Nylon Mid MO Sound Sample

  1. MrMoe
    Vintage Mid Missouri MO Nylagut 4 string conversion
  2. Dave_KC
    Dave_KC
    Interesting!
  3. MrMoe
    I loaned this to my nephews and niece today. They gave us a very nice pick nick table concert. I was very pleased to hear the Nylgut 4 string holding its own with the M11 and fiddle.
    There are a very few Mid Missouri Mandolin Company Ukuleles around somewhere. Unfortunately they never went into production. Thanks for your interest, Maurice
  4. MrMoe
    Here is a link to a better sound sample with the M11 and fiddle.

    https://soundcloud.com/user-39425458...o-convertercom

    Video version in google drive,

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SDf...ew?usp=sharing
  5. Jim Garber
    Jim Garber
    I wonder if Mike would make a custom Big Muddy uke. Yours sounds great.
  6. MrMoe
    I suspect he would. He has spoken of retiring. I will keep trying to keep that from happening. Maurice
  7. cunparis
    cunparis
    Hi,

    Can you please explain how you did this conversion? What instrument did you start with? I looked on the Big Muddy Mandolin site but I didn't see anything with 4 strings.

    I've been interested in a 4 string nylon GDAE mandolin-like instrument but so far the only one I found is the Griffin Mandolele which is a bit out of my budget right now. I mainly play violin but I put the Aquila 30U strings on my soprano uke and I've been playing that recently. The intonation is off and the nut & scale are a little too large for me to do chop chords.

    Thanks
  8. Dave_KC
    Dave_KC
    I would think you could retune a Ukulele to Mandolin, but probably one bigger than a Soprano Uke. But I'm not an experts, I'm just the nut job trying to figure out how to build a telecaster electric guitar and turn it into an octave electric Mandolin.

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...g-on-a-ukulele
  9. Dave_KC
    Dave_KC
    To do it on a Big Muddy, you'd need to remove four tuners, and probably switch the bridge type. I'd experiment with something of lesser quality myself.
  10. MrMoe
    Here is a cut and paste from the post in my image album:

    "Vintage Mid Missouri Mandolin Company Nylon Four String Conversion

    1999 or so MO model. This mandolin came back to the factory for repairs after having been sat upon. Rather than repair it Mr. Dulak sent the gentleman a new one free of charge. Later it was hastily repaired and strung with nylon strings at the request of another customer. It was not impressive as it was still braced for eight steel strings. She did not follow through. I saved it from being discarded.

    I have changed the braces and some other things. It sounds very sweet and pure even before the strings are broken in. It has an unusually tall saddle which I imagine contributes to its being surprisingly loud. It plays so nice and easy perhaps even I can learn to play. If I can come up with a presentable audio I will post on Fans of Big Muddy / Mid MO"

    Additional info. I removed the back and a considerable amount of wood from the braces and top, changed the tuner configuration, nut, and bridge, added a simple rosette, and binding.
    I have started from scratch for the next one . Thanks for your interest, Maurice
  11. MrMoe
    Dave_KC , Your electric octave project sounds very cool. Here is a fun K.C. video mostly for you. Mr. Dulak sat in with this group with his fiddle a few times. The album features a Mid Mo Mandolin so others may like it too.
  12. Dave_KC
    Dave_KC
    Interesting song, and fun. I know tons of those pictures, of course.

    My grandparents farmed on the Missouri side from Leavenworth, Kansas, and they were flooded in '51. My dad actually worked for Wilson foods and Armour Foods, and both moved out in the late 60's at the end of the cattle yards. I remember seeing the remains of the cattle yards as a kid, but they're long gone now. I heard lots of tales of the '51 flood, for sure growing up.

    Thanks for sharing!
  13. MrMoe
    Dave_KC Thank you for the insight about Wilson Foods. I was looking for an image of Wilson Trailer Manufacturing Co.
    Regarding the electric octave, There is a lot of info on the web from folks who have done those conversions. Most start with a small 3/4 size guitar. I have a Squire Strat that I think about making into a mandocello. The scale length is not a match but I think it would work with the right strings.
    D'addario strings has an interactive calculator for string tension / pitch / scale length / and gauge, coming soon. I hope it will save me the math homework or trial and error. Regards, Maurice
  14. cunparis
    cunparis
    Maurice,

    Thanks for the info on your instrument. I didn't realize it had such a history. That's interesting how you were able to do that. If you make one from scratch I'd be interested to see and hear it.
  15. MrMoe
    I know that Mid Missouri Mandolin Co. made a quite a few model "KID-MO" mandolins. These are a four string version of the Mini-Mo (screw on neck) With four on one side tuners. One of them would be a good candidate for nylon or Nylgut. A "want it now" on eBay might bring one out. I know Mr. Dulak often gifted them to friends who had kids.
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