@Kenny... I have a buddy/ex-bandmate who owned mandos, bangos and all sots of weird hybrids he'd whip out on stage. I used to try to noodle around on all of them when he brought them over for practice.
 
The mandolin was such weird beast to play. Not because it was hard to figure out but they are so TINY with itty bitty little frets. I've got rather skinny (but loooong) fingers and those tiny little frets just seemed impossible to work with. My fingers would trip all over each other trying to do simple runs and stuff. The tiny body didn't help much either. I could never really hold the thing properly. At 6'4" I felt like some gigantor monster playing a smurf guitar. lulz...
 
He however could fly on the little bugger. Great sounding instrument. I'd love to own one so I could spend some time learning how it is ACTUALLY played. I'm assuming the trick is to stop trying to cram your fingers into one fret at a time and approaching runs differently.
 
Banjo is another weird one with all that circular picking mayhem but at least the frets are normal sized. I think I'd like one of the really long scale ones.
 
/big Dubliners fan

dubdisciple
True story...I had a gf once who's ass made different pitches depending on where you hit it.  With a little practice, i once played the nutcrarcker suite theme well enough to where she recognized the tune instantly.  I have no idea if that violates CoC, but it is musically related and almost prompted me to create a VSTi.

Clearly I have misjudged you.
 
I had no idea you were into classical music.

slartabartfast

dubdisciple
True story...I had a gf once who's ass made different pitches depending on where you hit it.  With a little practice, i once played the nutcrarcker suite theme well enough to where she recognized the tune instantly.  I have no idea if that violates CoC, but it is musically related and almost prompted me to create a VSTi.

Clearly I have misjudged you.
 
I had no idea you were into classical music.

Beepster
@Kenny... I have a buddy/ex-bandmate who owned mandos, bangos and all sots of weird hybrids he'd whip out on stage. I used to try to noodle around on all of them when he brought them over for practice.
 
The mandolin was such weird beast to play. Not because it was hard to figure out but they are so TINY with itty bitty little frets. I've got rather skinny (but loooong) fingers and those tiny little frets just seemed impossible to work with. My fingers would trip all over each other trying to do simple runs and stuff. The tiny body didn't help much either. I could never really hold the thing properly. At 6'4" I felt like some gigantor monster playing a smurf guitar. lulz...
 
He however could fly on the little bugger. Great sounding instrument. I'd love to own one so I could spend some time learning how it is ACTUALLY played. I'm assuming the trick is to stop trying to cram your fingers into one fret at a time and approaching runs differently.
 
Banjo is another weird one with all that circular picking mayhem but at least the frets are normal sized. I think I'd like one of the really long scale ones.
 
/big Dubliners fan

Hello Beepster , 
 
+1 on having a hard time on the mandolin….w those skinny frets on such a tiny neck …
I think I run 4 notes a string as far as the fingering goes ….it seems to be tuned that way …
I would love to be able to play some  Bach unaccompanied violin concertos , also some of the more popular Traditional Celtic tunes  …..Yeah, that's the type of music I would love to be able to play on the mandolin ….. 
 
Kenny
 

Heh...  I'm also 6' 4" with big fingers so I had this two-finger cheat sheet that I'd use when trying to play my mandolin.  It's long gone now, but it sure was fun to noodle around with though!
 

 

slartabartfast

dubdisciple
True story...I had a gf once who's ass made different pitches depending on where you hit it.  With a little practice, i once played the nutcrarcker suite theme well enough to where she recognized the tune instantly.  I have no idea if that violates CoC, but it is musically related and almost prompted me to create a VSTi.

Clearly I have misjudged you.
 
I had no idea you were into classical music.

I actually love classical, especially when played on a nice...

I've heard of Classical Gas, but never Classical Ass...

So I did it, as you can see form my signature. I ordered from Germany (Thomann) a lovely Squire Amber Jazz Bass (identical to this picture)

and I love it. It was decision made at the end of December, not a thought but a decision, and a month later order and arrived about a month ago. I have played with it nearly everyday, and with the help of Overlouds Mark Studio and some post processing from Sonar, found I love the sound I can get from it. I have approached it in a methodical way, playing scales (in three positions), learning to rake. It was quite intimidating at first, but it's becoming more an more intuitive. I have 3 songs that I base my practice on; Stand by me - focuses on moving the fingers around a fixed position, Come together - works on sliding up and down the neck, Good times - open strings and muting.
 
It's helping me re-think basslines, having relied on monosynths before. It will be interesting after the dust settles how I then produce mono synth basslines, and think about what exactly is a the bass range. I need to focus next on playing chord tones.
 
If you have ever had thoughts about learning a bass guitar, the answer is quite simple. Do it!
 

Soon you may end up being a slappin' fool too! 

"Slappin' killed the bass guitar" - Bob Babbitt