The Morgan Monroe Serenade is a very nice cutaway electric-acoustic.  It is OK not plugged in but IMO, awesome plugged in both flatpicking and fingerpicking.  I got one for a steal on E-Bay.  Sometimes you get lucky.

2

(115 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

I just started messing with the Uke.  Below is a neat site if you know tablature.  I play the mandolin, guitar, and a little banjo.  I have found that it is worth getting a good quality Uke if you really want to get a nice sound.  If nothing else, get one with some good tuning keys.  Koaloha makes a nice mandolin.  I have found the folks at Bounty Music (in Hawaii)very helpful.  I bought my first Koaloha there (i now have 2 Koalohas, a tenor and a soprano) and the guy played it for me over the phone to give me a sense of what it sounded like.  I like the Tenor Uke the best.  It tunes like barring the first 4 strings (dgbe) of the guitar on the 5th fret (now its gcea).  You can make the g string an octave high or get a wound string and tune it like you would a guitar.  It adds an interesting sound in a band setting.  I am still experimenting a little and the right hand is very important in getting a variety of sounds from the instrument.


<a href="http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html" target="_blank">http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html</a>


Anyway, hope the above site is useful.


rags

3

(87 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

I've played mandolin for about 8 years.  Here is a decent site to check out.  I suggest learning how to read tablature.


<a href="http://www.mandolincafe.com/tabarc.html" target="_blank">http://www.mandolincafe.com/tabarc.html</a>


I may be able to answer some basic questions if there is anything that I can help with.  I will check back occasionally.


good luck!


rags