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Ribak
Dec-03-2011, 4:37pm
I finish my MPA in may and I want a new instrument to celebrate, I would love for that new instrument to be a mandocello. Looking around though (as of course most of you would know) finding one in the range of "affordable" is dificult when they start at the 1500+ range.

I just stumbled acroos Walt Kuhlman and his Gypsymusic site. The instruments look fantastic, has anyone here had any experience with them?

Currently I just play the guitar (not that well either) so I'm not a complete newbie when it comes to stringed instruments but this will be my first foray into the mandolin family.

If there is any place else I should be looking at for a starter mandocello please let me know. I've seen the eastman archtops, the weber cellos (I live within an hour drive of Elderly), but walt's here are still cheaper at $1525 to start than either of these.

Any insight is appreciated!

allenhopkins
Dec-03-2011, 4:59pm
With a master's in public administration, you'll never have any money, so get something cheap (speaking as a retired career civil servant)...

But seriously folks, Walt (who posts here as gypsy1) gets good marks for his instruments. Here's (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?73201-Mandocello-from-Gypsy-s) a recent thread with pics of a 'cello he built this year. Steve Wishnevsky in NC builds mandocelli, some with a sorta weird asymmetrical body, some on standard jazz guitar chassis, for about $600; here's (http://www.wishnevsky.com/mandolinfamily.html) a link to his website. Soares'y instruments, made in Portugal, used to show up on eBay regularly; they were cheap, lacking in fit and finish, but decently constructed by all accounts. They're built on arch-top guitar bodies, the way Eastman does, but the bodies are all plywood. I think Mike Soares stopped importing instruments during the big recession, but a used one might pop up.

Gypsy sounds like a good starting point. The Eastman instruments haven't been around long enough, and haven't been sold in sufficient quantities, to generate much of a "used" market yet. And you need to consider whether you want a mandocello that's basically an eight-string arch-top jazz guitar, or one that's built more like a big oval-hole mandolin; they do sound (and feel) different -- take it from the owner of a Gibson K-1 and an Eastman 805.

Ribak
Dec-03-2011, 5:32pm
Its worse than you know man, my emphasis is nonprofit management. I'm going to be broke forever, but that doesn't matter if I can afford an apartment and a mandocello. I can be happy with that.

Yeah, I think I can live without all of the flair and flourish of pick guards and inlays if it means I can do this on the cheap, and while the eastman's look amazing, I don't want that kind of sound.

I sent Walt an e-mail about the turnaround on his work. We'll see.

allenhopkins
Dec-04-2011, 9:19pm
I got a PM about the Wishnevsky instruments, saying that in order to keep the prices as low as they are, some of the detail work and finish is pretty rough. Same is true of Soares'y instruments, if you can find them. But of course, that's the tradeoff, if you're trying to build and sell an instrument for half of what others charge. I can live with finish drips and irregularly spaced tuners, if the instrument has a good sound and is low-priced, but of course would prefer a nicer mandocello assuming I can afford it.

Jim Garber
Dec-05-2011, 9:49am
I hung out with Walt at CMSA in October and got to play all the instruments he had there. Tho he did not have any mandocelli IIRC the mandolins and OMs were quite nice and finished properly. Prices may be a little more on the higher end of your range. He currently has a rosewood bouzouki (http://www.gypsysmusic.com/Rosewood-Bouzouki.html) for sale for $1395.

Walt Kuhlman
Dec-05-2011, 12:16pm
Thank you Jim, the rosewood bouzouki did sell over the weekend..someone is going to be very happy this Christmas!

Riback, sent you an email, looking forward to hearing back from you.

Walt