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View Full Version : Yet Another Mandolin IDing thread


Westcroft
May-30-2017, 1:29am
Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this strange mandolin (most likely electric)

It has a cutaway body (almost like a telecaster)

8 tuning pegs on what looks like a fender headstock

Can anyone point me in a direction to find more info on this style of mandolin?

Thanks!

157636

Click for an expanded view
MikeEdgerton
May-30-2017, 9:45am
Probably custom made, there are dozens if not more folks building similar instruments. Best place to look would www.emando.com, a site operated by cafe member mrmando.
lenf12
May-30-2017, 5:50pm
Very cool e-mandolin head stock design. I could see Fender adapting this into their product offerings for an electric 8 string...much better than that Gumby Villager head stock of that other design. Any Fender Custom Shop workers out there may want to take notice and be able to sell quite a few e-mandolins if they were done right with well designed hardware and pickups. I'm a Fender guy and would buy an 8 string and 4 or 5 stringer too.

It would be helpful if you could expand on the photo and possibly identify the player and where he's from. There are some builders who are regionally known.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL
mrmando
May-30-2017, 6:41pm
Heck, it's the late Chris Cornell. I didn't know he had an e-mando. Maybe I can dig up the luthier's name.
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mrmando
May-30-2017, 7:06pm
Here's a color photo with the same instrument.
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Westcroft
May-31-2017, 2:35am
Heck, it's the late Chris Cornell. I didn't know he had an e-mando. Maybe I can dig up the luthier's name.
157661

If that's possible that would be pretty cool, I cropped the photo out of repect but I now realize my chances of figuring out the mandolin would probably increase with the most info.
Westcroft
May-31-2017, 2:51am
I may have been mistaken in thinking the mandolin was electric... unless the pickup is hidden inside. Here are some other angles of the beautiful mandolin. I can see a sound hole but no pickups or knobs in sight. We definitely lost a beautiful voice with Chris. RIP

157669

157670

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mrmando
May-31-2017, 12:17pm
Ah, so it definitely has a soundhole and is acoustic/electric. That narrows it down quite a bit. The only two builders I've seen doing something similar would be Jimmy Moon and Dave Thormahlen, but I'm pretty sure it's neither of those.
mrmando
May-31-2017, 12:46pm
Three different outfits, a chair, a sofa, two different windows, but the same mandolin ... this is quite the elaborate photo session. We can see the bass edge of a floating bridge in the chair photo, so we know it doesn't have a pin bridge like a Moon flattop. But I'm still at a bit of a loss.

This is likely to be a one-off by a custom maker better known for guitars. Rock musicians by the nature of their work are better acquainted with guitar builders than mandolin builders, on the whole.
Westcroft
Jun-02-2017, 2:11am
Three different outfits, a chair, a sofa, two different windows, but the same mandolin ... this is quite the elaborate photo session. We can see the bass edge of a floating bridge in the chair photo, so we know it doesn't have a pin bridge like a Moon flattop. But I'm still at a bit of a loss.

This is likely to be a one-off by a custom maker better known for guitars. Rock musicians by the nature of their work are better acquainted with guitar builders than mandolin builders, on the whole.

It looks like it was all a photoshoot for the Rolling Stones for Chris Cornell's Higher Truth album that had the mandolin heavy song Nearly Forgot my Broken Heart.

It must be the guitarist in me who is loving this mandolin so much, I guess I'm going to have to start saving for someone to make me a copy.

Thanks for all the help and input :)
mrmando
Jun-02-2017, 2:50pm
Photos are by Jeff Lipsky. Heck, one of the photos from this shoot was a Rolling Stone cover!

Chris was a friend of a friend of a friend (2 degrees of separation), but that doesn't add up to a lot of insider knowledge, apparently.
mrmando
Jun-02-2017, 2:56pm
It must be the guitarist in me who is loving this mandolin so much, I guess I'm going to have to start saving for someone to make me a copy.
Dave Thormahlen could do something very similar. They don't appear on his Website, but he has made flattop mandolins in electric guitar shapes in the past. http://www.thorharp.com/pages/OtherGuitarMando.htm
Westcroft
Jun-05-2017, 1:36am
Dave Thormahlen could do something very similar. They don't appear on his Website, but he has made flattop mandolins in electric guitar shapes in the past. http://www.thorharp.com/pages/OtherGuitarMando.htm

Thanks for all the help and info, I'm going to save up a bit and see what I can get built :)