Mandolins are much more difficult to play than pretty much any ukulele (except maybe a Tiple, which is essentially a 10 steel stringed uke) ...I wouldn't recommend mandolins to anybody (and I have one). Also a note on Don Ho, I saw him play with his amazing band, The Aliis, in the mid 60s and he was great...also was in a jazz club when he walked in in the early 80s and he sang a few songs and blew everybody away...he was really good, and a nice guy. I sold him a Fender Twin in an Anvil road case in about 1980 or so, and his technical dude gave me a tour of his stage in the Hilton Hawaiian Village geodesic dome (Bucky Fuller's first large commercial version of one). Don came out to talk story and give me a check for the amp...cool guy, great musician.
Why Don't More People Into Music Reproduction At Home Play Around With Musical Instruments
In the pursuit of music reproduction in the home it is my firm belief that you must listen to live music every now & again so that you know & understand how real music,with real instruments,in real physical spaces sounds...
With that as a foundation I used in judging equipment's "voice" I also believe that playing around with a musical instrument is an excellent way to gain first hand experience with musical sound...EVERY person that reads this can learn a few musical notes,on ANY musical instrument on the planet..For instance I play around with electric guitar.NO I can NOT play,but I can play the notes EFG,on first string & BCD on the second string...Now I know those few notes & easily recognize them in any song..I am just this coming week going to start playing around with an electric keyboard....So I wonder,why don't more audiophiles simply play around with real instruments as part of their pursuit of honest reproduction in the home?Surely the education in reality is worth the $100.00 it takes to get an entry level guitar,keyboard,horn etc...
With that as a foundation I used in judging equipment's "voice" I also believe that playing around with a musical instrument is an excellent way to gain first hand experience with musical sound...EVERY person that reads this can learn a few musical notes,on ANY musical instrument on the planet..For instance I play around with electric guitar.NO I can NOT play,but I can play the notes EFG,on first string & BCD on the second string...Now I know those few notes & easily recognize them in any song..I am just this coming week going to start playing around with an electric keyboard....So I wonder,why don't more audiophiles simply play around with real instruments as part of their pursuit of honest reproduction in the home?Surely the education in reality is worth the $100.00 it takes to get an entry level guitar,keyboard,horn etc...