Guitar Tuned Mandos

I am primarily a jazz guitarist..(don't hate me)
I do a lot of orchestra pit work for muscials and performers that call for banjo / guitar / mandolin. I recently purchased and have been using very successfuly a Dean 6 string banjo that plays just like a guitar. It works great. It's played more in the style of a 4 string tenor banjo...you know...rink-a-tink-a-tinka....but it sounds great. Now, Dean and Gibson have mandos tuned like a guitar so there is no learning curve. Has anyone out there tried either? The Dean might be my pick since it has double strings on the top 3 strings and singles on the bottom 3. The Gibson is a straight 6....just tuned an octave higher than guitar. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated......GtrPlyr335 in Ohio

[Doug Edwards]

I tried one of those Gibson M6's and flat did not like it. It don't ring my bell. My brother in law has a 12 string electric mando/guitar and does quite well with it. Must be the difference in operators.

[John Flynn]

What I don't care for on the two models you talked about are: The Deans are pretty cheap instruments. If you are a jazz guitarist, I doubt you will be satisfied with the instrument quality. The Gibson has the quality, but it is overpriced, probably will have little resale value and it doesn't have the paired strings, which is how you get the signature sound.

I play both guitar and mando. Each to ones own, but personally, I wouldn't buy either of the above. Options:

1. Learning mando is not that hard for a guitarist and there are lots of advantages. For one thing, mando tuning takes better advantage of the short scale. Also, there is no substitute for an actual mandolin if you are looking for the mandolin sound.

2. If I just didn't want any learning curve, though, I would just capo up to the 12th fret on a guitar. If I wanted paired strings, I would do it on a 12 string.

3. You could get a regular mando and get different string gauges to just tune it like either the top or bottom four strings of a guitar.

4. Finally, if you are really serious about it, you could get a custom builder to do the Dean configuration in a quality instrument, with the paired strings, for less than the Gibson without paired strings.

[Big Joe]

The M6 is fine for guys who only play guitar. For those who play the mandolin it is really confusing...even if you are also a guitarist. It is harder to hold and pick than a regular mandolin. While I realize you don't want to learn a new instrument, you would probably be much happier getting a real mandolin and learning it. You will learn very quickly. It will be much easier to play and you will actually get a mandolin sound out of it. Otherwise, just capo at the 12th fret and use your guitar.

[JGWoods]

I'm putting in my 2 cents for learning to play tuned in 5ths. It's logical, it opens up an avenue to the fiddle and many other instruments.
If you can play jazz and understand theory, you don't have much of a challenge learning to play in a different tuning.

2 cents
jgwoods

[Gail Hester]

Sounds like you have a good gig. Some of my best friends are jazz guitarists and at any rate lots of mandolin players around here also play guitar. As for guitar-tuned mandolins, the Gibson M6 is $5950 and the Dean Mondo Mando is $292, any questions?

Actually if you just need another rarely used tool for your job I’d get the dean. If you want a good quality instrument to enjoy, learn on, make money with for years to come, I’d recommend a good mandolin tuned mandolin.

[BlueMountain]

Gold Tone also has a 6 string guitar-tuned mandolin. It has a lovely tone, but with the guitar tuning and single strings, it really doesn't sound like a mandolin. The magic isn't there. As a long-time fingerstyle guitar player who is is nowhere near your level, let me encourage you to buy a decent mandolin with a good set-up and give it a try. You will find that you will make the progress in a week that someone who approaches the mandolin without playing something else makes in a year of lessons. You may even end up having so much fun with the mandolin that you don't have much time anymore for guitar. That's what has happened to me, and I don't regret it. (In bluegrass, mandolins tend to get a lot more solo time than guitars.)

Thanks soooooo much for all you input. I will put it all to good use when I go hunting for this new beast.
I might even try and borrow one from a fellow player and give it a chance for a week or so.... I know I would prefer the "real deal" mando but I guess I'm getting lazy in my old age. Like I said, the Dean 6 string banjo I have actually sounds and plays pretty well...I sure have all the directors fooled when I pull it out.
Thanks again and I will check back later for others who leave there $.02 worth.
Take care everyone.
GtrPlyr in Ohio

[arbarnhart]

On the paierd versus non paired strings - to my ears it does make quite a difference. I built a little travel instrument that uses 4 singles. I don't dislike the sound, but it loses some of its "mandolin-ness" when it isn't paired.

OK...OK.... I give up. I'm purchasing an "F" style mando this next week. I'll cheat and tune it like a guitar at first...then I promise I'll learn the fretboard and play it as it should be played. I have a friend who is getting me a great deal on a Samick solid top "F" mando and I couldn't be more excited. Now I gotta get all the gadgets that go with it...strap, string grommets...etc. Wish me luck !
GtrPlyr335

[stevem]

Congrats on joining the mando world. Really though, it's extremely easy to learn scales on the mando. Makes much more intuitive sense than the guitar. I'd say it would take 30 minutes tops to have the G, D, and C scales down.

To really learn scales the right way (including use of the pinky!) check out the more brain-involved, but highly recommended JazzMando.com Four Finger Closed Position System (http://www.jazzmando.com/ffcp.shtml)

[Pedal Steel Mike]

I just want to concur with everybody else. You'll find it very easy to adapt to the standard mandolin tuning. Also, many guitar chord formations don't really lend themselves to the smaller scale length. They can be played, but your hand might feel cramped.

Speaking personally, when I play guitar I often think in terms of how the notes sound when played simultanioulsy on differnet strings. When I play the mandolin, I tend to think in terms of how they sound consecutively. This is a very general thing, with lots of exceptions. But it's something you might want to bear in mind.