Frequently Asked Questions: Flat Style Flatstyle Mandolins

Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2003 15:48:23 EDT
Subject: A "thank you" and a question...

Hi Micky! I recently bought your intro to mandolin video, and it is excellent. We wasted money on several others that were glorified demonstrations with no learning value before discovering yours - yours alone was worth every penny, so thank you, and now that i've got the bug... a question....

From reading your (excellent) web page the Mid-Mo instruments look like a good choice for me, but I'm wondering - isnt the fact that they dont have an adjustable bridge a concern? I noticed the care you put into you tutorial on setup, and am just wondering how much of a difference this would make to a beginner, planning to keep the instrument for a few years. If you could advise that would be great. Thanks in advance for your time.

- Jake

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Greetings Jake,

Thanks for the kind words regarding my video. I'm hoping to compose a sequel at the intermediate/advanced level. Your positive input inspires me to go forward...

In reference to your Mid-Mo questions:
As you are aware, the Mid-Mo's are flat-style mandolins. To this day, we have not seen one bridge, on a flat-style, with adjustable height. Why is this? We're not sure. It would only make sense to have an adjustable bridge for set-up ease. Fortunately, for most Mid-Mo's, and other flat-style mandos, we're usually capable of setting up the instrument with the factory installed bridge (by sanding if necessary)...however, once it's set up, it's pretty much a done deal; no latitude for experimentation by the player. Notwithstanding, when and if we do set up the instrument, to the player's specs, usually this would work for the player's tastes for years to come.

The flat-style mandolin is a great instrument for soloing. It has an "aliveness" that archtop mandos cannot compete with. This is especially good in certain settings such as: playing by one's self, playing with one or two other instruments (if played in a larger ensemble, the sound becomes somewhat lost), playing fingerstyle arrangements, and playing within certain cletic or old-time genres.

With this said, the flat-style mandolin would be highly recommended to most any beginner. It's a great instrument to learn on...and, my suggestion would be to keep it for added versatility even after buying an archtop later on...

Hope this helps...Mickey