Well 'good stuff' is as 'good stuff' does. You are right: there is all kinds of interplay there: I played a Chinese Bouzouki in London which was going for 200 pounds, nasty construction and bits of glue everywhere, but it sounded fantastic to me. I think I'm just going through one of those phases which are probably signs of learning: "no tone, crap right hand, crap left hand, no originality, timing all off, can barely hold a pick, trouble standing vertical and keeping nose clean, dog has more natural talent..."
It will pass On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 8:15 PM, bgjunkie <[email protected]> wrote: > You say you have a Lebeda and then go on to say “good stuff” later, I have > played several Lebedas and they are really good mandolins. I played a > Lebeda A at Cotton Music here in Nashville that made me want to sell my > Gibson F9 – it had that singing quality that a lot of Collings mandolins. I > have a friend with a Lebeda octave mandolin that is one of the sweetest > sounding things I have ever heard. > > > > Just saying you might try new or different strings, as well as play around > with some different picks (and they don’t have to be the expensive ones > either). I play a lot with the Dunlop Ultex 1.14 picks and love the way > they sound with my F9, but if I want a brighter tone I might play something > thinner. I bought one of the Dawg picks once and it gave a really dark tone > that I did not care for. > > > > To wrap up my ramble - a friend has let me borrow his Gibson Sam Bush model > (good stuff – right?), but sometimes I prefer the tone I get from my F9. I > like the playability of my Epiphone MM30 better than all of them, but the > tone is not as good. There is always something, just keep playing and > having fun doing it. > > > > Steve > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Robin Gravina > *Sent:* Friday, January 21, 2011 7:05 AM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: Blaming my tools > > > > Portugal is an idea, and I will do the strings;: I just use Addario J74's > which I think are phosphor bronze (it says 'Ricky Skaggs uses this pack', so > they must be good, right? ;-)) > > > > I might just be going through a patch of self-doubt, as other times I like > my tone, but I think it's also just hearing people playing really good > top-end instruments: mine is a Lebeda. I would like to go to Brighton to > play on some of the good stuff in Trevor's shop and see if the impression > that I have is real (and get tempted to spend money I don't have), but also > I know I need to work on a smooth, minimalist left hand and on getting all > of the 'air' out of the notes with my right. > > > > Thanks for the comments- I'll keep plugging away. > > Cheers > > Robin > > > > On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 5:39 AM, Linda <[email protected]> wrote: > > Robin, > I am using phosphor bronze strings and they really suit my particular > mandolin. They tell me when they start to go, and it is awful. > Finding the right strings that suit your mandolin, and keeping them up > to date can really help with tone. > > If that don't work then talking to a skilled and knowledgeable luthier > could reveal what other issues might be around. Check that your fret > wires are not worn. I had that happen and the tone became very > distressing. The set up could be a bit off. I honestly did not > notice any tone issues with your videos. > > I look at your playing and see all the things I can't do well, yet, > that you can. > > I am able to get a very good tone from my mandolin when I play slow > enough but at speed it deterioriates. The tune gets really muddy as I > still have issues controling the pick when playing double stops, or > very fast, to get the playing clear and clean. I am currently > playing out anyway, faster, more double stops and really loud, free, > not worrying much here at the house how it sounds but more attention > to what is going wrong that I can work on, to eventually get a better > sound going when playing more complex things and playing faster. > > Thats about all I can think of to say, but hope you find the answers > so you feel happier about things. I hear you about having to travel > to purchase a mandolin, to have the choice and such. Its so personal. > > Over the last two years, I have been working on double stops, slides, > chord structure, memorizing tunes, position and habit issues to > change, finger patterns, especially reaches like from A to C# on the G > then to the E on the D string and to do that quickly. Its coming > along, all of it. Lots and lots of work though and still, feeling > like things are not exactly in place yet. > > You know there should be some really good mandolin type lutiers in > Portugal. > > best > linda > > > > > > > > > > > On Jan 20, 12:29 am, Ed Goist <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Robin: > > Could it be your strings? > > Since string quality degrades slowly, we often don't notice it until it > gets > > really bad (kinda' like the frog that never jumps out of a pot slowly > heated > > to a boil [?]). > > On more than one occasion I've been shocked by the improvement in my > > mandolin's tone brought about simply by installing new, high-quality > > strings. > > Just a thought. > > -Ed > > > > > On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 3:52 AM, Robin Gravina <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Hi to all, on the old communications channel > > > > > I'm getting tone paranoia: it strikes me from seeing a lot of > everyone's > > > great videos how poor my tone is: I hear most people with great ringing > > > sound, clear note separation and that kind of floating sound you get > from > > > the combination of those things. To me, lately, I sound like I just > chucked > > > a load of spanners down the stairs and into a tin box. > > > > > It's pretty hard for me to try out other mandolins, as I have to fly to > > > England for the nearest shop, but I am really starting to wonder if > it's me, > > > or my tool. > > > > > Cheers > > > Robin > > > > > -- > > > 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]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > <taterbugmando%[email protected]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > > > > > > . > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > > > -- > > Ed Goist > > Development Officer, > > WYSU-FM 330-941-3364 > > *********************** > > “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not > > only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of > > mankind.” - Henry David Thoreau > > ************************ > > > > > 329.png > > < 1KViewDownload > > > -- > 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]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > > > > -- > 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. > > -- > 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]<taterbugmando%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. 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