Gibson M-6

[wundo]

Anyone ever play a gibson M6 small guitar that looks like a mandolin and tuned
an octave higher than a guitar?
>$5000
And are there any other companies making these instruments?

[MikeEdgerton]

Goldtone used to make a clone that was a few hundred dollars. Gibson no longer makes these.

Here's (http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/93/GM-6-GM-6-Mandolin) a link to the Goldtone page.

[Big Joe]

Like most compromise instruments, it does not do any job well. It does not play or sound like a manodlin (they are tuned like a guitar) and it does not sound or play like a guitar. It was an attempt to placate guitar players who wanted to pretend to be mandolin players. Nice idea, but did not work very well.

[MikeEdgerton]

Actually Joe, they were pretty near impossible for me to play. :cool:

[wundo]

You've got to wonder what Gibson was thinking when they introduced this model.
Especially at the price listed.

Mike, did you play a Gibson or a Goldtone?

[RichM]

I owned one for a little while. It sounded nothing like a mandolin, and was nearly impossible to play with traditional guitar shapes. Nice idea, but very disappointing.

[MikeEdgerton]

You've got to wonder what Gibson was thinking when they introduced this model.
Especially at the price listed.

Mike, did you play a Gibson or a Goldtone?

Both. The fretboards were pretty much identical. It was almost impossible to play a normal guitar chord on one of them. If you're looking for the sound get a decent 12 string and capo way up the neck.

[mandroid]

Another cafe'er put a fan fret fingerboard on one and made a nice looking 5 string .
Electric 458 section got some pictures put there of it , as I recall .

[John Flynn]

Dean makes a 9-string mando/guitar. It looks like a mandolin, but it's tuned like a guitar, 20" scale, and the treble strings are double courses. I've played one at a store and I was not impressed at all.

[EdSherry]

I've played the Gibson and own the Goldtone (I got mine second-hand).

Big Joe is right on the money -- In theory it sounds like a neat idea, but it's not really practical. Hard to play, and despite the Goldtone hype, it does NOT sound anything like a mandolin.

Mine almost never comes out of its case. Save your money.

[allenhopkins]

If someone wants an "octave guitar" sound (not mandolin), I recommend a uke-sized instrument made by the German company Bruko. Lark In the Morning used to carry them for around $200, with a serviceable vinyl gig-bag -- though, doing a Google search, I found posts saying that LITM had stopped carrying them. I took mine on a train trip to California and back three or so years ago, and it was decent travel instrument. Plays like a six-string ukulele rather than a mandolin, and fits well into a very small niche, in the spectrum of stringed instrument voices.

[Links]

It, IMHO, was the most overpriced, awful, excuse for an instrument that I ever saw. It looked like an entry level "what-not". No offense if you own one - just hope you didn't pay much for it! I can't imagine that Gibson was proud of it!

[Chunky But Funky]

Anyone ever play a gibson M6 small guitar that looks like a mandolin and tuned
an octave higher than a guitar?
>$5000
And are there any other companies making these instruments?

If I remember correctly, a certain online music store clearanced these at $1000 when they were discontinued. Is that $$$ above, correct? If you really want something along those lines, buy a Tacoma papoose and capo up!

Doug

[Lee]

The Taylor Baby Guitar is quite nice. Anybody ever mod one of those?

[fredfrank]

I would think that since guitars are too difficult to play to begin with, you'd just get a mandolin. I was a guitar player for many years before starting mandolin, but once I got to work on the mando, it didn't take any time at all to surpass my abilities on guitar. 'Course, I didn't say I was that good on guitar. Just said I'd played it for many years.

[MikeEdgerton]

The Taylor Baby Guitar is quite nice. Anybody ever mod one of those?


There's a thread here someplace regarding changing one to an 8 stringed instrument.

[Martin Jonas]

If someone wants an "octave guitar" sound (not mandolin), I recommend a uke-sized instrument made by the German company Bruko. Lark In the Morning used to carry them for around $200, with a serviceable vinyl gig-bag -- though, doing a Google search, I found posts saying that LITM had stopped carrying them. I took mine on a train trip to California and back three or so years ago, and it was decent travel instrument. Plays like a six-string ukulele rather than a mandolin, and fits well into a very small niche, in the spectrum of stringed instrument voices.

Those octave guitars are slightly more common in Germany, where they have some role in guitar ensembles and German folk music. Here (http://www.musikschule-rolf-decker.de/html/oktav-gitarre.html) is a German web site with a photo and a rather nice MP3 clip of a South American tune played on one of those. Allen is right that they sound much like a six-string ukulele.

You can buy a German-made one here (http://www.musik-dressler.de/websale7/Hopf-Hellweg-Micki-Oktav-Gitarre.htm?shopid=musik-dressler&act=product&prod_index=59-1918&cat_index=19-1539) for 269 Euro and three more here (http://www.gitarrengalerie.de/katalog2.php?id=7) ranging from 555 to 1295 Euro. All four are made by the same maker, Hopf-Hellweg.

Martin

[Eric Platt]

I played one M-6. Ugh. Couldn't stand it. But I'm from the guitar player camp. Only dabble in mandolin. Like Doug, would rather buy a Tacoma Papoose and capo. And those you can chord.

The Baby Taylor conversion looks interesting. I owned one for a while strung Nashville style. That also was a different sound.

However, if it was cheap enough, might be worth it to convert to an 8 string. Don't see why it couldn't be done.

[MikeEdgerton]

This (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40987&highlight=baby+taylor) thread contains a message with some links in it that show some of the baby taylor conversion.