Gold Tone mandocello

[Don Grieser]

The old Gibson cellos were 1.5". Nothing wider than that. 1 7/16 or 1 3/8 might be even better.

[NotMelloCello]

The old Gibson cellos were 1.5". Nothing wider than that. 1 7/16 or 1 3/8 might be even better.

The ones I've seen measured 1.75 across the nut...

1 3/8 is mandolin territory, with no room for the bigger strings to move.

I vote wider....

[Eddie Sheehy]

I haven't seen a mandolin wider than 1 3/16". Mandolas are 1 1/4". OM's are 1 1/2". MC's 1 5/8 - 1/3/4". Depending on the scale length 10-stringers are about 1/4" wider than the equivalent scale 8-stringer.
As for Gibson MC's, I don't mind going wider on the neck as long as the neck is shallower in depth.

[pheffernan]

I haven't seen a mandolin wider than 1 3/16".

The National RM-1 is 1-1/4", as are some of the Northfields Adam Steffey has been playing.

[fatt-dad]

I think paddlehead Gibson's are 1-1/4". I really don't know for 'cellos though, leave that to those that play them. (I'm personally not shy on nut width for mandolin and really don't like 1-1/8th.)

Not to derail. . .

f-d

[Eddie Sheehy]

Paddlehead Gibsons are 1 3/16". I had an RM-1, never bothered to measure the neck. Radim Zenkl has a really wide mandolin neck - custom made.

[mrmando]

Just measured the Andersen cello's nut and it indeed is 1-5/8", not as clubby as a Gibson neck. So I'm with Eddie on that being an ideal width.

[KevinThomas]

I would certainly tend towards a slimmer nut width. As a guitarist I found it took a while to adjust (this being on a bouzouki never had the privilege to play a m'cello). Now that I've grown accustomed to it I really like the narrow neck. My TC has a nut width of 1 1/4" and I really like it. I would think you would go a bit wider on a 'cello, though.

[mrmando]

OK, so evidently this instrument was just at NAMM, with a 1-5/8" nut. Anyone see it?
https://www.facebook.com/goldtoneinc...type=3&theater

[NotMelloCello]

Darn. I was hoping they'd split the diff, and make it 1 11/16.....
For me, wider is better.

[mrmando]

So here's the new product shot ...

Not sure what to make of the mammoth tailpiece; the prototype had just a standard mandolin tailpiece. Also, there should be a fretboard marker at the 10th fret, not the 9th. GoldTone got this right on their mandola and octave mandolin; the mandocello shouldn't be any different.

It is temptingly priced at $824.25.

[NotMelloCello]

Just called my pal at the Gold Tone dealer....they will be ordering one for me to try out. If I don't bounce for it, they'll just stock it until they go the local bluegrass festival come fall.

[Barry Wilson]

I have to find out if I can order one in when I hit the music store today

[NotMelloCello]

They told me delivery will start towards September.... And I will get the "good buddy deal" on the price.

[Barry Wilson]

I just asked them to look into it for me. I bought something else today and ordered something in. A new young fella was helping me and asked for a deposit. I said no, I don't do deposits... he says everyone does. then another person came over and said not Barry, just order it LOL

I will get one. It is affordable and looks sweet. I won't use it that much but I'd like to be able to lay some tracks now and then with it instead of bass

[NotMelloCello]

Talked to the dealer this afternoon.... GoldTone has moved the delivery date back to October. I don't know if that means they are having production troubles, whether demand for orders is up, or whether they just moved me to the end of the line because I live in a town that starts with W.

They are also Eastman dealers, and he said Eastman is stopping mandocello production because GoldTone will probably pick up the slack with a less expensive product.

[Barry Wilson]

That works for me. I have a few expenses to take care of before that. I need a new bass guitar first. I like the Gold Tone M bass but I want that bright sound once in a while too. I have not heard back but I haven't talked to my guitar guy the last 2 trips to the music store. I am getting one for sure. I like it.

[trabb]

They are also Eastman dealers, and he said Eastman is stopping mandocello production because GoldTone will probably pick up the slack with a less expensive product.[/QUOTE]

Between that and recent changes with Weber, that leaves a huge gap between GoldTone's entry level and everything else. Glad I bought my Weber when I did.

[Jim Garber]

Eastman didn't seem all that interested in mandocello customers/players. Their customer service guy was pretty unresponsive to my and other's complaints on how their mandocelli were set up. Hopefully Goldtone will do a better job.

[allenhopkins]

Eastman didn't seem all that interested in mandocello customers/players. Their customer service guy was pretty unresponsive to my and other's complaints on how their mandocelli were set up. Hopefully Goldtone will do a better job.

I had somewhat the opposite experience; when my mandocello tailpiece broke, the Eastman rep was quite supportive, even cannibalizing a newly-imported instrument to send me a replacement tailpiece at no charge.

He did say that Eastman was only shipping a half-dozen mandocelli to the US every few months, due to limited demand as compared to their guitars and mandolins. Don't think the company ever developed the market presence for these instruments -- probably because there aren't a lot of mandocello players.

I like mine a lot, though I'm only an occasional mandocello player.

[Barry Wilson]

Gold Tone has decided on a 1.5" nut for production, which should make some folks happy

[NotMelloCello]

Gold Tone has decided on a 1.5" nut for production, which should make some folks happy

They told me 1 5/8.

[Barry Wilson]

Gold Tone Music Group
August 1 at 3:00pm ·
We would like to thank you all for your opinions and suggestions regarding our soon-to-be-released Mandocello. We have finalized the specs and would like to take a moment to discuss them.
The Mandocello will have a 1 1/2” nut neck width (like on Gibsons and Collins Mandocellos). There will be no problem with tension as we use a very sturdy double-adjusting truss rod. It will have two independent pick-ups (a transducer and floating mag) each with its own volume control.
An exciting feature is that all of the electronics are contained in the pickguard, so if you are looking for a purely acoustic instrument, you can take off the pickguard to achieve this.
The tone is reminiscent of an Eastman Mandocello. Position dots will be correct (Yes, the prototype had a marker on the 9th fret instead of the 10th). The newly added ebony tailpiece actually improves the tone, as terminating the strings with a mandolin-style tailpiece increases string tension and now the strings have a little more bounce. Street price will now be $825 with an archtop hard case. (We are trying to decide if we should do a run of lefties (the cost will increase 10%)).
The Mandocello should be in-house and ready to ship by late Nov/Dec.
We appreciate any of your comments and yes, Sydney is working on a pure acoustic recording (A Bach Cello piece, I believe)

[NotMelloCello]

Well that sucks.

[NotMelloCello]

Here it is the end of October and no Gold Tone mandocello. They have postponed delivery yet again, with no excuse given. I'm getting antsy.