vickersdc
Well-known member
I seem to have come home with a new ukulele :0) But more about that in a moment.
Recently I've been thinking about learning to play a mandolin instead of a ukulele, and in a music store near to me (Guildford, Surrey), they had a few. I looked up a few reviews, and on MandolinCafe to see what people said about them and I came away with the [purely personal] view that the people that played mandolin weren't as friendly as the uke-players.
It felt that if you weren't going to spend a serious amount on a mandolin then you shouldn't bother. Now, that is just so unlike what I have come across in the ukulele world - whilst we all seem to appreciate the top-end uke's, people seem to be genuinely happy if you have a cheap uke too. It's about the playing and joining in, rather than what you own. [Apologies to any mandolin players out there!].
So, off I went to Guildford to a music store, picked up a few mandolins, played around with them a little bit, tuned them up and... no-one came over to see I wanted some help. Now I'm pretty much a beginner at all this, and I found this store quite intimidating. In the end, I put the mandolin back on the hanger and walked out the store.
There's a guitar store just down the road to me (Guitar Village in Farnham) and, quite frankly, I have only praise for this store. It's a world away from the Guildford shop, small rooms in an old building, very friendly staff, no pushy sales, just sit in a comfy chair and try out the instruments. The staff are helpful, polite and it's just a great place to hang out.
By this time I had decided against a mandolin, and figured I'd carry on with my ukulele playing as I'm just beginning to get somewhere with it; ready to move up from a Makala Dolphin, I tried a few out and settled on a Kala-MC.
So, it's now sitting next to me, still in the box as I've just got in and can't wait to try it out this evening :0)
Cheers,
David.
Recently I've been thinking about learning to play a mandolin instead of a ukulele, and in a music store near to me (Guildford, Surrey), they had a few. I looked up a few reviews, and on MandolinCafe to see what people said about them and I came away with the [purely personal] view that the people that played mandolin weren't as friendly as the uke-players.
It felt that if you weren't going to spend a serious amount on a mandolin then you shouldn't bother. Now, that is just so unlike what I have come across in the ukulele world - whilst we all seem to appreciate the top-end uke's, people seem to be genuinely happy if you have a cheap uke too. It's about the playing and joining in, rather than what you own. [Apologies to any mandolin players out there!].
So, off I went to Guildford to a music store, picked up a few mandolins, played around with them a little bit, tuned them up and... no-one came over to see I wanted some help. Now I'm pretty much a beginner at all this, and I found this store quite intimidating. In the end, I put the mandolin back on the hanger and walked out the store.
There's a guitar store just down the road to me (Guitar Village in Farnham) and, quite frankly, I have only praise for this store. It's a world away from the Guildford shop, small rooms in an old building, very friendly staff, no pushy sales, just sit in a comfy chair and try out the instruments. The staff are helpful, polite and it's just a great place to hang out.
By this time I had decided against a mandolin, and figured I'd carry on with my ukulele playing as I'm just beginning to get somewhere with it; ready to move up from a Makala Dolphin, I tried a few out and settled on a Kala-MC.
So, it's now sitting next to me, still in the box as I've just got in and can't wait to try it out this evening :0)
Cheers,
David.
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