New octave mando

[Doug Ezell]

Got my new GOM (guitar-bodied octave mandolin) made by the incredible Fletcher Brock, of Seattle. It is one incredibly beautiful instrument, and heavenly to play. Here is a picture, if I'm doing this picture upload thing correctly.

Doug in Montana

[Doug Ezell]

Here's another pic. I love this axe!!

[Doug Ezell]

And finally, the headstock.

[Eric F.]

Yow! Congrats, Doug. Very nice looking, and I bet it sounds great. Got a pic of the back?

[JEStanek]

Nice. I can tell that back is on fire from the flames through the f-holes!

Jamie

[kyblue]

Congratulations!

I'm sure it's a great one.

Paula

[fwoompf]

That looks like it kicks so much butt.

[mandopete]

Yeah buddy!

[wayfaringstranger]

Very nice; he certainly builds a wonderful octave, no?

Are the lower courses strung in unison, or in octaves? Mine is in octaves (think 12-string guitar), this one looks like they're strung in unison pairs (like a mandolin).

john

[otterly2k]

Ni..i..i..i..ce!

[Gary S]

Very nice!!!

How does the sound of the guitar shaped body differ from the traditional mandolin shape? As a mandolin player is there an adjustment to the feel of the neck and body?

Enjoy your beautiful octave mandolin...Gary

[wayfaringstranger]

In my experience (I have a similar instrument), there's not much adjustment in terms of the body (but then again, I'm a guitar player, too). There is, however, a fair amount of adjustment to the neck. Or, more accurately, the scale length. Mine's 21.5", which means that a lot of mando fingerings do work. But a lot don't work. You won't be playing any chop chords on one of these http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Doug Ezell]

The strings: He strung it w/ the lower 2 courses being in octaves (like a 12 string guitar). I like the sound better as unisons (is that a word?), so I strung it up that way.

In terms of playing....I don't play guitar because it's too big for my little hands. (That's what makes me a successful gynecologist--really!!) I had him make the scale length as short as he could (21.5"), and the neck as narrow as he could without losing strenght. As a result it is more playable than, say, my buddy's w/ a 23" scale. Nonetheless, I still have to use my pinky more.

Here is a pic of the back, as requested.

[wayfaringstranger]

That really is beautiful, Doug.

Did you have to widen the slots in the nut or the bridge to get it to work without the high-octave strings? I'm tempted to try with mine (which seems to be identical to yours, at least measurement-wise), but the heavier strings don't fit neatly in the slots. I dig the sound of the octave courses, but it's tricky on some tunes because you alternate between two very different sounds depending on which direction your stroke is going.