Vega tenor lute with 6 strings

Seller thinks it's a mandocello, but it ain't. Only 6 tuners!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1913-Vega-C...%257Ciid%253A1

Vega made a 4-string tenor lute, but I didn't know there was a 6-string version. I've heard of tenors with doubled upper courses, but judging from the nut, this one was meant to have doubled lower courses. One could always replace the nut, or play it as a 4-string, the way it's set up now.

The 4-string version had a banjo-style headstock; here are two of them in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5QFR4whDdo

The one Vega catalog I have showing the tenor lute doesn't mention a 6-string, but Vega were never averse to custom orders. My 4-string is a superb instrument, with a sound (as you'd expect) somewhere in between a tenor guitar and a mandolin.

Paramount made at least a couple of 6-string tenor harps, so there is some precedent, but those had the upper two courses doubled.

Don’t know about the four vs. six debate but, shoot, the case is pretty high in the cool column!

Eight strings on tailpiece ?

Also, note that this is a flat-top instrument. I believe that Vega's CB mandocellos had a canted-top.

I would normally expect that this instrument had been altered from factory spec.. but don't see any obvious signs...

This catalog page, found online, is said to be from 1928:
Attachment 161941

I wonder if the six-string model is the "Artists' Special" listed in the catalog, at $90 instead of $60?

An 8-string tailpiece was standard on these.

I believe the "Artists' Special" is this 4-string version with fancier trim.

Attachment 161950

Aww, darnit - I took my lute out of the case to verify the tailpiece type, and found some papers I forgot all about:

Attachment 161951

"with octave 3rd and 4th" for an extra $20.

Nice work Noah Miller. So the 6-string tenor lute was not a special order, and this was the 'plainer' of the two grades offered. Here's a photo from eBay for posterity.

Attachment 161959

Attachment 161960

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BradKlein

Also, note that this is a flat-top instrument. I believe that Vega's CB mandocellos had a canted-top.

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It is hard to tell but in this photo is almost looks like the top has sunk. Doesn't seem that way in the other photo here.

Attachment 161961 Attachment 161962

I just realized... this is a plectrum instrument! My tenor has the neck joint between the 13th and 14th frets; this one has it at about the 17th fret. It also looks like a longer neck in proportion to the body.

4-string tenor lutes are thin on the ground, but a 6-string plectrum lute is truly a hen's tooth.

I have had a tenor (plectrum) lute for years and always thought of it as a kind of odd hybrid, part banjo part octave mandola. This 6-string is a great surprise.

My first thought was that it was the proto-type for a Vega guitar. The catalog page got me back on the true path. Brad: The Vega mando-cello does not have a flat top. There is a cant and usually an unfortunate dishing behind the bridge. Paul R


Attachment 161964 Attachment 161965 Attachment 161966

This is my Vega Tenor Lute...

I want to be in that band.

Here's the rest of the band...

For fans of antique Vega mandolin-family instruments, the Wisconsin•Vega Project is ongoing. There are some samples of the Vega sound on https://soundcloud.com/user-708668523. The Vega Mandolin-Family Reunion Orchestra (Vimfro) is heading to the recording studio for the first time on 11 November 2017. The New Vintage Frets have a facebook page. Paul R

Attachment 161996Attachment 161997

Some of the posters to this thread must be among the very few who can compare the sound of the Vega CB tenor lute to the Vega CB mandocello.

I imagine that the cant top of the 'cello would give the instruments a more 'powerful' single note sound, whereas the flat-top of the lute, even with the doubled low strings, might make for a more strum-able chorded instrument with more sustain, and less 'punch' to the notes.

Paul? Others?

It's back!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1920-Vega-C...8AAOSwHNxaGEIe

I wouldn't know what to do with plectrum tuning or a 27" scale. I'd capo it down to 23" and play it in fifths.

Is there such a thing as a "second nut" that fits over a fret and under the strings?

Any attempt to install a functional "second nut" would result in high action in the lower positions and intonation problems.

The correct height for string slots in a nut is equal to or very slightly higher than the height of the frets. The geometry just wouldn't work out-- the string slots would have to be very high to avoid the "sitar effect."

Your best "second nut" would be a capo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dacraw54

Here's the rest of the band...

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the five course mandola is super cool, nice collection

FWIW, this ebay auction is clearly for a mandocello that has been converted. Its nut and tailpiece still have 4 courses, while the headstock is refitted to accommodate 6 strings. You can see where the 4-in-a-row tuners used to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thecelloronin

FWIW, this ebay auction is clearly for a mandocello that has been converted. Its nut and tailpiece still have 4 courses, while the headstock is refitted to accommodate 6 strings. You can see where the 4-in-a-row tuners used to be.

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I don’t think that is right. Read over the thread closely and examine the photos. This appears to have been a stock instrument.

There are some dark spots on the front of the headstock. However, there are twelve such dark spots, not eight ... there's one on each side of each tuner post. These are just discolorations of some kind, not plugged holes. The nut is clearly slotted for six strings (2 pairs and 2 singles), not eight. As for the tailpiece, it doesn't prove anything. A standard Gibson mandolin tailpiece has enough hooks in it for 12 strings, but that doesn't mean Gibson mandolins are meant to have 12 strings.

Furthermore, the scale length, nut width, neck thickness and flat top are wrong for a mandocello. It's clearly a 6-string plectrum lute.

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