the glue softened up > > enough to pull the neck up. You could nearly put your hand under the > > strings. He didn't like it, but didn't trust anybody to work on it. > > After he and Gibson made up, they reset it to standard specs. I had > > that mandolin at my house for a few days once(was scared to death the > > whole time). Bill came over and said for me to set the mandolin like I > > like it. It was set pretty low and he said he didn't like it, but the > > boys in the band had put it that way because, as he put it, "...they > > think I can't mash down the strings." So I put his action at the > > height I like it. Bill said, " I think that's better, don't you?" > > > Tbug > > > On Sep 6, 8:23 pm, qball <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > er um...sloppyman here.... > > > I was just putting on a fresh set of strings last night and got the > > > old micrometer out... > > > it seems that i have been set up at 7/16 for some years now.... > > > chops nice and perhaps has a bit more volume but what the hey > > > I went ahead and dropped her down to 5/64 and will have a go at what > > > may be considered a more tater tone... > > > i certainly can use all the help i can get..thanks for the tip > > > > T....I was wondering what kind of strings do you use on your Gil F5's? > > > and do you recall what height bill had his strings at? > > > much thanks.... qball > > > > On Aug 28, 8:57 am, mistertaterbug <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Deep, > > > > I keep my action between 4 and 5/64 at the 12th. It is a compromise > > > > height; just high enough to keep from buzzing(but most any mandolin > > > > will buzz at the 5th fret on the G string, no matter what) and give > > > > you more "pop", but still have some sustain. Of course, lowering the > > > > action a little will give you more sustain and a pretty sound, but > > > > less whallop when you hit a chop chord. > > > > > TBug > > > > > On Aug 28, 1:13 am, deep <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > hi guys > > > > > i know lot of people play bluegrass with a high action. my eastman has > > > > > quite a bit of it i think! and though i love playing it on bluegrass > > > > > songs it become quite a challenge when i play swing style... > > > > > i am attacting this clip which accidentally shows the action. its > > > > > about 4mm at my 12th fret. may be a bit more. is that very high? or is > > > > > that what many people are coping with? > > > > > > my bridge is at the lowest and the nut action is fine. also my truss > > > > > rod is quite tight. perhaps i can turn it another quarter or so. still > > > > > there is quite a bit of neck relief. on top of that there are no set > > > > > up guys in india. can anyone tell me if this action too much? > > > > > >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbO8zJ3ZDD4 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
