New electric Mandolins

[Ian H Weston]

Here are a few pictures of the latest ones from the shop. They're off to the Acoustic Music Company in the UK.

[Mike Bunting]

Are you marketing them here at home? They look nice.

[Ian H Weston]

Thanks Mike. I market them where I can. I'm in Ottawa, and I brought them to the Folklore Centre. The staff loved them, but purchasing never returned my calls or emails. I don't worry to much about it, the world is big enough and Electric Mandolins are still a bit obscure. If anyone in Canada or the USA wants one, they can deal directly with me.

[Mike Bunting]

Check your PMs.

[Ron McMillan]

Very handsome instruments. Do you make 8-stringers too?


ron

[Jacob]

Nice looking mandos.

Why are the pickups slanted instead of parallel to the bridge?

[F-2 Dave]

Wow, those are beautiful. Very nice.

[Ron McMillan]

I see that on Ian's website there is an explanation of why the pick-up is mounted at an angle. The instrument he is talking of there is a glow-in-the-dark version of the same mandolin, and it is for sale.

By following some leads on Ian's website I found a YouTube video review clip from Joe Brent's Tumblr site

Nice work! Now will you be making an 8-string version?

ron

[Ian H Weston]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for digging all of that up. I'm currently building them as orders come in, but I can build anything. If someone wants an 8 string, or a 10 string, I will make it. I'll have to make the body a bit bigger, because the headstocks will be quite bigger and the instrument would be unbalanced if I kept the same shape. But the possibilities are endless! I'll build one with Lasers and a MIDI system if it would make someone happy.

Cheers,

Ian

I see that on Ian's website there is an explanation of why the pick-up is mounted at an angle. The instrument he is talking of there is a glow-in-the-dark version of the same mandolin, and it is for sale.

By following some leads on Ian's website I found a YouTube video review clip from Joe Brent's Tumblr site

Nice work! Now will you be making an 8-string version?

ron

[Ron McMillan]

Hi Ian,

The only electric mandolins that interest me, personally, are ones with four courses of two strings - just like an acoustic mandolin. I know that four and five-string versions are popular, but I can't really see the appeal in those configurations. I'll be keeping an eye on your website to see if you come up with any eight-string designs; if Chinese-made mandocasters can configure eight strings on a headstock that doesn't look outsized, I'm betting you can do better.

One question: Joe Brent was getting all kinds of tones out of the five-string mandolin he tested. Was he doing that using accessories such as pedals or amps with different tone features built in - or can some of that variation be achieved just on the tone control of the onboard pick-up?

Best of luck with your instruments. I'd be fascinated by them even if they didn't glow in the dark.

ron

[wwwilkie]

Very cool, Ian. Congrats!

[Ian H Weston]

Hi Ron,

There are quite a few differences between the chinese made ones and the ones I make. It's mostly in the sound and durability. Any instrument can be setup to play great, but the pickup I use is worth as much as those instruments on it's own. Joe was getting different tones out of it with both effect pedals and the onboard controls. The volume and tone control will allow you to go from very bright to a jazz box. The distortion and wah were on pedal effects. I'll probably get a commission for an 8 string at some point in time, and I will post the pictures.

Thanks,

Ian

Hi Ian,

The only electric mandolins that interest me, personally, are ones with four courses of two strings - just like an acoustic mandolin. I know that four and five-string versions are popular, but I can't really see the appeal in those configurations. I'll be keeping an eye on your website to see if you come up with any eight-string designs; if Chinese-made mandocasters can configure eight strings on a headstock that doesn't look outsized, I'm betting you can do better.

One question: Joe Brent was getting all kinds of tones out of the five-string mandolin he tested. Was he doing that using accessories such as pedals or amps with different tone features built in - or can some of that variation be achieved just on the tone control of the onboard pick-up?

Best of luck with your instruments. I'd be fascinated by them even if they didn't glow in the dark.

ron

[Ian H Weston]

Very cool, Ian. Congrats!

Thank you Wyatt!

[Ron McMillan]

Hi again,

Thanks for the information - as you can see, I don't know much about amplified instruments But just for the record - I wasn't comparing your instruments in any way to the Chinese made ones, only noting that it was possible even for them to make an eight-string headstock that didn't look too bad (in reference to your earlier comment about having to make the body bigger so as not to be visually out of proportion to the headstock).

I really look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

ron

Hi Ron,

There are quite a few differences between the chinese made ones and the ones I make. It's mostly in the sound and durability. Any instrument can be setup to play great, but the pickup I use is worth as much as those instruments on it's own. Joe was getting different tones out of it with both effect pedals and the onboard controls. The volume and tone control will allow you to go from very bright to a jazz box. The distortion and wah were on pedal effects. I'll probably get a commission for an 8 string at some point in time, and I will post the pictures.

Thanks,

Ian

[trevor]

I will post some impressions when they arrive. I am really looking forward to them.

[Ian H Weston]

No offence taken Ron. I am curious to see how an 8 string would sound with my construction. The budget instruments are built like a Tele, no angles anywhere and built with a router and two templates. Mine have a construction that mixes Les Paul architecture, archtop architecture and classical guitar materials. I took them to the Folklore Centre in Ottawa last night and they couldn't believe the bass coming out of them, even the pickups closer to the bridge area. I moved those pickups back because players were striking them with their pick while playing on the earlier ones. It didn't bother them from a playability point of view, but I could hear the "click" through the amp, that was not acceptable.

Cheers,

Ian

Hi again,

Thanks for the information - as you can see, I don't know much about amplified instruments But just for the record - I wasn't comparing your instruments in any way to the Chinese made ones, only noting that it was possible even for them to make an eight-string headstock that didn't look too bad (in reference to your earlier comment about having to make the body bigger so as not to be visually out of proportion to the headstock).

I really look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

ron