mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Feb 22, 2016 13:36:14 GMT
It's looking great, Robbie. Really nice choice of woods.
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mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Feb 17, 2016 7:59:53 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this one develop. The ebony back is beautiful.
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Post by mandovark on Feb 9, 2016 18:46:43 GMT
Lovely - looks like the 015 trim rather than the standard 010.
Congratulations!
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Post by mandovark on Jan 31, 2016 16:28:56 GMT
Lots of good advice here already, so I'll just add one thing.
If and when you make a mistake, laugh it off. If you can smile or laugh about your own mistakes, you'll keep your audience onside. If you become visibly frustrated, it will make the audience uncomfortable.
I once heard Steve Knightley mess up the intro to a song. He turned it into a joke by asking the tech team to turn up the lights - said he couldn't see the dots on his guitar and people would think he was playing it wrong.
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Post by mandovark on Jan 30, 2016 13:28:24 GMT
Glad to hear your new set-up has been a success. Thanks for the info about Paul Guppy - I'm often in the Lancaster area so I'll make a note of his name for future reference. I've been to him a few times over the years and he's always done a good job at a fair price. I believe he builds harps, but he'll do repairs on pretty much anything - I heard about him through a friend whose saxophones and flute he'd repaired.
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Post by mandovark on Jan 29, 2016 19:42:40 GMT
Today I picked up my Fylde Touchstone mandolin from Lancastrian instrument repair wizard Paul Guppy, who has been working his magic on it. For a while now, I've been finding it difficult to play cleanly above first position. I've been getting quite frustrated with it and came close to selling it a couple of times. I got to play Keith's ( ocarolan ) Fylde at the Halifax meetup and found it felt much easier and just more enjoyable to play than mine. A couple of weeks ago I finally got round to taking it over to Paul to see what he could do about it. If it was just a matter of filing down the saddle I would have done it myself, but there was no spare saddle height to work with. Also, the action really only needed lowering on the treble side. Anyway, Paul planed down and slightly reshaped the bridge, then lowered the saddle height towards the treble side. The mandolin feels like a different instrument. The action is comfortable right up the neck, and I can play cleanly where notes were choking before. It's much more enjoyable to play, and I think it even sounds better (possibly because I'm not having to put as much pressure on the strings). Paul has given it an excellent set-up, and only charged me £15 for the privilege. I think the morals of this story are: (1) if you're in the Lancaster area and you need an instrument fixing, go to Paul Guppy; and (2) even a good instrument is only as good as its set-up, so get it done right!
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Post by mandovark on Jan 10, 2016 17:19:48 GMT
I first heard her on Top of the Pops 2 when they played the Over the Rainbow video from Blues Alley. I had it on in the background while I was doing something else, but that one made me stop and listen.
I was just getting into acoustic guitar at the time, and I started learning some of her songs. She was a big influence on my guitar style for song accompaniment.
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Post by mandovark on Jan 10, 2016 16:36:32 GMT
I've just been reminded that it was 20 years ago this month that Eva Cassidy played the concert at Blues Alley that became the last of her albums to be released before her untimely death. It was video footage from this concert that ultimately made her famous when it was played on Top of the Pops 2 and elsewhere, though sadly she didn't live to see her success.
She didn't write her own songs, but she had the rare ability to take a song and make it her own. The 20th anniversary seems like a good time to revisit the Blues Alley recordings and be reminded what a remarkable singer she really was.
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Post by mandovark on Jan 8, 2016 10:07:28 GMT
I've played a couple of Atkins, though it was a few years ago so I couldn't say how well my experience reflects the current ones.
As with a lot of higher-end guitars, I think it depends very much on what you want to play. The Atkins I played were outstanding for flatpicking/rhythm, but less impressive when played fingerstyle. This isn't meant as a criticism - I think that a lot of really good guitars lean towards certain kinds of playing. The professional musicians who use Atkins seem to include a lot of good flatpickers (e.g. Kris Drever), and based on the ones I tried this makes sense to me.
Like I said, this was a few years ago and more recent models might be different. The ones I played were really good guitars if they suit your playing style.
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Post by mandovark on Jan 3, 2016 14:16:26 GMT
Solo From Windmill Lane, Dublin - Duke Special
Nothing Can Bring Back The Hour - Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker
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Post by mandovark on Dec 31, 2015 21:11:16 GMT
I haven't played any Eastmans, but I used to see a lot of discussion about them when I was a regular on the Mandolin Cafe forum. General opinion seemed to be that the quality was good for the price. It might be worth keeping in mind that Eastman mandolins tend to be arch tops, in the style of American bluegrass instruments, whereas the British handmade mandos in the same price range are usually (more or less) flat tops. Carved top mandolins tend to be more expensive, which might be why there is a perception that Eastmans are lower quality than similarly-priced hand-made flat tops.
Personally, I'd think of it more in terms of the sound. In my experience, flat tops tend to sound a bit fuller, but often without the bell-like trebles that a good arch top will have. Arch tops will often have a punchier sound (one of the reasons why bluegrass players tend to like them).
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Post by mandovark on Dec 14, 2015 12:17:36 GMT
I have a cheap Ashbury tenor. It's decent quality for the money, but still very much a budget instrument. I don't play it very much, mostly because of the difference in quality with my better instruments. I am tempted to upgrade to a better one somewhere down the line.
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Post by mandovark on Dec 10, 2015 18:31:57 GMT
I'd drifted away from the old forum a little before the end because of some stressful life circumstances. It took me a while to find this forum, but I'm glad I did. It's one of the most informative, supportive and friendly forums of which I've been a part.
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Post by mandovark on Nov 15, 2015 13:18:49 GMT
Looks great, Nigel - congratulations! And for what it's worth, I think tea is the secret to doing pretty much any job well
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Post by mandovark on Oct 23, 2015 19:55:01 GMT
It's been 2 or 3 years since I last saw them - they used to pass my way every 6 months or so. I've never seen them put on a show that was less than first-class. Enjoy!
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