Tunings for vintage mando

[Hohner Mando Abe]

I recently bought an old (1960,s) Stella A style mandolin on E Bay. I had to do some minor repairs. This mando has a deep loud sustain compared to many. I understand it was a fairly cheap instument in its day, made by Harmony, & sold by Sears & Eatons.
I've heard that an old instrument like this should be tuned down to prevent top collapse, or breaking the neck. I am using light strings, 10-14-24-34 Martins, & wonder what alternate tuning to use that would still allow me to play along with normally tuned instruments in a jam session with the least amount of searching for chords that would work. Using a capo may be necessary. Any experience anyone can share would be greatly appreciated.

[Chris Keth]

Have you tried standard tuning with 9s?

[mandroid]

Consider 9,13,20,32, or tenor banjo nickel wound , some of which are about that gage.

of course FCGD is a whole step detuned, so you would transpose everything

from what you thought was right , before ... still 5ths

F .. the new G ..

[Hohner Mando Abe]

Thank you PanaDP & mandroid for your replys. I"m going to try the alternate tuning & see how messed up I can get, LOL.. I don't know about the 9-32 strings, since the 10-34 was the lightest that the local shop had in stock.
My main mando is a Hohner A style, that I find rather mute, even with new strings, so one day I'll have to upgrade. To what, I'm not sure yet.
I just started into a local Jam group & I think it going to be a lot of fun. We're all amateurs who enjoy music. Thanks Again.

[Chris Keth]

Thank you PanaDP & mandroid for your replys. I"m going to try the alternate tuning & see how messed up I can get, LOL.. I don't know about the 9-32 strings, since the 10-34 was the lightest that the local shop had in stock.
My main mando is a Hohner A style, that I find rather mute, even with new strings, so one day I'll have to upgrade. To what, I'm not sure yet.
I just started into a local Jam group & I think it going to be a lot of fun. We're all amateurs who enjoy music. Thanks Again.

I found out that the one local shop that carries a lot of acoustic instruments (the others are 95% electric guitars) carries D'Addario's 10-32 set. I put them on an old bowlback I have and they work well.

[mrmando]

I don't know if this is true of Stellas, but USA factory-built mandolins in the 1960s tended to be overbuilt, not underbuilt. With the 10-34 Martin set, I doubt that standard tuning will damage the instrument. But it's hard to say for sure without seeing it.