Godin A8

[gakees]

I've just about talked myself into a Godin A8. Are any of you familiar with this thing? I haven't played one yet but you get a 30 day or so trial period with MF.

[sliding-tom]

You play mandolin? You gotta teach me some!

[gakees]

No, I don't consider myself a mandolin player although I do have one. I know the chords and can work my way around the fretboard a little, but I've never really tried to learn how to "play" the thing. I used it on a couple of the songs I posted on soundclick, but nothing really complicated. Anyway, I'm ready to give it a try. The Godin has received some good reviews, I like the way it looks and it's affordable.

[gakees]

Got it!

Very comfortable to play and I love the sound. Guess what I've been doing all day......

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e164/gakees/Godin2.jpg

[sliding-tom]

Got it!

Very comfortable to play and I love the sound. Guess what I've been doing all day......

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e164/gakees/Godin2.jpg

Watching TV? :ha! Congrats!:wail

[Rockabilly69]

Gakees,

That's a sweet looking mandolin. I gave my girlfriend Paula my Fender FM62SE mandolin for Christmas. She's been learning to play on it anyway, so I figured what the hey. She's tickled pink and learning pretty fast.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/rockabilly69/My%20Instruments/FenderMandolin.jpg

So that Godin sounds good, huh? I was wondering how the pickup sounds in those things. I played one of their acoustic electric guitars and it sounded pretty good. What are you plugging it into? I like how clean the design looks?


Dan

Kanab has an old ghost towne / movie set that I used to visit in my twenties.

Hey I visited California recently (San Anselmo), While I was there I wrote a song on the mandolin, it's called "Trying To Tell You" it's on my myspace/danielweldonsongs page. I used my new/old mandolin on it which still needs a pickup and I stil can't figure out what to get for it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/rockabilly69/My%20Instruments/BernardAllenMandolin.jpg

[gakees]

Hey Dan, I bet this is your ghost town......

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e164/gakees/IMG_0114.jpg

I just happened to have some pics of it from my wife's trip last year. She loves to roam and take pictures.

I've only played my mandolin thru a little 10 watt Marshall practice amp using a Boss ME50 for a little reverb. It sounds pretty damn nice with a little delay also. It has slider controls for treble, mid and bass which actually are very definitive from end to end. So, a variety of tones are available. My brother has one of the Gibson Sam Bush models so, unfortunately :rflao, that's all I have to compare it to. But, we won't go there. I really like the way it sounds, however, since it can easily go from bright to mellow. I'm going to be sending it in for a historic makeover soon, go for the '50's wiring and have it routed for a timbucker. It can only get better. May go for the aluminum tailpiece too :dude :dude .

Enjoy the picture of the ghost town and hopefully (assuming this is the one) it brings back some good memories. Now, I'm off to your website to listen to your new song.

[sliding-tom]

Don't forget to get some vintage NOS bumblebees! :rflao

[gakees]

Damn Tom, I forgot to budget for caps :## . You know this thing is heavy. It has a spruce top but the body is made from a solid slab of mahogany that has two routed chambers. Still, it's pretty danged heavy despite it's size. Very good unplugged volume too.

[Rockabilly69]

Gakees,

Yep that's the one! And it does bring back some memories. My friends and I camped there for my very first Utah road trip. It was a winter camping trip, and I quickly realized how cold the southern Utah desert gets at night.

Oh yeah don't forget to drop that mando in the freezer for some quality finish checking. Or you can leave it with me for the week 'cause I'll be loading my stuff in and out of the freezing weather. Lot of ski resort gigs!

Dan

[gakees]

By my recollection, I've been playing stringed instruments for about 45 years. Now, I've got to tell you that I haven't been able to practice my mandolin playing since Saturday morning because of SORE FINGERS!!:wah Damn. I mean freakin' sore. Now I know you play mandolin a little differently than guitar but crapola as my wife would say. I'm going to leave it alone again today but come tomorrow, it's BALLS TO THE WALLS :wail

Dan --- how's Paula doing with hers? And that new/old mandolin sure looks nice :dude .

[Rockabilly69]

Alan, Paula has been practicing every other night. She's trying to figure out the correct thumb position. She complains of soreness, but she's not a guitar player so that's to be expected! I did put a new set of strings on it right before I gave it to her, but she was practicing on it when it was still mine:)

And I don't really play mandolin that much, unless I'm recording, so my fingers really don't get that sore. My new/mandolin has a great action so that help a ton.

I went into guitar center the other day and bought some mandolin chord and instruction books so maybe I'll learn some new stuff. I'm totally self taught when it comes to mandolin so it can't hurt!
Dan

[gakees]

Dan, here's a great site...you may have seen it already

http://mandolincafe.com/

[Rockabilly69]

Alan,

I have been to that site, and I drop in once in a while. When my mandolin was stolen I checked their classifieds looking for a replacement. It's a good site. But as for learning how to play, I loved figuring out how to play myself so that I could develop my own sound. It was just like being a kid learning how to play the guitar! The chords books show me just how ridiculous some of my chord shapes are:rflao

Dan