tooltimegrunt - Posted - 04/13/2015:  05:01:40

Looking at  upgrading my mandolin and was curious as to what is the minimum number of frets that the mando should have. Dont want to spend big money and not hve a mando for life.  Does anyone play past 15?   Are 23 frets needed?

Thanks

Texasbanjo - Posted - 04/13/2015:  05:14:23

I've seen mandolin players on stage and in jams play up the neck on the mandolin, so I presume all 23 frets are needed.  Personally, I don't use them, but I'm not that good of a mandolin player anyway.

Rickson - Posted - 04/13/2015:  07:38:05

I never play any higher 15, which is why the mandolin that I bought (5 months ago) doesn't have the extended fretboard. Plus when I started playing many, many mandolins when figuring out which to buy I kept picking on that the extended fretboard.

Edited by - Rickson on 04/13/2015 07:38:46

UsuallyPickin - Posted - 04/13/2015:  08:03:55

I play up to the C tone. I often use the A and Bd tones in double stops . Once the tones get into the are of what is often referred to as "Florida" the frets are too close together for me to get anything good sounding out of. So that's the territory past the twentieth fret. R/

bradlaird - Posted - 04/14/2015:  13:04:09

I've been playing since th emid 70's and I don't think I have ever played a note above fret 12. Certainly not at a gig. I am sure I have a few times just fooling around, but in actual performing 12 is my upper limit.

Being primarily a bluegrass player (you define that) could have something to do with this. The need for some pretty beefy string clearance to get decent chops means that I can't really get the strings down low enough up there to do any good playing. Others can... Chris Thile, Jethro Burns, Charlie Rappaport and Dave Apollon come to mind. Watch Apollon here: youtube.com/watch?v=czqLbDhKLDY Pretty cool. I am thinking of wearing that getup to the next jam session.

(Just to check this I grabbed my mandolin and played some stuff way up high and I confirmed that it's all no-man's land 13 and up. That Em chord 9-9-10-12, I hit that a lot, but never higher for me.)

That's my two cents worth.