What good 8-string e-mandos are out there?

[jmkatcher]

I'm really happy with my Gibson EM, but I'm afraid something will happen to it if I take it out of the house. Has anyone played a new 8-string e-mando that's just as good sounding and playing? I'm more curious than anything else.

P.S. I know this is nominally the 4/5 string section, but it seems like the place the e-mando people hang out...

[steve in tampa]

I really dig my Ovation MM68. Great electronics, wider neck, and excellent overall quality. I use it when playing outside beach bar stuff. Very dependable.

[drooartz]

I just picked up a Michael Kelly Legacy Classic with a Shatten pickup installed to use as my hazardous duty mando. It's nice sounding and playing, and means I can leave my '24 snakehead Gibson A at home more. It seems to be a good compromise in quality--good enough, but not so good that I'd be worried about dragging it to the bars.

It is, of course, a hollow F style. Haven't played any of the solid 8-stringers if that's what you're looking for.
-Drew

[mrmando]

Cheap acoustic/electric: Godin. Mid-priced to expensive acoustic/electric: Rigel. Solid: The best EM200 knockoff is Doug O'Dell's Oldtown electric. I like my Yanuziello, although the scale's a tad longer at 14.5". There was a good-looking Ryder 8-string in the Classifieds not long ago. If you wanna go cheap you can get a RichTone or Elloree, but I don't know how they'd compare to an EM200 in terms of playability. Might be a few of the Rickenbacker reissues kicking around, but I know they're a step down from a Gibson.

BTW, I maintain that an 8-string electric has 4 strings. It also has 5 strings. And a few additional ones.

[jmkatcher]

Thanks! That's just the sort of opinions I was looking for.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

fender fm62se, great madno, ive got one and love it...

[mrmando]

I guess I should plug my site again -- just go to emando.com and search on "8" or "eight." I try to include the number of strings in most of the instrument descriptions.

[Tom C]

<span style='color:purple'><span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'> Take it out of the house!</span></span>

They are meant to be played. I take my best mando with me where ever I go to play.
Life is too short to worry about something that will probably never happen. I recently got to play a friend's 2 loars. No less it was in a bar in NYC and he was very accomodating and passive where he did not look over your shoulder or have to keep an eye on it every second. Mando are not as fragile as one may think.
Enjoy it as much as possible.

[jmkatcher]

I suppose you're right... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I'd do pretty well in a bar fight with the EM200.

BTW, I'm grateful for the emando.com site, but I was looking for some opinions to go with the facts.

[Ted Eschliman]

I'd do pretty well in a bar fight with the EM200.
Ah, another rational for my ringing endorsement of the Ovation MM68 (http://members.aol.com/teesch/Ovation.html)...
I use mine in church, but if ever did get in a bar fight, I could use this to bash offenders, return to stage, and it would still play in tune.

[mandroid]

A gold top O'Dell, so they say oooh a golden UKE. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
check out brian moore guitars / electric mandolin , website online.
and John sullivan, the drool worthy one, also, on the eye candy page as an example.

[peterbc]

I just got the musicians friend catologue (sorry!) and it has an 8-string Mandobird in it... I'm happy with the four string I've got (though I'll need to cut down the nut a bit, and it wasn't set up very well), but I havn't got a chance to play the 8. Keep in mind though that I'm not an electric player, I'm a bluegrasser at heart, and my mandobird is the only electric I've played.

[jefflester]

I just got the musicians friend catologue (sorry!) and it has an 8-string Mandobird in it... #I'm happy with the four string I've got (though I'll need to cut down the nut a bit, and it wasn't set up very well), but I havn't got a chance to play the 8. #Keep in mind though that I'm not an electric player, I'm a bluegrasser at heart, and my mandobird is the only electric I've played.
MusiciansFriend.com says coming 11/15, for $249.
Other online sellers (Music123, 8thstreet.com, etc - aren't they all pretty much the same company anyway?) seem to indicate they have them now for similar prices.

So maybe they have indeed finally landed?

[frankseanez]

I've got both the Godin A8 and the Fender FM62SE and they are both great cheap little instruments. The Godin has the added feature of the onboard equalizer, which can be handy. My main complaint with the Fender is that the placement of the output right at the bottom of the instrument interferes with its placement on my mandolin stand. The Fender has an interesting bulge in the back of the body which is sometimes handy if you've got a belly on which to prop the thing. Both instruments have a handy cutaway which facilitates access to the higher ranges of the fingerboard. Both of the instruments play well through effects processors.

Frank

[Baron Collins-Hill]

i just ajusted my bridge back on my fender and there has been an infinately better tone improvement.