Reply To: Columbus Stockade Blues Beginner Mandolin

[Michael L Landau]

I think this is a great arrangement of Columbus Stockade Blues. The way Mike plays it, it has terrific drive and force, provided you keep the rhythm going. I found the first part pretty
easy to learn, but it’s the chorus that’s giving me trouble, specifically, these long slides which cover a lot of real estate on the fretboard. I confess that I find slides on the mandolin to be more challenging than on the banjo, and these from Columbus Stockade have to sound right if the song is to sound good. Mike, what do you suggest? Is it a question of the right finger pressure on the strings, not too soft or too hard? I have a Gibson “Loar” model mando; I can’t help but think that a higher priced mandolin would give me a better sound on the long slides up and down the neck. Short of buying a high priced mando, do you have any suggestions?