Here it comes!

[Boombloom]

OK. Years ago I played an old Gibson Mandocello at a party. I should have prefaced this by introducing myself as an upright bassist who plays some mandolin. So the Mandocello was always on my mind. A few months ago I had a chance to revisit that instrument for half an hour and I really liked it. I posted on the cafe looking for a modestly priced mandocello. I received and email from Walt at Gypsy and one thing lead to another. I asked him for a very plain mahogany/spruce binding and inlay free bare bones model and he met my price. We agreed to a slightly deeper/larger volume to bring out the bass. The instrument is done and I just heard it over the phone. Walt hopes to ship it to me Tuesday.

So now what? Of course I'm watching Mike Marshall on that D'addario site and I'm gonna try some of the Gator Strut. Mostly I'm looking forward to trying basslines and stuff like that. I sold my old Guild B50 Acoustic Flat Top bass years ago because it just didn't produce enough volume. I'm hoping that this will be fun when I'm playing with fiddlers, maybe some other instruments and I don't feel like hauling the upright.

I don't need necessarily to approach this from the traditional mandocello perspective. Just curious about some ideas. I know some folks have recorded various roles for the instrument. I think Stanley Clarke use one, maybe some other folks. So I'd like to hear from folks who have taken the 'cello out of the box. This will get me all ready for the arrival of the instrument.

Also curious--any of you named your 'cellos?

Thanks.

Boom

[Andrew DeMarco]

I'm so jealous! Congrats! Post pics asap!

This happened to me a while back with a Weber Bighorn 'cello... so I contacted Walt concerning a 'cello and communication, price, and attitude was excellent (+++).

Didn't pull the trigger though -- yet.

PS That Marshall video is absolutely KILLER. And hilarious... "when giant mandolins roamed the earth..."

[Boombloom]

Walt sent me photos of the instrument prestrings. Today he played it for me over the phone. What a tease. The waiting is the hardest part.

[steve V. johnson]

Boom,

YES, the waiting is the hardest part (thanks, Tom Petty for bringing out that bit).

Please do let us see it (and hear it too?) when you get it. Pretty durn exciting.

Excellent that you'll take it on a non-trad path. I'm not sure what a trad path would be these days....
The 'trad' for these was a pretty long time ago.

Well done, both you and Walt!!

Thanks!

stv

[Boombloom]

C'mon now! What are you all using your mandocellos for?

[allenhopkins]

C'mon now! What are you all using your mandocellos for?
[1] #Playing Celtic and Jewish music, in my #bands Innisfree and Love & Knishes.
[2] #Recording -- used the Gibson K-1 on the CD I made with Bonnie Abrams last fall, Welcome To My Mid-Life Crisis.
[3] #Taking the Eastman to Celtic seisuns around Rochester.
[4} #Loaning out: Andrew VanNorstrand used the K-1 on the CD he made with his brother Noah last year, A Certain Tree. #Andrew said he also used it sitting in with Jay Ungar and Molly Mason at a concert.

Haven't named either 'cello. #With six dozen or more instruments down here in my basement, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with names for all of 'em.

[Boombloom]

The Eagle has Landed!
Arrived safe and sound. I ripped the box open, tuned the cello to the piano and started admiring it. My wife then came home and expressed concern regarding the bubble wrap, packing peanuts and cardboard all over the kitchen floor. Some folks just don't understand The Moment. Anyway, I have it tuned but have yet to spend any time with it. Now I have to go mow the stupid lawn... So far, so good!

[MikeEdgerton]

Pay a kid to mow the lawn, get your priorities straight! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[FlatPickinDan]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif Hey where are the pictures! Sounds like you are a little to busy to use the camera at the moment!

[Boombloom]

You know what? I was just going out to mow the back fourty when the skies opened up and the rain came down all noah style. I just spent an hour with the instrument.

I really don't have anything to compare it to, no real experience with these beasts. At first I began to crave larger frets but now I'm not sure. Since my main axe is an upright bass my hands have become very unaccustomed to wound strings, but that's ok. Wondering how this instrument would feel with some radius to the fretboard. Can't help but notice all the sympathetic tones from open strings.

The instrument is very clean. Spruce top. Mahogany (sp?) back and sides. All wire and wood. No binding, no inlay. I will get around to photographing it sometime. It looks like a very big Big Muddy.

So now what? I have a blues gig tonight on the upright and my wife has a gig tomorrow night so I'll be parenting. My first thought is to get together with a fiddler or a mandolinist and see how that goes. Just between us though, I want to have plenty of time alone with the instrument to just explore. I already know some scales because I can play some mandolin. The scale length though demands some rethink.

So far, so good! And I must say that Walt has been a wonderful person to work with.

[FlatPickinDan]

Ok I look forward to the pictures. Yeah I read in your earlier posting that you played the double. Ditto since about three years ago + forty one years on six sring, five on mandolin, one on the violin, one on Cello and just got an short scale Bouzouki a month ago and even with the short scale Yikes what a stretch, at least like I tuned it so far which is Octave mandolin. Ok so have a look at the attached picture....I play what it is stuck to! Damn all I have to do is show up anywhere with that Kay and geez no one even cares if I can play it!

[Bob_Blackman]

You should get ahold of Peter Ostroushko's terrific CD of live recordings by his quartet the Mando Boys, "Holstein Lust" (available from Peter's own site, plus Elderly and CDBaby, etc.). John Niemann plays mandocello (the other three members play mando or mandola). They cover a great range of material, from swing to classical to rags to "La Bamba," interspersed with hilarious bits of their stage patter. One of the most delightful mando CDs I've heard, and a good chance to hear some excellent bass lines on the mandocello. Congrats on the new arrival!

[a12]

A favorite of mine is "In the Hall of Mt. King".
A great bass line.
By Edward Grieg, the Peer Gynt Suite.

[Jim MacDaniel]

...My wife then came home and expressed concern regarding the bubble wrap, packing peanuts and cardboard all over the kitchen floor. Some folks just don't understand The Moment...
LOL! It's funny because it's true. (I wonder if our wives are related somehow, or if that's just an XX thing.)

[Boombloom]

OK. I finally took some photos. It's been busy around here, and raining alot. And I'm pretty lame about these things I admit. I have had a few chances to play the instrument and I have had some breakthroughs. I recently pulled out a mando tab book (I'm terrible at tab and worse at notation) and tried to play some tunes on the mandocello. It's coming along. More to learn than I thought. It was easy to pick up and noodle around, come up with some melodies and grooves. It's more of a challenge to play melodies in their standard key.... So here, if I can figure out how to do this correctly, are some pictures of the beast....

[Boombloom]

Picture #2..... I should remind everyone that Walt asked me what I was going to do with this instrument. I told him I was thinking about lots of low end stuff and even basslines. He offered to build a deeper body to allow more low end. Here is the result....

[Boombloom]

One more for good luck.

[Eddie Sheehy]

What a beautiful instrument. Walt is currently building a 2-point OM for me. The waiting is definitely the hardest part. Enjoy your 'cello. BTW, you'd better name it before your wife does. Mine calls all mine by the same name.....Kindling with strings....

[Boombloom]

What a beautiful instrument. Walt is currently building a 2-point OM for me. The waiting is definitely the hardest part. Enjoy your 'cello. BTW, you'd better name it before your wife does. Mine calls all mine by the same name.....Kindling with strings....
We should start a new thread about names our spouses give our instruments. In fact, Rose has an unnamed Steinway grand and a wonderful old nameless harpsichord. She names the cats. I name the dogs. We named our kid together. The instruments are up for grabs.