Electric mandolin

[Chris Travers]

Hey y'all!

I was looking at getting an electric mando, what do y'all think of this one? If not what kind should I get?

crazylotrfan

[Chris Travers]

oops sorry forgot the link!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

here it is http://www.instrumentalley.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=GM-110

[recklessmando]

I appreciate the minimalist approach of the builder. My kind of style.

[Chris Travers]

I like the looks of this one a lot!If there are any others like it please tell me.

crazylotrfan

[recklessmando]

Dam, now my post makes very little sense. You wouldn't want to edit out that link, would you? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Chris Travers]

woops ... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif its actually not even electric! oh well... I still love the looks!

[Chris Travers]

now my post makes very little sense. #You wouldn't want to edit out that link, would you? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Why?

[Chris Travers]

The thing says its electric but I don't see any wire input... weird!

[olgraypat]

That is a nice looking instrument. I believe it is the GoldTone licensed knock off of a Rigel product....Rigel no longer being in business. Fender makes one rather similar, which I believe is not altogether bad, but for price and function, it is hard to beat the Epiphone Mandobird, which has no resemblance in looks to that one.

[Chris Travers]

So... the Mandobird is good?

[mandroid]

Mandobird is a solid body 4 or 8 string .

Kevin Schwab's electric solid body mandolins are good.

mandobirds are low budget starters, YGYPF.

that Gold Tone : Piezo in the bridge or under the soundboard, end button jack.


you could add the pickup to what you own mandolin too.


lots of arguments on merits of various piezos

Shopping adviser?
I'd offer: Phoenix Jazz, as its built around a proper
humbucking magnetic coil pickup
And a very nice mandolin.
then a 2nd piezo could be put in it, too.

stereo jack = dual source to 2 channels.

someone showed their Goldtone which got a floridaectomy
and so was able to add those nice Kent Armstrong Mini Floating Humbuckers.

Electric 4,5,8 string mandolins are down the message board,
, and their archives net lots of peoples thoughts..

[Mike Bunting]

To me, that is an acoustic mandolin with a p/u in it, in order to amplify its acoustic sound. An electric mandolin is a different beast, usually solid or semi-solidbody with a magnetic p/u in it. Perhaps that is the apparent confusion here, which one do you mean?

[Chris Travers]

I want a good but cheap pure electric...but I still like the looks of the gold tone http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Chris Travers]

would the "Mandobird" be good?

[littvay]

This is a Piezo, the strap pin is the jack. There's a link around here somewhere that shows the similar Fender being striped of its fretboard extension where it received a Kent Armstrong magnetic PU. I was wondering that if I did such a thing, I'd probably pick the Gold Tone for it over the Fender. The wires can run under the pickguard. You can install the volume and tone on the pickguard. It could possibly benefit from a stereo output like the Phoenix Jazz. You can run one of the wires into an acoustic amp and one into an electric.

I have a Mandobird. I bought it because I could. Never ever ever used it for anything. Looks good on the wall. One of my friends just borrowed it as he is considering buying one. I told him not to bring another one of those beast to town http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif I'd rather sell him mine... If you get a mandobird, try to get either the gold or the lake placid blue. I am huge fan of the blue. But on a more serious note, you cannot beat the mandobird. I had my luthier fix it up a little and it is now a useful instrument. It has one huge design flaw. The bass pickup they put in is used to picking up serious strings and not what you'll be putting on it. The E string has almost no volume. It can greatly benefit from a pickup upgrade. Look around here for notes on the issue. Bartolini bass pickups are a popular choice but personally I've been a fan of the Seymor Duncan minihumbucker http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Take a it of routing but it looks baaad. If you buy the custom SD variety (I don't remember the code but it has a #3 in it) it comes with a strip of magnet so you should get even response from all the strings. I just never had the urge to spend as much on it as a got it for, especially since it is not in the right color and I already have the upgrade picked out. I am itching for one of those old Japanese Kentucky 5 strings.

[mandroid]

There is a message board sub section devoted to
the electric mandolins .
afficionados of mandobirds found there,

And those that got them but didnt accept the as Is

electrics on them, and what they did with them to make theirs mo better.

[Brandon Flynn]

I'm curious as to what sort of sounds an electric mandolin is capable of. I'm a big fan of Wilco and Radiohead and would like to experiment with some of the electric sounds that these bands use in their music someday. I know next to nothing about electric instruments. What is the sound like?

[mrmando]

Electric mandolins are capable of the same range of sounds you can get from an electric guitar, just at a higher pitch.

If you're considering an electric, spend some time browsing http://emando.com. (I built it in hopes of helping people make these decisions.) Then ask yourself:

1) How much do I want to spend?
2) What kind of music do I want to play?
3) Am I looking for an "amplified acoustic" sound, or full-on electric sound?
4) Do I want to learn techniques from the electric-guitar vocabulary, or just bring over my acoustic techniques to a related instrument?
5) Do I want a well-crafted, serious instrument that sounds good out of the box, or a mass-produced instrument that I can fool around with?

Try to figure out some of these before you buy an electric mandolin ... unless you're a wacko like me who just likes to collect as many different ones as possible.

[kidgloves2]

Just sayin, this is one of the sexiest electric mandos I ever saw!!

http://www.oldtown-mandolins.com/prespray_006_small1.jpg

[mrmando]

Ah yes, the Old Town Jag Yggdrasil signature model...

Ever wonder why you've never heard of Jag Yggdrasil?

[mandroid]

He Icelandic , in Bjork's band? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Marcus CA]

I have a Fender FM61SE, which is a lot of fun when I want to stray really far from Mr. Monroe. It's an acoustic-electric, with a single pick-up and control knobs for both volume and tone. Acoustically, it's fine for practicing, but it doesn't have much richness of tone. Electrically, however, it gets a good bite to it when I run it through a distortion box.

[MrTidy]

I owned this for a while, it was perfect for what i was doing...
I sold it when the band broke up, I ordered a new one three years ago... still waiting. Rickenbacker does NOTHING quick!
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r101/mrtidy_photos/ricmandowholething-1.jpg

[aunchaki]

I have a Kentucky KM-300E solid-body electric mandolin. It's a 4-string with a lipstick pickup, Tune-o-matic style bridge, volume and tone controls. I'm just starting out with the mandolin, but I like this one just fine.

http://www.countrystrings.com/photos/KM-300E-2.jpg

[brunello97]

Well, Mr. Tidy, the Rick looks great! Was that a production model? I notice only one 'C' string....is that the way you typically set it up? When did you get it? What more can you tell us about it?
thanks,
Mick

[MrTidy]

I bought it from somebody here (can't remember who), in fact the picture is from the original owner. I always used it with eight strings.
I read many bad reviews regarding pickup placement being to close to the bridge and thus way too bright sounding. I love all things Rickenbacker so I bought it anyways. I used Pyramid flatwound strings which are dark sounding anyway and just adjusted the amps treble down.
I loved it, but when the band broke up I had no real need for an electric and a real need for some cash. I sold it for substantially more than a paid for it.
I immediatly regretted it and ordered a new one in blueburst three years ago. According to Rickenbacker afficianados, they won't make anymore until they get 25 orders and a break in their production schedule. Since I still don't NEED it I'll wait.
I loved the way it looked and played. Electric mandolins sound alot like high tuned guitars. I don't like the way 4 string mandos feel, so I kept it as an eight string, which I think sounds better anyway IMHO..

http://www.rickenbacker.com/model.asp?model=5002V58

[mandroid]

The Ric is in its usual mandolin setup ..
I don't see a wound 2nd (D)string , brunello97,
the 2nd G string is not installed,
That particular tail-piece puts 2 ball end strings in the same keyhole slot.

strings would need to be fatter for lower tuning with short 14ish scale.

I got an .049" for C, its like the low E on guitars.

[Ken Sager]

I like the looks of this one a lot!If there are any others like it please tell me.

crazylotrfan
Not like it, but here are other electrics:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/builders/electric.html

[Jim Nollman]

I like my Godin A8, played through a JR Baggs parametric and into a Roland amp. The Godin has 4 bridge pickups.

[mandoplyr70]

I have a Gregg Bennet model Samick acoustic electric works good in my gosplel band

[Jim]

I play an applause through a behringer acoustic amp and it sounds like a mandolin ( more or less ) at rock band levels I never much cared for the magnetic pickup sound on a mandolin, I just play one of my electric guitars if I wanted that sound, however thats just my taste.

[Mattg]

I have a mandobird 8 string and it is a toy. It can produce a crackle it I touch the pick guard and the pickup does not have a clean sound. It is a bit light on the high end. It neeeds a better pickup and some shielding. I worked the fretboard and repositioned the bridge to make it playable and tunable. It is a lot of fun to goof with but not a serious instrument out of the box ( or at least mine wasn't).

I'm happy with it cause I got it for quiet practice, either unplugged or through headphones. It's fine for that.

If anyone has an idea for a better pickup, please let me know.