Mandocellos and capos

[JGWoods]

Recently I played a nice old Gibson mandocello and I was smitten. Before I had thought about getting an OM someday but the mandocello just has that rumble that appeals to me. I am curious as to whether any of you that play them use a capo much- moving up to make an octave mandolin, dong a partial capo to simulate a cross tuning - say DADA and the like.

I have very big hands so the extra reach of the 25+ scale doesn't bother me. It seems that the mandocello might be more versatile than am OM in part because of the long scale and the many opportunities for different tunings via capo, or am i mistaken?

[steve V. johnson]

I don't own a mandocello, but I play a friend's from time to time, and yes, I sometimes use a capo, for the reasons you've mentioned.

I also use a capo on my zouk to get mandola tuning (5th fret) and such on up the neck, so I agree that a long instrument
can be really versatile that way.

I haven't messed with partial capos tho.

I'm sure some of the real mandocello players here will chime in, too...

stv

[allenhopkins]

I use a capo both on the Gibson K-1 and the Eastman 805. Playing in the key of A, and using "E position" (the mandolin equivalent) chords, bothers me, so I capo two frets and use "D position" chords. I use a lot of open strings, so I'll capo to get to a point where I have drones, open bass notes, etc.

Haven't tried alternate tunings yet, though.

[pettyman]

I use a capo on my cello/zouk 10 string.

[Tim]

My mandocello is more a novelty than a musical instrument due to my skill so my advice is questionable. #I have put a capo on the 7th fret and played as if it were an octave.

[EdSherry]

I have a guitar-shaped "OM" that I tune a step above a 'cello (DAEB) and capo a lot at the fifth fret (that gives me a standard OM tuning -- GDAE). I have a couple of 'cellos (tuned CGDA) that I capo quite a lot at the second fret. I've never tried the "partial capo" trick.