Fiddolin ??????

[palosfv3]

One of the guys at our local Sunday evening jam asked if I knew anything about a fellow by the name of Wayne Jarrolds and his fiddle/mandolin hybrid . I had a deer in the headlights look about myself for a couple seconds as I tried to imagine what this could look like or how it would be constructed. John sent this video to me today. Anyone have any info or explanation ? Jarrolds is a talented fiddle player but I'm guessing he may also be little eccentric . The interesting part is at about 1:30 mark .

[jefflester]

He's got a patent:
http://www.google.com/patents/US7645926

[David Lewis]

interestng, but why? all the disadvantaages of a fiddle (friction tuners, tone) with all the disadvantages of a mandolin (lack of sustain.... certainly, I'm not criticising him for doing it: it's a really beautiful instrument... I just wonder what market its for and who's going to use it. (I'm happy to be told this, btw)

[Marty Jacobson]

Well, it would be one thing if he were playing the "fiddolin" on the fiddle parts of this video, but he isn't, is he? Or at least, not the same "fiddolin" as he uses for the mandolin part of the vid, if the body shape and apparent build quality is any indication.

Reminds me of the Turturro Turn-Over mandolin-uke, at least the patent does. The mandolin he's playing in the video looks like just a flat-top fiddle-shaped mandolin.

[Jim Broyles]

Well, it would be one thing if he were playing the "fiddolin" on the fiddle parts of this video, but he isn't, is he? Or at least, not the same "fiddolin" as he uses for the mandolin part of the vid, if the body shape and apparent build quality is any indication.

Reminds me of the Turturro Turn-Over mandolin-uke, at least the patent does. The mandolin he's playing in the video looks like just a flat-top fiddle-shaped mandolin.

Well, at 1:34-1:37 you can see him rotate the instrument and both sides are visible. He's playing the same instrument in the entire video.

[Charles E.]

I have one of those Turturro mando-ukes, it is not very good at being either...however it is way cool.

[OldSausage]

Check out the tuning peg arrangements. I guess it works, but there's some mighty kludgery going on in there.



My guess is it's a regular fiddle with the mandolin parts added to the back at a later date, and the mando "hole" just painted on, as in reality it's using the fiddle f holes on the "back".

[Sweetpea44]

Looks like fun whatever it is.

[Marvino]

Thanks for posting, fun to watch but kind of disturbing at the same time. Gonna have nightmares for sure.

[TheBlindBard]

--the sound almost makes me think of a blues harp, kind of.

[bjewell]

Tres cool...

[Petrus]

(Slightly OT) Actually you can get machine tuners for violins, which are similar to the tuners on upright bass. They run about $50 or so. Check Amazon. I'm a fiddle player and have oft cursed slipping pegs and thought about getting a set of these. (I know there are ways to get pegs from slipping, but these seem a better alternative.)

[randygwatkins]

(Slightly OT) Actually you can get machine tuners for violins, which are similar to the tuners on upright bass. They run about $50 or so. Check Amazon. I'm a fiddle player and have oft cursed slipping pegs and thought about getting a set of these. (I know there are ways to get pegs from slipping, but these seem a better alternative.)

I highly recommend the Knilling Perfection pegs, they look and work great! FYI they DO come in different sized and a couple of styles, here is one:

http://www.amazon.com/Knilling-Perfe.../dp/B002Q0WSMK

[Jim Garber]

I had Perfection pegs installed on one of my fiddles. Makes playing in cross tuning much easier. I think Knilling took over the violin side from Pegheds -- I believe it is the same design. Originally I wanted wooden pegs but the shafts for those only come in one size and the plastic ones have a wider range.

[deltafour1212]

I did this to my violin. Worked great! The shaft ends of the tuner you may have to trim off going trough the peghead. They might stick out a little to far. The only downfall is, they are a little heavy so you will feel it compared to the friction pegs which are light. Also the tuner pegs might touch the bottom of your case

(Slightly OT) Actually you can get machine tuners for violins, which are similar to the tuners on upright bass. They run about $50 or so. Check Amazon. I'm a fiddle player and have oft cursed slipping pegs and thought about getting a set of these. (I know there are ways to get pegs from slipping, but these seem a better alternative.)

[Joe Dodson]

It's a little bit mad science-y and I can respect that. We're all of us a little bit outside the mainstream, or we wouldn't be here. That said, I can't see that there's a wild clamor for a Franken-fiddle like this. Nice playing though.

[Ranald]

As a fiddler and mandolin player, the fiddolin looks practical for me, especially for playing a song. It's not easy to sing when fiddling, but a person could sing while playing mando, then enhance the song with fiddle. That being said, I haven't ordered one.

[Bernie Daniel]

...The mandolin he's playing in the video looks like just a flat-top fiddle-shaped mandolin.

I was thinking the same thing.