View Full Version : Restored 12 string mandriola
Hi all, it's been a while, must be time for another completely mad restored instrument:
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Don't watch the video if you're squeamish :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyx53DcCp2A
Jake Wildwood
Sep-15-2016, 3:28pm
*like*
brunello97
Sep-15-2016, 8:07pm
Thanks, John. Despite the high quality (as usual) of your work and the fun of your playing (who doesn't like a Tarantella?) you've reinforced the fact that I don't think I ever want one of these ;) , the beautiful lumber nothwithstanding.
Intonation on this one must have been a row to hoe. Cool compensated saddle, though. Is that yours? Bone? I made a big bone one for a Sicilian mandola I have and enjoy its paleolithic ossorific scale, like this one.
Mick
Thanks, John. Despite the high quality (as usual) of your work and the fun of your playing (who doesn't like a Tarantella?) you've reinforced the fact that I don't think I ever want one of these ;) , the beautiful lumber nothwithstanding.
Ah, but you don't know what you're missing :)
Intonation on this one must have been a row to hoe. Cool compensated saddle, though. Is that yours? Bone? I made a big bone one for a Sicilian mandola I have and enjoy its paleolithic ossorific scale, like this one.
Yes, my saddle, just replacing the one that was there before. Strangely not so very hard to compensate.
Ausdoerrt
Sep-16-2016, 5:10am
Excellent work as usual. Great intonation. I keep wanting to get one of these, but then I have no idea where I'd use it. Certainly not gonna work well for celtic or bluegrass, lol.
Your Youtube channel is one of my favorite places for mandolin "porn", BTW :)
Excellent work as usual. Great intonation. I keep wanting to get one of these, but then I have no idea where I'd use it. Certainly not gonna work well for celtic or bluegrass, lol.
I've used one of these for solos in "bury me beneath the weeping willow", and "Roll in my sweet babies arms" and they went down very well - albeit to your typical pub audience rather than the bluegrass police ;)
What they don't do well is subtlety... you just have to embrace the sound and go with it. I guess in some ways they have more in common with banjo-mandolins than the Gibson style of sound.
Your Youtube channel is one of my favorite places for mandolin "porn", BTW :)
Thanks!
Ausdoerrt
Sep-16-2016, 7:21am
Sometimes subtlety isn't needed. I'd imagine these make an excellent choice for playing comfortably in loud environments. I actually have a vandalized mandriola lying around that I intend to "downgrade" to a mandolin for use in busking and such.
Jim Garber
Sep-19-2016, 10:57pm
I don't think I ever want one of these ;) , the beautiful lumber nothwithstanding.
I have to agree with Mick on this one. One question, tho, it looks like you strung the G course all unison strings but the other courses with octaves. Why not use octaves on the G-course as well. I am just curious.
I have to agree with Mick on this one. One question, tho, it looks like you strung the G course all unison strings but the other courses with octaves. Why not use octaves on the G-course as well. I am just curious.
The others all have an octave string below the melody strings - you wouldn't get a string low enough for that on the G course. For sure you could go an octave above, but that would be inconsistent. BTW the vintage nuts I've seen for these with octave stringing stick to unison on the G, and I've pretty much just copied what they did back in the day.
Jim Garber
Sep-20-2016, 10:18am
I have a friend who had an Oscar Schmidt one that he did string octaves on the two lower courses and unisons on the higher ones, sort of like a tiple or twelve string guitar. I was thought that the original tuning for these was unisons on all courses. Did you find that the the vintage nuts had octaves on the higher ones?
I don't think any of them are wrong, just trying to figure out if I had to have one what I would do with it.
I have a friend who had an Oscar Schmidt one that he did string octaves on the two lower courses and unisons on the higher ones, sort of like a tiple or twelve string guitar. I was thought that the original tuning for these was unisons on all courses. Did you find that the the vintage nuts had octaves on the higher ones?
I don't think any of them are wrong, just trying to figure out if I had to have one what I would do with it.
I wonder if this is a European vs Americas thing? I do remember seeing vintage nuts strung the way I have this one, but I can't put my finger on where right now... if you'll forgive me for quoting from a random website (http://www.stephensedgwick.co.uk/mandolins.htm):
"The Sicilian mandolin was similar to the Neapolitan type but has a wider neck because it had 11-strings. The top three courses had triple strings with the lowest string on each course tuned an octave lower. The lowest course being 'G' was usually just doubled, but the modern instruments have complete triple stringing. (With the body so small, acoustically it wouldn't work so well to have an octave lower G-string. This is probably why the G only had double strings). "
Looking at these string sets (https://schneidermusik.de/shop1/index.php/cPath/397_23_1000114/language/en) they seem to have all 4 courses in octaves, but I can't find any info on string gauges?
Jim Garber
Sep-21-2016, 1:38pm
From the Sedgwick site:
The extra strings gives the instrument a fuller sound and makes it slightly easier for tremolo picking. There are a couple of variations on how the instrument can be strung as described below, but once you play a 12-string mandolin it is hard to go back to a regular one.
Oh, really? I can understand the fuller sound but not the "easier for tremolo picking."
As for the tuning: very confusing...
On the Optima sets:
Set / Mandriola 12-string (4-course)
e''e''e' a'a'a d'd'd ggG
1. 2x e'' Silver steel, 1x e' Silver-plated wound
2. 2x a' Silver steel, 1x a Silver-plated wound
3. 2x d' und 1x d Silver-plated wound
4. 2x g und 1x G Silver-plated wound
So it looks like the G course has one lower string, not all unison?
I don't have a clue what players did with these contraptions in the old days. I was just saying that if I had to have one (I don't own one BION) I would string it with a higher octave string on the two lower courses. I would assume that I could use the A and E strings from a standard set for those purposes. Luckily I don't have to do that. :)