5 string acoustic

[Keith Wallen]

I have seen the electric 5 string mandolins but never an acoustic. Is there such a thing? I would like to play a 5 string fretless with a radiused fret board so I could try everything I have wanted to all at once... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[John Rosett]

i played paul lestock's jazzbo 5-string acoustic at weiser, and i was really impressed. i had way more tone and volume than i expected. as far as fretless goes, i think that you're going to have to have one custom built to find out if you like it. good luck!
john

[mikeomando]

I own a 10-string, and have tried it with only half the strings on it. It sounds better with double courses. Do a search on fretless here, there was a long thread pretty recently on fretless mandos. To summarize: You give up volume, and it's really hard to play in tune.

[arrowmandolin]

Scale length is crucial, I don't think that the standard[under 14"] will support the C string. That's the major criticism even with an electric mando- the C feels like a rubberband. Fretscale around 15" works really well, and since the player probably won't be playing cowboy chords, the scale is not an issue. Also, I feel that the top should be graduated specificly for string tension/load. Taking one course of strings off a regular mando will always sound weak.I build 4,5 and 8 strings, and every top is carved diffrent.
Joe Craven's new recording-DJANGO LATINO has an "Oudolin" on one cut, sounds fretless-check it out it's incredible

[bolannta]

Why wouldn't using a heavier gauge string for the low C correct the "rubber band" feel?
Wouldn't a string with a diameter around that of a guitar low E string have the same tension of the mandolin G string?
Would such a large diameter cause intonation problems?
The low E string on my guitars plays in tune when the string length gets into the mandolin scale range around the 11th fret.

Thanks in advance.

[arrowmandolin]

The guage string I use for C is a .066, I've tried every thing from .053 to.076, and this one is the best balance. Suprisingly, intonation was only a small bridge ramp adjustment.
All I can suggest is to experiment with string feel next time you change strings- put a guitar .053 or similar on the E string, tune down to C, and see how it feels. Perhaps you'll have diffrent results then I did, but I couldn't find a string that would work well on standard mando scale.

[Sellars]

Joe Craven's new recording-DJANGO LATINO has an "Oudolin" on one cut, sounds fretless-check it out it's incredible
Wow! oudolin! I like the sound of that!

I'm really gonna check that out!

[Jacob]

Thanks for the response, Paul.