Now I'll have to learn Mandolin!
Dec 30, 2015 20:41:05 GMT
Wild Violet, Mike Floorstand, and 1 more like this
Post by vikingblues on Dec 30, 2015 20:41:05 GMT
I've just been through the process of a mandolin replacement. Made easier by funds still left from the Lowden sale.
Why a replacement ... the use up till now of a cheap old East German un-badged Mandolin with a playing action and sound that were at best reasonable. Sentimental value in that it was my Dads, but other than that ...
I looked at the pros and cons of oval soundholes v f holes and all I saw seemed to confirm my initial reaction that oval hole would tend to suit celtic music and similar better. I toyed briefly with the idea of mail order, but my confidence in that route has been badly shaken by the Faith Mercury Naked that I had to send back to Gear4Music.
So that meant a trip to Edinburgh and with the target of oval soundholes it meant Scayles made sense. Which was fine by me as it's my favourite instrument shop.
Prior to the trip I did a bit of research on specifications. One thing that I found interesting was that a high proportion of cheaper mandolins seem to have narrower 28mm nuts and scale lengths in the region of 240mm, while the more expensive are 30mm (and upwards) and 360mm. I was not happy how on my existing mandolin was cramped on the fretboard for the left hand fingers. So I put down two specification needed in my choice : at least 30mm nut width and 360mm scale length. With the proviso that if it didn't turn out that makes things easier I would also look at smaller too.
A shortlist fell into place quite easily. Scayles is not a huge shop - think something like 90 Acoustic Guitars, 50 Ukes, 20 Mandolins. Those figures show how minority interest mandolins are. Shortlist was:-
Ashbury AM130 £269 All sapele, satin, 360mm 30mm, Compensated Saddle, Gig Bag
Ashbury E Style £379 Spruce / sapele, Gloss, 360mm, 30mm, Case, Phil Davidson design
Ashbury S Deluxe £459 Spruce / rosewood, 360mm, 30mm Compensated Saddle, Case, Phil Davidson design
Breedlove Crossover 00 £499 Spruce, Maple, Satin, 354mm, 30mm, Compensated Saddle, Radiused fretboard
Morgan Lewis Flatback £599 Spruce / sapele, Satin, 361mm, 32mm, Static Compensated Saddle, Case, Martyn Banks design
I recalled when I tried some octave mandolins last year I tried a Morgan Lewis and it was excellent (and way over my budget then).
I arrived at Scayles at 12.00 on Sunday just as it opened. I was quickly set up with a seat and the 5 mandolins on stands in front of me (plus a tuner). I had been through the logic of what I was looking for with them and I appreciated the fact that they left me alone for over an hour while I tried them out. Playing action and string quality on all of them was good - typical with all instruments at Scayles.
Two instruments were very rapidly out of the running:-
The Breedlove Crossover was discarded after about 20 seconds of playing, though I did double check it again later in the comparisons process - the sound was very brash to my ears and the neck came in at quite an angle to the body so that the bridge was very high indeed. I did not feel any benefit to the playing action for me from the radiused fretboard. So it didn't feel comfortable for hands or ears!
The all sapele Ashbury AM130 lacked sustain compared to the others and the sound was a bit lacking in character. It also suffered, despite having a compensated bridge arrangement, from slight intonation problems.
I was expecting the Ashbury S Deluxe to be better than the Ashbury E style on the basis of price and specification. It certainly looked more nicely decorated and had a compensated saddle. BUT of the two it was the S Deluxe that had the (slight) intonation issues. The E style just had a dead straight saddle - go figure! Also surprisingly in the tone department I felt the S Deluxe was not quite as good.
Which left the Ashbury E style to do battle with the Morgan Lewis Flatback which showed it's class immediately I started playing it. I think I spent something like 40 minutes alternating between the two instruments, even sometimes just playing a phrase on one, then on the other.
It was useful to spend that length of time. It allowed me to get used to the feel of the instruments and get used to their range of sounds. The Morgan Lewis was without doubt the best made mandolin I played on the day. It also without doubt had the best sound from individual notes and the best sustain. But the Ashbury E had tone and sounds that I liked and it had sustain that was totally adequate for my needs. Had they been equal in playability and music making inspiration I don't think the extra £220 would be worth it for the slightly better sound and sustain. As it happened the decision making process was made easier, because the Ashbury E was the one that made me play music most and seemed to encourage me to play - #1 priority for me.
So the second cheapest instrument won through. No complaints from me about that.
Had I not had the experience with the Lowden of mistakenly choosing a high quality instrument on the basis of sound, balance and sustain, but not on my abilities to play it, I suspect I'd have gone for the Morgan Lewis. Maybe an old fool can still learn! 
Specifications on the Ashbury website --> Ashbury E Style Mandolin
New to the Ashbury catalogue in November, and a skilled maker, Phil Dividson involved in the design. Fairly plain design but I like its looks and it is well made - I don't want to pay extra for decoration anyway.
Now all I've got to do is make a proper job of learning to play Mandolin. The sounds of the Ashbury are certainly encouraging me to do so. Sound clips will only appear when I start to get it all together and not sound totally useless!
Mark
Why a replacement ... the use up till now of a cheap old East German un-badged Mandolin with a playing action and sound that were at best reasonable. Sentimental value in that it was my Dads, but other than that ...
I looked at the pros and cons of oval soundholes v f holes and all I saw seemed to confirm my initial reaction that oval hole would tend to suit celtic music and similar better. I toyed briefly with the idea of mail order, but my confidence in that route has been badly shaken by the Faith Mercury Naked that I had to send back to Gear4Music.
So that meant a trip to Edinburgh and with the target of oval soundholes it meant Scayles made sense. Which was fine by me as it's my favourite instrument shop.
Prior to the trip I did a bit of research on specifications. One thing that I found interesting was that a high proportion of cheaper mandolins seem to have narrower 28mm nuts and scale lengths in the region of 240mm, while the more expensive are 30mm (and upwards) and 360mm. I was not happy how on my existing mandolin was cramped on the fretboard for the left hand fingers. So I put down two specification needed in my choice : at least 30mm nut width and 360mm scale length. With the proviso that if it didn't turn out that makes things easier I would also look at smaller too.
A shortlist fell into place quite easily. Scayles is not a huge shop - think something like 90 Acoustic Guitars, 50 Ukes, 20 Mandolins. Those figures show how minority interest mandolins are. Shortlist was:-
Ashbury AM130 £269 All sapele, satin, 360mm 30mm, Compensated Saddle, Gig Bag
Ashbury E Style £379 Spruce / sapele, Gloss, 360mm, 30mm, Case, Phil Davidson design
Ashbury S Deluxe £459 Spruce / rosewood, 360mm, 30mm Compensated Saddle, Case, Phil Davidson design
Breedlove Crossover 00 £499 Spruce, Maple, Satin, 354mm, 30mm, Compensated Saddle, Radiused fretboard
Morgan Lewis Flatback £599 Spruce / sapele, Satin, 361mm, 32mm, Static Compensated Saddle, Case, Martyn Banks design
I recalled when I tried some octave mandolins last year I tried a Morgan Lewis and it was excellent (and way over my budget then).
I arrived at Scayles at 12.00 on Sunday just as it opened. I was quickly set up with a seat and the 5 mandolins on stands in front of me (plus a tuner). I had been through the logic of what I was looking for with them and I appreciated the fact that they left me alone for over an hour while I tried them out. Playing action and string quality on all of them was good - typical with all instruments at Scayles.
Two instruments were very rapidly out of the running:-
The Breedlove Crossover was discarded after about 20 seconds of playing, though I did double check it again later in the comparisons process - the sound was very brash to my ears and the neck came in at quite an angle to the body so that the bridge was very high indeed. I did not feel any benefit to the playing action for me from the radiused fretboard. So it didn't feel comfortable for hands or ears!
The all sapele Ashbury AM130 lacked sustain compared to the others and the sound was a bit lacking in character. It also suffered, despite having a compensated bridge arrangement, from slight intonation problems.
I was expecting the Ashbury S Deluxe to be better than the Ashbury E style on the basis of price and specification. It certainly looked more nicely decorated and had a compensated saddle. BUT of the two it was the S Deluxe that had the (slight) intonation issues. The E style just had a dead straight saddle - go figure! Also surprisingly in the tone department I felt the S Deluxe was not quite as good.
Which left the Ashbury E style to do battle with the Morgan Lewis Flatback which showed it's class immediately I started playing it. I think I spent something like 40 minutes alternating between the two instruments, even sometimes just playing a phrase on one, then on the other.
It was useful to spend that length of time. It allowed me to get used to the feel of the instruments and get used to their range of sounds. The Morgan Lewis was without doubt the best made mandolin I played on the day. It also without doubt had the best sound from individual notes and the best sustain. But the Ashbury E had tone and sounds that I liked and it had sustain that was totally adequate for my needs. Had they been equal in playability and music making inspiration I don't think the extra £220 would be worth it for the slightly better sound and sustain. As it happened the decision making process was made easier, because the Ashbury E was the one that made me play music most and seemed to encourage me to play - #1 priority for me.
So the second cheapest instrument won through. No complaints from me about that.
Had I not had the experience with the Lowden of mistakenly choosing a high quality instrument on the basis of sound, balance and sustain, but not on my abilities to play it, I suspect I'd have gone for the Morgan Lewis. Maybe an old fool can still learn! 
Specifications on the Ashbury website --> Ashbury E Style Mandolin
New to the Ashbury catalogue in November, and a skilled maker, Phil Dividson involved in the design. Fairly plain design but I like its looks and it is well made - I don't want to pay extra for decoration anyway.
Now all I've got to do is make a proper job of learning to play Mandolin. The sounds of the Ashbury are certainly encouraging me to do so. Sound clips will only appear when I start to get it all together and not sound totally useless!
Mark
Jo whoever he is.
