Guitarra Baiana!

If you want to see some wonderful electric mandolin playing, then go to Youtube and type in Guitarra Baiana. The Guitara Baiana is a 4 or 5 string instrument almost exactly the same as a 4 string electric mandolin.

New picks and Powerful Stuff

So today, I was out running around and found a place that sells off old stock from closed stores. They've had cycling stuff, motorcycle stuff, pretty much anything you can think of. This time they had bought out a music store.

They had a huge stock of old Fender stuff (semi new) as well as all sorts of other stuff. I even bought a new Hohner BluesHarp in G. That was pretty much my only missing key in my quiver of harps.

The other two cool things I found were an old Alamo Tube Amp. I'm researching it right now to learn if its any good.

The other thing is kinda a silly minor thing, but I'm a detail guy. I found Fender Heavy picks in exactly the finish I have on my BluesBird emando. Very cool!

PRETTY COOL!

So what about Powerful Stuff? I'm a huge Jimmy Vaughan fan, as well as a huge Kim Wilson fan. That of course means I love the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Their blues based rock has always kicked arse!

So this afternoon, I was listening to Powerful Stuff on ITunes. I quickly realized I could play this on the Emando in G. I'll leave it to you to figure out the fingering as I have no tab-writing software. However, listen to the tune and you'll quickly figure it out. Base it on a G blues scale and progression.

Leave My Little Girl Alone!

Spent the evening playing "Leave My Little Girl Alone". My favorite version is by Stevie Ray Vaughn. Well heck, he's my favorite guitarist, favorite bluesman, favorite musician of all time.

Frankly, I like to sing along with the song as well.

So to play this, you play it in A. I use standard blues chords in A and follow the blues scale in A. On a blues mandolin, your root note is 2nd fret on the G string (bass string).

ProBlues Jam Tracks

Great find from the Modern Blues Harmonica forums.

User TookaTooka put up a link for ProBlues Jam Tracks. Very nicely done backing tracks. Provided in MP3 format and available to either play directly from the site, or download to your computer. The key of the track is also noted in the listing for the track.

http://www.probluesjamtracks.com/blues-backing-tracks.php

Download some in your favorite keys and jam along!

The Blues Bird - Blues Mandolin

So I looked at all the electric mandolins on the market. There are a ton out there, Mandobirds, Schwabs, Ryders etc. Unfortunately, they were all a little rich for my blood (except the Mandobird, which looked like it needed a new pickup to make it viable). If you want to see a bunch of great electric mandolins, then check out http://www.emando.com/

Then I found Moongazer Music. A great guy named Tom Morici runs it. He's a 40+ yr veteran of the lutherie business. He runs a website http://www.moongazermusic.com/ where he sells electric mandolin kits and their parts. His site is great. He allows you to buy individual tuning machines instead of sets. Bridges just for emando's and a great variety of emando pickups. Tom's kits are top notch and look really good.

I wanted a little more however and wanted to design my own. To that end, I designed the instrument in CAD.

I then contacted Tom and purchased wood blanks and all the parts needed to build the mandolin. He even provided a partially completed neck. Tom was also great in providing advice on the build.

I started building in the fall and ended up with a killer little instrument. It turned out beautifully, and the tone is exactly what I was hoping for. I was gunning for a little bit of Buddy Guy grit and that is what I got. I run the BluesBird through a Crate 2x10 amp and it sounds really good.

The BluesBird has construction just like a Fender Thin-Line Telecaster. She has an alder body capped with a fiddleback maple cap. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard and a Moongazer corian nut. The blank for the pickguard came from Japan and holds a Moongazer/Almuse MG4 pickup wired for coiltapping.

I love this little electric mandolin!!!!!