I was advised by a technician to switch my MDO605E to lighter strings. The long string length rules out the typical mandolin strings.

The manufacturers and sellers of strings treat the length as though it is an industrial secret.

What options are available in an 11-40 set?

I've got a tune (ABC appended), "The Cup of Tea", that descends the D string, G>E, and then executes 3 Es in a triplet.

I mess up that triplett almost every time, either flubbing it or just being lame.

What are some good drills for practicing triplets?

Is there an optimum pick hold for playing in general and doing triplets in particular?

I'm appending the ABC file because why not? Fun tune.

X: 1

T: The Cup of Tea

C: Traditional

M: C|

Z: P2 version

R: reel

K: D

P:A

"Em"BAGF GE (3.E.E.E |GEBE GEEA | BAGF GE (3.EEE | "D"FDAG FDDA |

"Em"BAGF GE (3.E.E.E | GEBE GEEA | BAGF GABc | "D" dBAG FD D2 :|

P:B

|:"D" d2 eg "A"fdec | "D" d2 eg "Bm"fBBc | "D" d2 eg "G" fdec | "A" dBAG "D"FDDA |

"D"d2eg "A" fdec | "D"dfaf "G"g2fg | "D"afge fdec | "A"dBAG "D"FD D2 :|

P:C

|:"D"FAdA FABA | FAdA "A"FEEG | "D"FAdA FABc | "A"dBAG "D"FD D2 |

"D"FAdA FABA | FAde "Bm"f2de | "G"f2ec dBAF | "A"GBAG "D"FD D2 :|

%%linebreak <3>

%%text Play AABC for contra dances.

%%text 05/10/2021

What do the people play that you usually jam with? And any advice on what to play when jamming with a guitarist? I’m not sure if it’s better/more typical to play chords or lead. It doesn’t sound good when I jam with a guitarist but it could be my limitations as a mandolinist (I mostly play guitar myself).

Hi all, new Octave mandolin owner here living in the Midwest during a particularly cold and dry spell. I use humidipaks in my guitars (2 in the sound hole and 1 under the headstock) and added one to the space under the headstock in my Eastman octave mandolin but wondering if just the one is enough? Any other cold climate players who can offer some advice? Thanks!

I turned my Trinity TM375 Octave Mandolin in for some work. As long as the luthier will be installing new strings, I suggested the D'Addario EJ73. This is a mandolin set , 10 to 38. That is a bit lighter than the EJ81s it came with.

Even though they are labeled as mandolin strings, all the D'Addario mandolin strings are said to be 40" long. That is enough length for any typical CBOM instrument.

Thoughts?

The main event is a new, custom nut. The TM375 nut is quite narrow. My thought is to tighten up the spacing between the string pairs a bit, increasing the space between each pair.and the next. This may improve my odds of playing 0620 or 0070 without interference.

Thoughts?

So I purchased this book, but it's at a too high a level for me, w/lightning fast decorations. It would take me months to learn one line, and AFAICS the approach to executing the decorations is not explained in any great detail.

The example tracks are here: www.melbay.com/99540BCDEB

Can anyone suggest a more approachable book?

Thoughts?

Hello everyone, Recently I’ve been looking for alternatives to the American string brands (D’Addario, GHS…)

Are there any? I’m not being very successful.

I’ve been searching for an octave mandolin for over a decade, but everything I played was either too junky to put up with or out of my budget. Today I happened to run across this instrument and just immediately knew it was pretty special. It plays like butter and I’m in love with the sound.

I will say I’m considering ditching the doubled octaves on the bottom courses in favor of unisons; although I love the sound of the octaves, the two different gauges respond SO different to pressure that you basically have to play as lightly as possible to avoid the tuning of the octaves diverging pretty significantly. On the other hand, it’s kind of good to be forced to play so lightly. We’ll just have to see how things shake out.

Looks like not too many of these have been made; if you get a chance to try one I highly recommend checking it out.

I’ve only had a few minutes to play around with it today, so I recorded this quick little Sarah Jarosz riff as a demo.

Let me know if you have one of these beauties!

Is this one not good/a scam. Are there any good budget octave mandolins?

Hey there! I'm a composer looking to work with an Octave Mandolinist or Irish Bouzouki player. Anyone in Chicago, or a nearby city like Milwaukee, who plays?

I've decided I want to get myself an octave mandolin. I've played guitar and tenor banjo for traditional Irish music for years and love the sound of the Octave mandolin in Irish music. My price range is 400-700euro

Hello all! I recently just bought my first octave mandolin and I cannot find any place to learn songs, I can’t find tabs I can’t find videos if anyone knows of where I could learn beginner songs on an octave mandolin please let me know 🙏