Warren Ellis Signature MandoTenor

[KanMando]

Eastwood just started shipping these:



Enjoy.

[ricomando]

Thanks for sharing , fortunately for me they are not making 5 string mando/5 string tenor version

[mandroid]

Bolt on necks?

[Ted Eschliman]

Want! Wonder what they do for a case, though.

[Ed Goist]

Pretty cool!

Bolt on necks?

Looks like both necks are maple & bolt-on.

Want! Wonder what they do for a case, though.

Comes with Eastwood custom fit hardshell case.

[journeybear]

Whoa! This is just what I've been talking about for umpteen years as my dream ax - though I have been saying mandolin-mandola double-neck. Is that why no one has said anything to me? Because of the name? Because that's the only reason I can see why, with all the times I've rattled on about it.

OK, so here it is, and I find myself wondering, is it really all I had in mind? Well, no, not exactly. I'd like two pickups on each neck, whammy bars (there's plenty of room to add those on, though), maybe separate tone and volume controls. I suppose I can live with those, and $1000 is probably a fair price, as long as it s really real and not a toy like the MandoBird. (No flames, please - I have two. ) But what is with the tuning peg set-up? They should be either four on one side or two and two. Three and one looks lame. Also, my dream ax has always been natural wood. Black is cool, though, and I could live with it.

I doubt anyone here has sprung for one of these, but anyone have experience with Eastwood electrics?

Also, who is Warren Ellis, beyond being a member of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds? Or is that enough?

[delsbrother]

OK, who else was freaked out when he sprouted the two extra hands during Just Like Heaven?

[Jayyj]

Warren has been the front man of the wonderful Dirty Three since the mid 90s. He's also a well regarded composer of film soundtracks (mostly co-written with Cave), and the main musical driving force for the Bad Seeds since Mick Harvey stepped down. I must admit, I prefer his violin playing to the tenor / mandolin stuff but he's an incredibly talented chap. I've seen Dirty Three a dozen times now, and they have to be the best live band I've had the pleasure to see, incredibly moving and intense.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DAMLYm-8rLA
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KCvgkDjUR24

[Sweetpea44]

I would love one of these!

[MandoDave1]

OK, so I have now acquired one of these. I got a great deal on it directly from Eastwood, as it was the actual one used in the video above and had some pick scratches, which made it technically B-stock. I used it on a gig for the first time last night, and it's a BEAST.

Some general info. This is one of 36 made, so if you're interested, I'd snag one while you can. When I got it, I noticed that the tuning wasn't so much "mandolin on top, tenor on the bottom" as it was "mandolin on top, mandola on the bottom." In other words, there wasn't a lot of sonic difference between the two necks - the same as five-string mandolin. I solved this problem, at least for my purposes (YMMV), by putting heavier strings on the bottom neck and tuning it an octave down from the top neck. The buzz you would expect from tuning an instrument down a fourth was mostly fixed with the heavier strings. It takes standard ball-end electric guitar strings, and I replaced whatever was on the bottom neck with 52-42-30-17.

More general info about my use. In last night's iteration, I was playing with what is essentially a rock band with bluegrass instrumentation for whom I play both acoustic and electric guitars and mandolins, everything plugged in. I run my electric instruments through a Fender Acoustasonic combo amp and a pedal board which includes clean boost, a Tube Screamer, an auto wah, a Cry Baby, a phaser and a Boss chorus (I also play in various Celtic configurations, and I can't wait to use the MandoTenor in that format).

I have to say that the MandoTenor, modified with the octave tuning, exceeded my expectations. It sounded great, felt comfortable both from a fingering and weight standpoint, and it handled everything I could throw at it. When I tried it out at home in a low-volume environment, the E strings of both necks were weaker in signal, a common problem for solidbody mandos in my experience. When I used it in game conditions, neither I nor anyone else in the band noticed any issue there. I often run my emandos through a bit of chorus to warm up the sound, but this was not necessary. Volume was not a problem, as the pickup signal was stronger than my Telecaster.

The only issue, a small one, was this. There is a three-way selector switch which allows the user to isolate each neck or have them both active. In the latter setting, which I used quite a bit, the vibrations from one neck can cause overtones in the other, which was only noticeable at the end of songs.

In summary, I'm thrilled with this instrument and I look forward to seeing what I can do with it.

[Sweetpea44]

Thanks for the review. I have one of the tenor guitars but have not tried it in GDAE tuning (CGDA now).