I never got into mandolins, and I confess that this thread hasn't helped me, either. They are so annoying, brash, in your face, portable, light. And you'd think, by looking in my stable, there would be a place for them. The only way I can explain it has to do with an insight I gained about seven years ago. I began a search for an old mentor and hero... a guy about ten years older than me, at university, who had a Martin D-28 and played and sang the old Bob Dylan songs (pre 1970). I was just getting started on that era. I was disappointed when I located him, because it was in the Obits. But I knew the town that his brother lived in, and I contacted him for a visit. He obliged, and at an early point indicated that my long-lost buddy had been playing mandolin in a bluegrass band. I asked why not the 6-string guitar, and he replied that there was a table saw accident had he had lost two fingers. So I goes to myself... there you have it... mandolin players are just guitar players who have lost a couple of fingers.
