Acoustic Electric Mandolins Questions & Answers

Subject: Mandolin
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 08:56:02 -0500

Greetings Tim,

Hi Mickey,
I bought some instruments from you back in late 1999 and early 2000. I am still playing the Rigel A+ and still love it. I am running it through a Fishman Pro eq and into a Fender Stage 100 DSP Amp. Sound is awesome. But I am finding that when I kick in the overdrive, I have a huge feedback issue. This only happens on the classic rock songs where I am doing the lead work. Besides my close proximity to the amp, I attribute this to the piezo pickup. In many of the places we play there, isn't room for me to increase the distance to the amp, so I have to look to other options.

Yes, this is common of acoustic instruments with transducer pick-up systems...some mandolinists forego the pick-up system altogether. Such as David Grisman...he uses a Sennheiser mic solely and will not amplify his mandolins electrically...this is great when considering that this will be the closest to reproducing the natural qualities of your mandolin. Unfortunately, if competing with a loud setting of drums and bass, it's next to impossible to carry above with an acoustic instrument depending on a mic...

This is why Tiny Moore, with Bob Wills, used a solid body electric mandolin...it allowed him to have the same presence as other solidbody electrics...

So what I am wondering is… I see you have the solid body Kentucky electric Mando KM 300E.
Have you played around with it much?

Yes, I have...and it's OK...the one I tried out needed the pot cleaned...otherwise, it sounded fine. It allows you the same fingerboard language as a standard mandolin...yet, it sounds like an electric guitar played above the 12th fret...Only, keep in mind, it is an inexpensive mandolin with some compromise...the upside is that it will give you a chance to try out a solidbody electric mandolin without too much outlay. If it doesn't wokrout, you can always use our 100% trade-up value....

I am thinking that solid body and coil pickups would take
care of my problem, since I don't have the same problem with my start. Do you have anything laying around
in a solid body 8 string?

Sorry, I haven't seen an 8-string electric mandolin to date...not sure why? It seems that it would have the character of a mandolin over and above the single string layout...

Wishing you the best in your research efforts, Mickey

Thanks for you time and input.

Tim Winey

Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:48:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Acoustic Mandolins vs. Acoustic-Electric Mandolins

Hello, I have been interested in purchasing a mandolin
for awhile now. I recently went into a local music
store and saw a Acoustic-Electric Mandolin for the
first time. Now, I don't know how to play, but I'm
interested in learning. So my question is:
Which is better, an acoustic Mandolin or a
Acoustic-Electric Mandolin? Will the
Acoustic-Electric Mandolin sound as good as a regular
Acoustic if it isn't amplified? Please help! Thanks *Kayla*

Greetings Kayla,

Nice name...

The Acoustic/Electric mandolin will serve your needs if you ever find yourself playing in an electric band setting...now, any acoustic mandolin can have a pick-up added/installed for added versatility...this can be done as you purchase the mandolin or even at a later date after you've purchased your mandolin.

Therefore, the acoustic mandolin is not necessarily better than an Acouctic/Electric one...only, one offers versatility over the other. Acoustically, they will sound similar with or without a pick-up...unless one mandolin is a different brand or a different style...in which, they of course will then have a different tone from each other.

If you're looking for a mandolin to learn on, and have no plans to be playing in an electric setting anytime soon, my suggestion would be to go with an acoustic model.

Mickey