Already lowered the bridge as far as it’ll go.

How far down into Florida can you get a good note with sustain on your rig? Mainly on the E?

I’ve been taking lessons for ~10 months but have been having fun with my mandolin for a few years now, all to say I don’t feel brand new but I still have baby deer legs. My problem is that I don’t seem to be engaging my third and fourth fingers correctly when I hit four finger chords, and often when I’m playing melody (more so the fourth finger here). My teacher and I have touched on the issue for months but neither of us have figured out why the technique isn’t happening correctly. She keeps telling me that I need to play like I’m curling my fingers inwards and that I’m stretching incorrectly with my 3rd and 4th fingers. To illustrate, think about how you’d hold a book in your left hand with the 3rd and 4th fingers supporting the bottom. She’s saying I’m doing that when playing and that I’ll end up with an injury if I keep doing it. And she’s also pointed out that I tend to death grip the neck when holding chords. But when I try anything else it feels like a huge reach or I don’t get good tone, and I don’t have small hands. I have long, spindly fingers and also tend to splay, which is also a part of this problem. I’ve tried positioning my hand every way I can but I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve searched all over this sub and online, I’ve watched videos, and I just don’t know what to do. Playing four finger chords is so uncomfortable and I’m insanely tense when I try. I feel like I’m pressing down so hard but I don’t get good tone when I try to loosen up. Maybe I need my action lowered. Maybe it’s an issue of practice and building new muscles, but I’m practicing regularly and I’m really trying to build good technique. Anyway, any thoughts or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying so hard and I just want to develop good technique but it feels impossible.
Thank you so much for reading, and thank you in advance for any kind thoughts you may have to share.

Edit: I’m aware of the fingernails, they’re usually much shorter but I just got home from travelling recently and they just happened to be longer in the pics.

The set up wasn't great... I tried lowering the action and found it had some high frets. I did a fret level/crowning/dressing ends/polish job.

Next I need to file the nut slots a little.

Im thinking about making or if I can source one, putting a humbucker in it.

Also some locking tuners. Love those. This thing is heavey for its size. But, anyways cheers to the community.

Hey so i was trying to play some mandolin today, and whenever i used the D string, it sounded a bit some times, but i cant see anything wrong with it so i recorded the sound. Maybe im a bit to harsh on it or another problem thank you in advance.

Song: Always something (Eternal Fire) by Go Hang Music

Does anyone have any experience with offers such as this? https://www.ebay.com/itm/295466091423

It claims to have "carved top and sides" but one comment says they are shaped plywood. On the other hand, some commenters have purchased them two or three times, so somebody must think that they are worth finishing.

I'm guessing that these are sourced from China (factory seconds, perhaps?) but I'm wondering if they might be an acceptable baby step towards eventually building my own from scratch. Any suggestions?

I found this beautiful B&J Victoria model Neapolitan mando at a small music shop today and it sounds pretty good. Didn't have any issues when I was playing it other than the tuning pegs being a little inconsistent.

They say it's likely over 100 years old It's priced at $250. Is this a good deal considering the age and good playability?

Here’s a Monroe rune you don’t hear very often. Butch Baldassari recorded it and is usually the source for most people that know it. Thought it sounded just right on the oval hole.

musical instruments have sentience and soul. This is the proof !!!

In 2001 I went to the music store and bought a mid Missouri mandolin, over the years I fell in and out of love with it, and then finally sold it for an acoustic resonator, fast forward 20 years later in a music store thousand miles away from home there she is number 3654 a little darker and a couple scratches but holy shit my mandolin hanging there right in front of me. I bought it and have fallen back in love.!!

Hi all. I play octave mandolin and tenor guitar, and I built Fifths Studio, a free chord tool for instruments tuned in fifths: mandolin, octave mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, mandocello, tenor guitar and tenor banjo.

Paste a tune's chords, straight from a chord sheet, lyrics and all, and see every chord as a shape on your own neck. Step through other grips, lock the ones you play, change the key or add a capo, and play it back. You can send a tune as one link, with your grips and a note. Tunes from The Session are in there too.

The picture is Kitchen Girl: one set of shapes for GDAE, one for CGDA.

Free, no login: https://fifths.studio

I'd especially welcome feedback on the shapes. If one feels wrong under your hand, tell me the chord and what you'd play instead.

Thank you, Scott

I have an eastman 305. Not priceless but not dirt cheap either. Ive only got the bag that came with it. Out of all my instruments it seems easiest to take with me on a two week work trip. Trouble is ive got to also take a work laptop. So if im forced to gate check, a lipo cant get checked and im forced to check the mando. Per my job im also ethically obligated (gov employee) with cheapest tickets so that usually means last boarding group. Signs seem to point to dont take an instrument and thats sad. Would like to hear thoughts of others that fly though.

Anyone got any tips for carving a saddle?

Trying to make a replacement saddle from ebony I’ve got laying around.

I can get it to a shaped blank state, drilled out, rounded etc… but am having difficulty getting the staggered intonation clean.

Because each staggered section is quite small I’m finding it hard to file or sand then clean without the edges of each intonated section being a bit rough or having file marks.

Anyone got any tips or preferred tools for this application?

Beautiful instrument and sounded amazing. Obviously in the hands of grisman but I’d sure like to know who built it.

Long story short my father managed to get this mandolin from one of his coworkers for around 100 dollars but we can’t find anything about the brand on the headstock and his coworker doesn’t really know anything about. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

"O'Carolan's Concerto" by the 18th-century blind Irish harper and composer, Turlough O'Carolan! 🎻🎶

O'Carolan (1770–1738) was one of Ireland’s most iconic musicians. Living during a time when Italian Baroque music—like Vivaldi and Corelli—was taking Europe by storm, he brilliantly fused traditional Irish melodies with elegant Baroque structures. "O'Carolan's Concerto" is one of his most famous works, showcasing that lively, bright interplay between Italian form and Irish soul.

This arrangement uses the complement of mandolin and Irish bouzouki. The crisp, bright melody lines of the mandolin dance over the resonant, rhythmic drive and rich resonance of the bouzouki, bringing a vibrant dual-plucked spin to a classic harp tune.

Hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed playing it!