4-string Mandocello

[PhilGE]

As I toy around with the idea of how to get my hands on a mandocello while on a tight budget, I wonder if anyone has ever played a 4 string mandocello.

I was able to play around with a Weber Tamarack (8-string) mandocello a few months back at Elderly. I loved it's deep, but clear tone. I couldn't afford it then (or now), but was smitten by the sound.

I'm wondering about converting a guitar to mandocello and wonder about the possibilities of having it made as a 4-string instrument like a tenor guitar, but with a longer scale length (the Tamarack has a 26.5" scale).

Your comments or suggestions are most welcome!

-Phil

[steve in tampa]

Here's a 4 string

http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/RMSII.htm

[plunktone]

Hi, Phil. Maybe you should check out Earnest Instruments. Joel Eckhaus builds a cello guitar (4 string, 26.5" scale) and also does tenor conversions. (I know this only from surfing; I haven't talked to him myself.) He'd probably have some good advice.

http://www.earnestinstruments.com/bigred.html

-jamie

[PhilGE]

Sweet, Jamie! But it's about 6x more than my budget for now!

-Phil

[keithd]

Phil,

I imagine these are pretty rare, but one was for sale around here not too long ago - and I missed it. It's a Gobson tenor lute; there were 4 string versions of it. I think there are some photos at frets.com, in the museum section. I think this one went for a quite reasonable price.

Keith

[keithd]

Oops - that's Gibson...

[keithd]

Here're the frets.com links:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Muse...n/TL4/tl4.html

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPa....te.html

The last is the 4-string version...very sweet (no idea what they play or sound like though).

[acousticphd]

By "Tight budget" , do you mean hundreds, or ??
The tenor guitar conversion has been discussed several times of course, and several have come up for sale here too. Many of these seem a little more expensive than I would expect from the quality of the original guitar (eg, like old Harmonies and Kays), but then again someone else has done the work and you have a finished conversion.

I converted - still in the process, actually - a Harmony archtop tenor guitar to an OM. That's pretty low budget. It has a ~22 1/2" scale. I have also seen one or two examples of a converted 6-string archtop, with the neck shaved down to a narrower OM-like width. For a couple hundred dollars, a bridge and some tuners, you could probably have something usable, at least until your budget loosens.

[danb]

a 4-string mandocello sounds like "a tenor guitar" to me.. Comb ebay, they aren't overly priced for the most part. Keep it 4-string too, that sounds very nice!

[Martin Jonas]

Loath as I am to contradict Dan, but wouldn't a 4-string mandocello be an octave below standard tenor guitar tuning? #I'm not sure there is a good word for it. #"Baritone guitar" may work, but is already used for somethign that's tuned a fourth below the guitar. #Joel Eckhaus (in the above link) calls it a "cello guitar", which is a bit awkward. #The four-string Gibson tenor lute, on the other hand, was just a mandola-bodied tenor guitar.

Martin

[danb]

Ah sorry, should have typed "plectrum guitar". Those are longer-necked, usually tuned like a plectrum banjo (which is more like a bass guitar rather than melodic 5ths) but about right in scale length. My bad. Correct me will-nilly btw, I make lots of mistakes

[PhilGE]

This is all very helpful. Thanks! I'm hoping to find something to get worked on in the not so distant future. If someone has any leads, please PM me.

-Phil

[Jim M.]

If you want a real low C, a tenor guitar is probably too short a scale, and you should look for a 6-string to convert.

You could probably find a used Martin D15 (all mahogany) for under $500 to convert. The '50s & '60s Harmonys in the $100 to $250 range and are good instruments for the money, too.

[bolannta]

This Alvarez Mini Acoustic Bass might be a good candidate for conversion to cello guitar.
The scale length is 27 inches, about that of a cello.
Conversion might or might not require a new nut with smaller slots.
It should be possible to find appropriate strings for cello tuning.
Joel Eckhaus (listed above) is building a cello guitar with almost the same scale length.

[Martin Jonas]

Frankly, with the scale length of that Alvarez, it'd probably be a happier bunny tuned as a cello than as a bass. I would have thought normal Mandocello gauges should be fine on it, if you can get them with ball ends.

Martin

[bolannta]

I'm not sure if mandocello strings are long enough for the 27 inch scale.
IIRC, the D'Addario mandocello sets are designed for a 25 inch scale.
They might work since it has a pin bridge rather than a mando style tailpiece.

[Adare_Steve]

Is that Elderly monstronsity really a Mandocello?

Steve

[billkilpatrick]

for what it's worth - not much as a genuine, bona-fide instrument, to be sure - but taking a lead from a thread here at the cafe and using existing strings, i tuned my baritone ukulele to GDAE, an octave below the mandolin and it sounds just fabulous. not very loud but resonate and responsive and it's hardly been out of hands since.

[PhilGE]

Keeping my word to myself, I'm using the funds from the sale of my OM (now in good hands) towards the building of a 4 (maybe 5) string mandocello akin to the Big Red (thanks again, Joel). It will be a flat top with guitar shaped body and a pin-bridge. Back, sides, and neck will probably be mahogany. Top will probably be spruce. Bridge, fingerboard, and peghead veneer will likely be black ebony. Still trying to decide on 4 or 5 strings. Won't get started until Fall, so there's plenty of time for planning. This instrument was what I thought I wanted several years ago when I started playing again more seriously.

Any other thoughts about this idea?

-Phil

[kww]

I would look seriously at the Octophone available from Retrofret. One of the eight instruments it's able to be is mandocello. Scale length of 21" makes me wonder about it as a mandocello, but that's what Regal said about it.

[PhilGE]

One of the eight instruments it's able to be is mandocello. Scale length of 21" makes me wonder about it as a mandocello, but that's what Regal said about it.

Ah, marketing at it's finest... Given my experience playing around with scale lengths and string gauges, the strings would be probably be floppy and the sound would be as muddy as all get-out. Either that or you'd have cables for strings and the instrument would implode from the tension very quickly. Thanks very much for the lead, though. Looks like an intriguing instrument!

-Phil

[groveland]

I know I am being redundant... But when someone says "4-string mandocello", that to me looks like a candidate for a regular guitar in New Standard tuning: CGDAEG. #I am sold on this for guitar, and even use it on my ES335 (scale length 24.75"). #The gauges on the 335:

.008 14.45 lbs.
.0095 12.28 lbs. (OM E)
.015 16.41 lbs. (mandocello/OM A)
.026w 20.28 lbs. (mandocello/OM D)
.040w 20.79 lbs. (mandocello/OM G)
.056w 18.68 lbs. (mandocello C)

Total tension: 102.89 lbs.

John Pearse has a set for acoustic:

.011
.013
.022w
.032w
.047w
.058w

[Jim Garber]

I vote for a Big Red. I have played one of Joel's earliest versions and that is a real boomer, even louder than 8 string vintage Gibsons. The key is the longer scale and the flattop guitar body.

[jwold]

I'm right in the middle of doing the very thing...converting a 50's $220 harmony monterey into a mandocello. All solid wood surprisingly in pretty good shape and sounded good as a guitar. Neck reset had previously been done. Solid birch back and sides, spruce top. I'm assuming these were "pressed" or steamed into submission as opposed to carved.

[jwold]

Um...8 string mandocello though, not a 4 string.