Patrick Gunning
Apr-22-2004, 7:01pm
Was wondering if anybody could tell me the scale length from pre-loar Gibson K mandocellos. Curious, and maybe investigating the possibility of using one as an octave mandolin.
pklima
Apr-22-2004, 7:44pm
24" and change. Definitely shorter than a lot of Irish bouzoukis some people use in OM tuning. Strings gauged about .048-.012 should work.
Dave Cohen
Apr-22-2004, 8:50pm
24.75", not counting compensation. I suppose some people use a scale that long on OMs, though that would not be my choice. The longer scales give you some depth and sustain, but sacrifice ease of fingering. I think that with a 24.75" scale, you would be limited to adding bass lines and texture. Shorter scale lengths allow more mandolin-like fingering, i.e., more melody playing.
Consider that Lawrence Smart offers two scale lengths on his OMs; 19.75" and 20.5".