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Thread: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

  1. #1
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    I have a nice Trinity College Octave Mandolin, but I rarely play it. It just doesn't "talk" to me, if you know what I mean. I mainly play Irish tunes, both at home and at sessions, using regular mandolin and tenor banjo. I'm a halfway decent amateur on both of those. I do switch off with whistle too.
    I find the Octave Mandolin sound too muddy for playing melody, but I don't want to just strum chords, so I was thinking of removing one string from each pair and playing it like a tenor guitar, which is an instrument I've been thinking of getting anyway.
    Has anyone done this? Like the results?
    For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
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    Registered User Bren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    Brian Cromarty, of Orkney bands The Chair and Saltfishforty, used to do this. (just checked - looks like he still does)

    I found a recent picture of him right here on mandolin cafe so I guess he won't mind me mentioning it.

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...Brian-Cromarty

    If you examine the picture you'll see he has removed the sound posts for the missing strings.
    Bren

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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    Can be done. You'll likely need to adjust the truss rod a bit to compensate for lower tension on the neck. I'd leave it at GDAE tuning, and use a capo if you want CGDA. It'll be more versatile that way. Or sell it/trade it for a Blueridge BR40T tenor

  4. #4
    Registered User Bren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    And video.

    Works pretty well, I think you'll agree!

    Bren

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    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    It can be done, and as you hear from the video, it can produce a great sound. You mention a muddy sound when playing melody, but I find the sound of the octave is great for playing pipe tunes and slower melodies, as it has more sustain than the mandolin.
    If you decide to keep your octave with the four strings, can I suggest you get a new nut cut so that the strings have a better spacing across the fingerboard and are centred.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

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  7. #6
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    I found a couple of videos with Cromarty playing an OM this way, but always strumming, never playing melody. That would help me decide. 'Course, I could always just try it...
    For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
    www.busmanwhistles.com
    Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.

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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    There's a video of Cahalen Morrison and Eli West with a four string GBOM on it somewhere ........

  9. #8
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    There's a video of Cahalen Morrison and Eli West with a four string GBOM on it somewhere ........
    Found it. It sounds pretty darn good.
    For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
    www.busmanwhistles.com
    Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.

  10. #9
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    I took the extra strings off yesterday and am very happy with the results. Playing tunes melodically is MUCH easier and clean sounding, but strumming still sounds good.The setup needs a bit of a tweak now, but I'm holding off until I play it as is for a while and decide to keep it that way.
    For wooden musical fun that doesn't involve strumming, check out:
    www.busmanwhistles.com
    Handcrafted pennywhistles in exotic hardwoods.

  11. #10
    Registered User Bren's Avatar
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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    Another video of Brian playing melody on 4-string "mandola", at least for the first couple of minutes:
    Bren

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    Default Re: Octave mandolin as tenor guitar?

    Since you're not playing it as an octave anyway, I can't see what you've got to lose.
    David A. Gordon

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