Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:But, bumble, I have to admit that I am confused by your request. What kind of advice are you looking for other than "go for it and have fun!"?

Mandolin makes and manufacturers?
Reputable retailers?
Instructors?

Ah, sorry for any lack of clarity. I keep trying to picture you actually saying, "Go for it and have fun!" It's not working. I am also trying to picture you hopping up and down in excitement over the accordion. That isn't working, either.

To clarify:

1) I am interested in where to pick up a decent but entry-level instrument (i.e., not too expensive) here in Chicago.

2) Also, any recommendations on song books would be great. I already read well and would prefer to throw myself into learning songs rather than practicing scales or finger exercises.

3) I realize I will have to learn chords, so if there are any mandolin-specific chord books that you think are worthwhile, please let me know.

Many thanks!

Rabbits are quick and efficient. Thanks!

I play mandolin. It comes in handy sometimes. I've been offered sex just because I can play the mandolin. You should pick one up for that reason alone.

[Coughs, looks around, turns red] I'll, um, get right on that.

Christopher J. McGarvey wrote:bumble, you seem like more of a banjo person to me.
When the cat gets out of line, start playing the dueling banjo stuff and it will get the fear.
Just like Ned Beatty.

She's out of line right now. She purrs and yells at the same goddamn time, all the time. Girl will have no truck with banjos.

Three questions, three answers (though not necessarily in order):

The best mandolin tune book is actually a fiddle book: David Brody's The Fiddler's Fakebook. There's a mandolin version written in tablature, but tab is for pussies.

The tunes in there will give you a good foundation on the instrument. Fiddle tunes are idiomatic on the mandolin, and all the standard repertoire is in there.

If you know violin and a little music theory, you'll never need a chord book. You should be able to figure out any chords you need. It's tuned in 5ths, and the chord forms are all very logical. That said, there's a good guide in Jethro Burns' mandolin method book, which is worth reading.

There are a lot of decent inexpensive instruments out there. The mandolin was once a much more popular instrument than it is now, so there is a large supply of high-quality older instruments out there. There are also some good-quality imports available that are cheap. If you're in Chicago, Different Strummer at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Lincoln Avenue has a decent selection of inexpensive new instruments.

If you're looking to spend a little bit more, Elderly Instruments in Lansing does web and mail order business, and has a much larger selection.

Enjoy. It's a great instrument.

i´m also a bit interested in the mandolin - bah, basically any small stringed instrument that you can strum and take with you anywhere you want.
i was thinking first of the ukelele, but they are hard to find here, and perhaps the mandolin is even more particular.
so, three questions:
a) what about tuning it like a guitar (in fourths or something)
b) what about amplifing them? electric mandolin? just mike it? piezo-electric'
c) anybody knows the Westfield brand for mandolins?

Benny wrote:a) what about tuning it like a guitar (in fourths or something)

Might make chording hard for your man-fingers.

b) what about amplifying them? electric mandolin? just mike it? piezo-electric'

Had an electric (semi) mandolin with electric pickup. Sounded fine plugged into a guitar amp, although (obviously) not like an acoustic mandolin. Semi acoustic mandolins can also be miked though - they sound far closer (unplugged) to a regular mandolin than a semi acoustic guitar does to an acoustic guitar...

When I first tried playing the mandolin, I tried tuning it like a guitar. The old studio pro Tommy Tedesco used to tune everything like a guitar, and it worked for him.

That said, it severely limited my development on the instrument. It's actually much harder to play in that tuning, and doesn't sound as good.

It's easy to learn an instrument that's tuned in fifths. Once you get past the initial confusion, it's way easier. In first position, one finger covers two frets. You have a range of two octaves and a third without moving your hand.

There are a lot of different ways to amplify the instrument. I have a couple of solid-body mandos, and they have a very distinctive sound. More like a pedal steel guitar than a regular electric guitar. I have a couple acoustic mandos with Fishman bridge pickups. These generally sound like ass plugged in unless you have a good preamp.

With an acoustic mando, I prefer to use a condener mic, like an AKG C1000 set to hypercardioid. I have been able to use a condenser in even the loudest bars, and it sounds way better than plugging in an acoustic instrument. Bridge pickups limit the dynamic range of the instrument and generally sound shrill to me.

Never heard of Westfield mandolins. Sorry.

A few thoughts for Benny:

There's nothing stopping you from tuning the mandolin in fourths, but the advantage of having it in fifths is that you get a larger range over that small neck area.

The string tension's much higher on the mandolin than on the ukulele, and so you can get a much better cheap uke than you can a cheap mandolin. I actually have both. The cheap mandolin was cheap as mandolins go, but still was a lot more than the cheap uke. The mandolin's been pulling itself apart for years, and now the action is too high. The ukulele works just fine, probably because the tensions involved are not as critical as they are with the mandolin. I play the uke a lot, and the mandolin not at all now. (I did like playing the mandolin, when it was playable.)

For electrification, I've had great results with a K&K Sound piezoelectric pickup.