Gibson guitar-body Octave Mandolin

[musicofanatic]

I saw this in the classifieds:

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/206032#206032

Whadday'all think? 23 1/2" scale length neck looks right, proportional to the body, but too long? Many like to say the octave mandolin is halfway between a mandola and a mandocello, but this is so much closer to a mandocello, both in scale length and body size. This has a body width of 15 3/4", not much less than the size of a pre-advanced L5 guitar, about the same as a mandocello and the scale length falls just short of mandocello scale length. Not that I have the spare $25k in my octave mandolin purchasing budget, but if commissioning such a thing, I would not want more than 21 1/2" scale length, and a body aesthetically proportionate...perhaps more like 14" wide. The multi-laminate neck would have to go as well..

[tmsweeney]

While it looks nice, and I'm sure sounds great, it is HUGE.
23 1/2" is about all I can handle for octave tuning, I much prefer 22" or even 20".
I am sure you could string it as a mandocello, seems too long to handle mandola.
Definitely out of my price range, and even if I could afford it I prefer a smaller bodied instrument with a narrower neck for 5ths tuning.
A beauty to be sure, will someone purchase to record and play, I suppose.

[onswah]

This is similar in dimension to my octave mandolin. The neck can feel like a bit of a stretch but nothing crazy if you sit and work with it. I play guitar and double bass so I’m used to switching scale lengths. The trade off in sound quality I think is worth it with the larger neck and wouldn’t go for something smaller even if it meant it was a little more comfy.

[urobouros]

I'm also a fan of the shorter 20"-22" range. I have both the Pono & Northfield flattop GBOMs and find them to be a nice balance between guitar & mandolin. The stretch still isn't easy & requires changing some chord voicings but I love the tone.

[foldedpath]

I play a 22" scale Weber Yellowstone F octave mandolin, and if I owned this beast I'd string it as a mandocello.

[PT66]

Food for thought. One person said it seems to long for mandola tuning yet tenor guitar are frequently 23 inches and tuned the same as mandola.
Octave mandolin is in the pitch range as guitar with the same high E.

[tmsweeney]

Food for thought. One person said it seems to long for mandola tuning yet tenor guitar are frequently 23 inches and tuned the same as mandola.
Octave mandolin is in the pitch range as guitar with the same high E.

I think mandola is still 1 octave above tenor guitar

[Melt_in_the_Sun]

I bet it's a great instrument - a long scale like that is well suited to rhythm and you can really wail on it, unlike the shorter scale instruments. I have a 21.5" Octolindo and there are times when I wish it took moderate strumming better.

[PT66]

I think mandola is still 1 octave above tenor guitar

Mandola , viola and tenor guitar are all tuned exactly alike. One octave lower would be cello. Some people tune tenor guitar the same as octave mandolin but it was originally tuned like tenor banjo.

[musicofanatic]

This is similar in dimension to my octave mandolin. The neck can feel like a bit of a stretch but nothing crazy if you sit and work with it. I play guitar and double bass so I’m used to switching scale lengths. The trade off in sound quality I think is worth it with the larger neck and wouldn’t go for something smaller even if it meant it was a little more comfy.

I switch between double bass and mandolin, but I don't play them the same! Perhaps I need to be trained otherwise, but I play mandolin and octave mandolin with the same approach (other than bluegras chop chords), meaning the same positions and fingering. I'd be willing to try, but cannot fathom a 23 1/2" scale length working for me. If one employed it mainly as a rhythm instrument with mostly open-string chords, I'd wager it would sound huge!

[onswah]

When I first pick up the octave, I tend to play it like a regular mandolin, but this usually isn't great. I'll play with too much tension. I try to squeeze sound out of it and my left hand wants to lock up and stay way more anchored. The music will sound tight, constrained, and small. If I think to warm up and remember it is a longer scale, I'm far more nimble with far less effort. I can let the instrument do the work rather than me and that is where it starts to sound huge.

[CES]

I had a Weber A style Yellowstone MC for a couple years that sounded massively huge when strummed with open chords. I used it when I wanted some bass and low end growl in some outdoor worship services we did acoustically (and too far from outlets to use my e-bass/amp), and it filled that role well, but, the scale length made playing melody work on it challenging for me. This was pre-COVID, so I was playing in church a fair amount (usually bass, guitar, and mandolin), so practicing a lot, but not so much on the MC. I eventually traded it for a 20 inch scale OM that I love and use a lot more. I do miss that MC, and it was a spectacular instrument, but it was a novelty for me. We also downsized around the time I traded it. I think it sold within 24 hours of being listed on TMS’s website, and I really hope the new owner is giving it its due…

So, this GBOM is really cool, beautiful, and I’m sure the tone is there in spades given Mr. Harvey’s involvement, but I suspect it would get about as much use as my MC did in my stewardship…