19.25" scale length - mandola or octave mandolin?

[orangetide]

I recently picked up a flat back A-style oval hole mandolin-family instrument for next to nothing because it has some issues that the owner doesn't want to deal with. (fret buzz, etc)

What I find unusual about it is it has 19.25" scale length, which seems a bit long compared to what I normally see in mandolas and a bit short compared to octave mandolin.

Measuring similar size instruments I have right now:
electric Eastwood Astrojet Tenor Guitar (4 string) - 23"
electric Eastwood Airline "map" Mandola (8 string) - 18"

What I believe to be typical:
acoustic Mandola - 17" (there are some examples of 18" and 19")
short scale Octave - 20"
long scale Octave - 22"
longest Octave a websearch found - 23"
shortest Octave mandolin a websearch found - 19"

I can probably do either CGDA or GDAE strings depending on the gauge I throw on it. Below are some ideas from playing around with a string tension calculator - McDonald Patent Universal String Tension Calculator (MPUSTC) :

CGDA / 44 28 17 11 - would be a bit tight, but I'm not particularly attached to this instrument.
CGDA / 40 28 16 11 - better tension, A is a little tight - these are D'Add J81 Irish Bouzki string. they'd tension better as CGDG, might be a weird tuning to use.
GDAE / 46 32 20 13 - emando.net's mandola-light set for 17"-19" CGDA. But that set is seems way too tight when I check with the calculator (100kg+). Would be a bit loose as GDAE but likely playable.
GDAE / 48 34 22 14 - emando.net's mandola-normal set for 15-17" CGDA. Seems in the ballpark as far as the calculator is concerned (68kg) with the strings pretty evenly tension with the two center courses slightly tighter. (which is very good for a movable bridge instrument).

Sometimes slack strings are easier to play if the action is high enough; since I'll be fixing the nut and some frets on this thing that is totally an option. Low tension strings tend not to have much volume though. And at the extremes the intonation is hard to solve.

As for the style of music I like? Just about anything that sounds nice is fine by me. I'm much better at fixing mandolins than I am at playing them. It's not likely to have good chop for bluegrass no matter what I do. An good instrument for American old-time and traditional Irish tunes would be valuable to me, but whatever is best for the instrument is what I should be doing. (and then sell it if I really don't have a need for it, rather than forcing it to be something I want)

What do you guys think, string this 19.25" up with some fairly heavy mandola strings and tune it down to octave mandolin?

[orangetide]

Here's a picture I got from the seller.


It says "Harmonia" on the head stock. Which are pacific rim made instruments, probably Chinese. They are all over ebay and amazon, most customers are reporting they are fairly happy with them (considering it's a cheap mandolin).

[allenhopkins]

I have a 20.25-inch scale Sobell that I've strung as a mandola. String gauges: .046w, .030w, .018w, .010 unwound.

Survived 30 years in this tuning, with perhaps a tiny bit of top flattening, but still very acceptable action. And great sound. It takes ball-end strings, so I can build custom sets using guitar strings -- phosphor bronze GHS for the wounds.

Don't know how well-built the Harmonia is, but there are longer-scale instruments that can take CGDA tuning with slightly heavier strings than you're considering.

[orangetide]

For my electrics the ball end are great, and easy to find locally as individual strings. But I really hate picking the balls out of them to put them on loop end instruments.

The Harmonia is not well built, it's a very cheap mando. The Sobells are braced very well from what I understand, so I could see you having a lot of success with your setup.

Interesting that you use wound for the three lowest pairs. I assumed only the two lowest would be wound in my original post. Did you find an advantage in an 018w?

[multidon]

I would go with the D'Addario Light Mandola set tuned GDAE. Tension would be 18 pounds per string E course, 20 lb per string A course, 19 lb. per string D course, and 17 lb. per string G course. The gauges are only a tiny bit different from your eMando set. 14-23-34-49.

With octave mandolins, only the E course is solid, the others are only wound. Generally, I like any string heavier than a 16 to be wound. If they get any thicker they would be hard to handle insofar as re stringing is concerned.

My belief is those instruments are very lightly built, with no truss rod or even neck stiffener. I would not anticipate a long life with anything approaching normal tension before it self destructs. But assuming the intonation is correct, a 19 inch scale octave mando will be fun while it lasts.

[allenhopkins]

...Interesting that you use wound for the three lowest pairs. I assumed only the two lowest would be wound in my original post. Did you find an advantage in an 018w?

All the mandola string sets I've seen have had a wound second course; Thomastiks apparently are all wound. I just went with what I'd seen, monkeying around until I found a light (.018) gauge wound string that would take being tuned to D on a long-scale instrument.

Sorta "moving over" mandolin strings on to the mandola, and the D strings on mandolin (3rd course) are consistently wound.

[ptritz]

My Apollonio instrument has that same scale. I tune it to DAEB, which works well for traditional irish tunes. For that tuning, gauges of .038, .024, .016, and .011 work well.