Six String Mandolin?

[James Elton Stevens]

Since Ricky Skaggs plays a Mandocaster with 5 strings and tenor guitars with 4 strings have been around for years.

Is it possible for one of these great mando builders I see here at the Cafe to build a mandolin with a slightly wider neck to accomodate 6 single strings? For a guitar tuning

My poor old arthritic fingers already know tons of guitar cords and though this may sound like a cop out, why not make it easy if you can? Would it be an engineering nightmare of retooling or measurements?

JIM S.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[John Flynn]

Both Goldtone and Gibson make them. Tacoma also makes a short scale guitar, tuned to C I think, which Ricky Skaggs also plays.

The problem is there is more to the mandolin sound than the short scale. The tuning in fifths and the paired strings are just as important. Those "little guitars" are pretty much what you would get if you took a standard guitar and put a capo way up the neck.

[Martin Jonas]

That has indeed been done: Gibson's M6 is an A-body mandolin with six strings, tuned one octave above the guitar. There's one for sale in the classifieds right now (#12360) for $950. I've never played one, so I don't know how much of a "true" mando experience this slightly bastardised instrument gives for a guitar player.

Martin

[Bruce Evans]

I have played a six string mando/guitar, in Elderly's showroom. I have played the guitar for over 30 years and I found it extremely difficult to play much of anything on this... well, contraption. I found it very difficult to finger any kind of guitar chord, even at the nut. With a little care I could play single string lead lines, but they sound like high pitched guitar lines. Even if I could form the chords, I agree with Mando Johnny that the tuning in fifths is as important as the quality of sound. I thought this was a good idea too, until I played one. Now it kinda reminds me of the half-dog-half-fish creatures you might see on an episode of The Simpsons. This tiny guitar might be an exceptable substitute for a real guitar to a very talented six or seven year old, but beyond that it's of little practical use.

Oh yeah, In My Humble Opinion, Your Mileage May Vary, and all that rot.

[Martin Jonas]

I wonder how feasible/desirable it would be to convert an unloved M6 to a proper mando. Presumably, the sound box construction is the same as, say, an A5, but the neck is somewhat wider (which may suit those who find standard necks too narrow). The critical question may well be whether the headstock has normal snakehead dimensions, with the tuner holes at wider spacing, or whether it is shorter overall.

Martin

[mikeo2]

I very much agree that the 6-string mando is difficult to play anything on. I have played a couple when in Nashville and wasn't impressed with them. You can't really play guitar chops on them and (obviously) you can't play mando stuff either.

[mandroid]

The M6 oughta be a nice slide/bottleneck particularly with an open tuning.
Dm was fun on the guitar, DADFad, DMaj dadf#ad.
fwiw:Tacoma Papooses are made to be A tuned; 5 frets [P4] higher than standard guitar.