Michael kelly octave plus

[Aehle]

Does anyone have any experienc with the Michael Kelly Octave Plus Mandocello?
Sound? Neck? General value? Price?

Thanks

[allenhopkins]

Here's a recent thread in the CBOM forum (below).

[Folkmusician.com]

The new Octave Plus Mandolins have a 19" scale length, cast tailpiece, Grover tuners, Tusq nut, radiused fingerboard. They list for $1575 (as of 2007), and the street price is just over $1000. #Like the other Michael Kelly mandolins, they need a good setup to play well.

I have heard good things from customers who have purchased these. The radiused fingerboard is something that is a personal preference (some players like them, some don't).

[mythicfish]

If you "must" have one of these I suggest that you forget about the "street price" as these instruments are always heavilly discounted. I bought (and quickly sold) a MK Mandola "Plus" for $850 which included case and shipping. The "street price" on this was also $1000.
If you buy one, do not be surprised if you find that the saddle is incorrectly compensated. The manufacturers figure that
if its a mandolin family instrument, just put a mandolin saddle on it. That's the way it was with my mandola.

Good hunting
Curt

[allenhopkins]

Per the discussion in the CBOM thread, 19 inches is a very short scale for an octave mandolin -- close to mandola scale. There are plus and minus factors to this. You might want to try some other OM's, such as Johnson, Trinity College, etc., at the lower end of the price spectrum, to see what you like.

[steve V. johnson]

When these first came out, I was very curious about them because F-style octave mandolins are quite rare, even from the cookie-cutter Asian companies. So I asked around a lot and finally some folks posted to the CBOM area with their experiences, and virtually all of them were negative. This was long before the thread that Allen so kindly points us to, but I think that there is a button in there that goes to some of the earlier info threads.

The F octaves were described as dull and quiet. I wondered if the basic survival mods for Trinity College OMs (bridge, nut tailpiece, strings, setup) would help, and for a long time it seemed that they would not.

It would appear that MK has made some changes, so that the mods now can result in a better instrument.

The scale difference is pretty disturbing, tho... For an instrument 'designed' with a 22" scale to have functional intonation only at 19" is drastic... I'd say they need to have another look at the jigs and tooling in their factory. I wonder where the "mandola"scale really specs out ... <GG>

I'm also glad to learn that these can be bought at near their actual value. For a long time, no MK dealers would stock them, not entirely the fault of this instrument nor of MK, but because Octave Mandolins are not well understood. So the only place one could find them was online, and those folks weren't much inclined to discount 'em (back then), probably because they didn't really have 'em in stock and just had 'em drop shipped... <G>

I still feel that the top price for one of these should be in the 650 range because they need all that stuff and work, and because William Peterson builds a really nice OM for a grand that -doesn't- need all that fixup after purchase. But that's my own opinion.

stv

[allenhopkins]

Another point, now that I look back at Aehle's first posting: Octave mandolin and mandocello are two different birds. The octave mandolin, tuned GDAE, is a fifth higher that the mandocello, CGDA. I believe the instrument was ID'ed as an "Octave Plus Mandocello," and I think that the responses have all been about the MK octave mandolin.

A 19-inch scale on a mandocello would call for prodigiously heavy strings, I would guess...

[Folkmusician.com]

The Octave Plus scale was shortened to 19" (maybe 6 months ago if I recall correctly). They originally were 22". I spoke to someone at MK and they stated that this was shortened to 19" as a result of feedback from players. Who knows.

[Aehle]

The difficulty is getting my hands on one to see if I really like it. I suppose an option is to just buy one and see how it goes. $1000 is a lot of money to throw a something that your are not sure about.

There was a used MK Octave Plus on ebay last week for $750. Musicians Friend had a "Blem" about a week ago for $750. At that price it might be a little easier to take a gamble on one. If it doesn't work out, I should be able to recover most of what was invested.

What I'm really looking for is a mid-80's Kentucky mandocello. (if there is such a thing). I know they they made the Dawg Mandocello but not sure about a Kentucky. (like a big brother to the KM-1000 or KH-1300 Mandola)

[steve V. johnson]

I saw that MK on eBay. I didn't know about the one on MusFrnd.

I apologize if my replies about the OM are misdirected and that the inquiry is really about the 'cello.

If there is a KY 'cello, that would probably be a better find...

stv

[Aehle]

Allen,
Actually I think I have gotten my cellos and octaves mixed up.
Are you saying that a mandocello is actually and octave below a mandola? (CGDA)
Thanks,

[MandoSquirrel]

That is correct.

[allenhopkins]

Aehle -
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I own both (Flatiron 3-K octave mandolin, Gibson K-1 mandocello), and they have different scale lengths, different stringing, etc. etc. The mandocello is tuned like the violoncello, or what orchestral musicians just call "cello," CGDA -- an octave below the mandola.

The octave mandolin is tuned GCAE, and octave below the mandolin. In Europe, this instrument is sometimes called a "tenor mandola," and what we call a mandola is called an "alto mandola."

Just to confuse things further, there's the bouzouki, which is often tuned DGBE, an octave below the first four strings of a guitar. All these instruments are subject to alternative tunings. If you hit the CBOM forum below, you can get discussions in excruciating detail

But, as an off-the-cuff observation, I don't see how an instrument with a 19-inch scale could be used as a mandocello. To tune strings that low, no matter how heavy they were, on a short-scale instrument, probably wouldn't produce a usable sound.

But then, consider the Ashbory bass...

[steve V. johnson]

As part of an excellent encapsulation of CBOM instrument descriptions allenhopkins wrote, "The octave mandolin is tuned GCAE, and octave below the mandolin. In Europe, this instrument is sometimes called a "tenor mandola," and what we call a mandola is called an "alto mandola." "

I think that Allen meant to write 'The octave mandolin is tuned G -D- AE, an octave below the mandolin.'

Thanks,

stv