practice rig

[MandoBoris]

I have a kind of odd-ball idea I need some feedback on, but first, I want to explain my situation.

In a given month, I can spend upwards of 18 days away from home. I work for an airline. This makes regular practice extremely challenging, and that's probably the biggest factor holding me back in improving on the mandolin. Figuring out how to travel with a real mandolin strikes me as a bigger headache than it's worth. Often I have to ride in the cockpit of another airline in the jump seat just to get to work or home.

I have a _very_ inexpensive soprano ukulele tuned in fifths that I travel with regularly. Fun as it is, it's unsatisfying when it comes to working on technique. It is, however, convenient. It's only about 21 inches long, about 6 inches shorter and 3 inches narrower than my mandolin even at almost the same scale length, and fits nicely in my roll-aboard bag with minimal fuss.

My question: can a practice mandolin be built with a normal neck and headstock, and what amounts to a shortened solid block of wood for the body? Just enough to support a bridge and a tailpiece, but with the distance between them dramatically reduced? (Perhaps raising the part with the tailpiece to keep the strings from having to drop at a sharp angle past the bridge.) The almost complete loss in volume would be a bonus playing in hotel rooms, so long as I could hear the notes. What would be the challenges involved?

[Willie Poole]

M.B. Funny that you should ask this question at this time, just yesterday I was wondering if any builders build a 3/4 size mandolin like a 3/4 size violin...I am sure I have seen somewhere that there are some around, I assume the scale would be the same as a full size mandolin.....

if you hear of any please let us know here on the Café...

Willie

[John Kelly]

It should be possible to get a travel instrument built to your specifications and include a pick-up and pre-amp so that you could plug in a set of headphones to listen on. There are lots of violin examples around which employ this personal amp system.

Have you thought about only having 4 strings rather than the 8?

[spufman]

A 'shifted scale' instrument is going to throw off the relative position of things, so you may need to adapt a bit when moving back to your normal instrument. I play (long scale) electric bass and am thrown by some intruments, depending on neck join, horn length, bridge location, etc. Maybe not so bad with mandolin scale, but hitting the wrong note using muscle memory is no way to make friends!

[MandoBoris]

I wonder if a solid body mandolin could be made with the same scale length, but with the extra dimensions beyond and to each side of the bridge diminished. My ukulele is just about the same scale length, but six inches shorter overall. Tone quality isn't a consideration (beyond being in tune), just the ability to hold eight metal strings at full tension to practice on...

Honestly, the picture in my head is the neck of a mandolin, attached to a piece of 2x4 (maybe slightly more elegant than that, ha).

Is this in the realm of d.i.y. using a cheap mandolin for donor parts, or do I need to find someone who knows what they're doing? My wood working skills... um... I might be in the wrong part of the forum, lol. Is there anyone specifically I should be talking to?

Someone who won't laugh?

[jefflester]

Many examples of this sort of thing already out there. Both acoustic and electric.
(just do a Google image search on "travel mandolin" you'll see a lot of options)

The last one looks the coolest to me.

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...ike-pseudo-lin

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...ctric-mandolin

http://www.suddensound.com/workshop/travelmando.html (neck looks awfully wide)

http://tinguitar.com/portfolio/mandolin-electric/ (there's an acoustic one there too, like an even smaller Martin Backpacker)

[MandoBoris]

That's a lot of inches to lose.

[MandoBoris]

Oh wow, Jefflester, thanks for the examples!

[Tom Haywood]

I was working on a design to solve this very problem, until work called me away. My choice is to make an acoustic instrument that will actually sound good so it can be played at a jam session if you happen upon one. For an acoustic instrument, the scale length will have to be shortened so that the bridge can sit at a location that will drive the top adequately. That might be a little less comfortable than the modern mandolin scale lengths. There are several ways to limit the volume for hotel room practice. My design is mostly complete. It may be a few months before it is built. Seems like a solid body design would be much easier to produce with a full scale length. The big problem is finding tuning machines that save space.

[Jonathan Ward]

What about just a Martin Backpacker Mandolin? That's about as close as you get to a 2x4 with strings on it.

[MandoBoris]

I don't know how long they are, but in pictures I see of Martin Backpackers they appear to be near normal length. I need something about six inches shorter than a regular mandolin. I've seen some good concepts here so far, but it looks like I have to find a builder that would be willing to do it, as they all seem pretty custom. Don't even know where to start.

I'll keep you updated if I figure something out.

[Mark Gunter]

Since you don't need to "drive the top", as you've already stated, your concept might work with a more standard mandolin scale length. Hope you find a builder who'll carve something out for you.

[ProfChris]

Tinguitar.com is UK luthier Rob Collins. Probably best known for ukes, but he is recognised as making very playable instruments whatever he turns his hand to. And I know that he's always willing to discuss modifying and customising designs, so it wouldn't hurt to ask him. Plus he does this full time and might be surprisingly quick to make something which is based on an existing design like that electric mandolin.

[sonic]

I don’t recall exactly where I saw it, but there was a guy who made just what you’re looking for. It was a headless design using guitar type tuning machines. In the back of the body. He also made a frame which fitted with magnets and made it Mandolin size for playing. It had a piezo pickup and a pre/headphones amp. I’ve not got the best internet atm so can’t search however I think it appeared on the Cafe and possibly Indistructables or similar page as well.

[sonic]

Found it https://www.pinterest.co.uk/amp/pin/152137293643744530/

[Paul Busman]

I don't see why you couldn't what you suggested, namely pirating parts and making a small solid wooden body. See if you can find a cheap, used electric mandolin. Any condition. You might try in the WANTED part of the Cafe's classifieds.
You could either make a wooden body like you suggest, or just saw the existing body down to size, as long as you don't care about preserving the electronics.
If you make your own body I can't see any reason that you can't make it any size you want. As long as the bridge is the same distance from the nut it'll play in tune. The "tailpiece" needn't be anything more than some small finishing nails tapped into the edge of the instrument.
Saga makes a 4 string electric mandolin kit which finishes up into a decent instrument and is fun to build. That might be a good source of parts or to cut down to size. The rough cut headstock is plenty wide enough to add 4 more tuners to give you an 8 string instrument. You'd have to make a new nut with 8 slots, and maybe a new bridge. Since you don't care about the acoustics of the thing, the new bridge needn't be more and a suitably sized piece of hardwood with slots.
On second thought, are you sure a regular solid body electric mandolin wouldn't fit diagonally in your carry on bag?I have an Eastwood Mandocaster and love it. It's VERY quiet unplugged, but it's great fun to run through an amp when you're home.

[Jim Adwell]

Someone should make a folding mandolin....

[A-board]

Check Travolin. I think they're still available.

http://www.travolin.com/Home.aspx

[Jeff Mando]

Looks to me like the roll-aboard bag is holding you back, mandolin-wise. At the very least even a $99 cheapo in a gig bag would be more satisfying to play, IMHO. Weighs nothing, sling it over your shoulder, fits in the overhead compartment or closet, if you break it you haven't lost much......maybe I'm missing something. For years I carried on a telecaster in a gig bag and in the occasions it didn't fit overhead, I would ask to put it in the closet and they always let me. Looks like if you work for an airline, you should be allowed to use the closet, right? I must be missing something......or maybe you don't want to carry an extra item?

[Beanzy]

That Jim Brosseau mandolin that Sonic posted is a great solution to this issue.
Losing the overall length while keeping the scale length.....
https://jimbrosseau.wordpress.com/20...hing/#more-668




Time to get the tools out?

[MandoBoris]

Jeff, yeah a lot comes down to not wanting to carry an extra item. I've had to re-figure out just carrying food for trips because a small third bag was becoming a liability when asking for the jump seat on a 737 (notorious for having barely more space than a regional jet in the cockpit). I'm often made to wait until all passengers are boarded, so any space in the overheads can't be counted on, and coat closets fill up fast in the winter.

These aren't complaints, just reality. Living in one place while being based in another is simply a fact of life for many of us. Living in base is a difficult move when your base can change yearly.

Thank you, and thank you everyone else for all your input and ideas about making this work. As I've seen happen to others around here, talks like this can inadvertently touch off a bad case of MAS... I emailed Rob Collins over at TinGuitar.com last night and am talking to him about his electric mandolins. He quoted me 450 Pounds for the base price a little less than $600, plus shipping and insurance, and his build schedule is booked out to June. It means putting off replacing my Epiphone. My "travel" mandolin would be nicer than my regular one!

I'll let you know what I decide.

[MandoBoris]

Well, I made the decision, and not the exciting one. The thought of spending more on a mandolin I wanted less than a Kentucky or Eastman just wasn't going to work in my head for long, so I'm skipping the electric. I'll either find a luthier willing to do the wooden block idea or come up with something else, like taking a band saw to some poor used solid body mando, lol. Definitely nsfw imagery...

[tk59]

I built this for travel. I use it with a headphone amp to allow me to practice without driving the people in the next hotel room crazy. It was cheap enough to just throw in my checked bag without a case.

[tk59]

Sorry about the duplicate images.

[mandotool]

Worst video ever...but something like this could be the 2x/type travel madolin you are looking for..
sounds terrible to boot..no xtra charge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiVvr0Q_A_s