Sea Gull S8 Mandolin

[Jon Hall]

Has anyone played one of the new S8 acoustic mandolins from Sea Gull?

[Jacob]

Availability: on order, expected arrival date 12/04/15 Elderly

[acousticphd]

Here's a partial picture from the Godin facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...10559045640076

Kind of unfathomable why they haven't got a whole photo gallery, or even picture the whole mandolin.
It looks rather interesting, but not what I would have expected. Actually it looks similar to the body design of the Merlin dulcimer/strumstick instrument (2 pt, flattop).

[Rodney Riley]

http://m.ebay.ca/itm/321848033200?_mwBanner=1
Looks like someone has one for sale.

[Jon Hall]

The Sea Gull rep. brought one by the music store where I teach but I wasn't in the store at that time.

[Petrus]

Yeah, we had a little go-around about this a while back (instigated by yours truly)

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ll-S8-Mandolin

I like the looks. It's hard to tell from the pics, though, whether it's full size or a travel mandolin. I have the Seagull Merlin which is a fun little instrument.

$488 is *list* which is almost always a highball figure to make retailers' prices seem low. The $399 at Elderly is better and it probably includes Elderly's setup.

[Petrus]

I gave in to my evil urges and pulled the trigger tonight ... we'll see how this goes! I'm really curious about this thing.

MAS allayed ... 'til Xmas anyway.

[Mike Barber]

You can get a better look at it in the beginning of this video. He doesn't play it though. But it helps see the scale in someone's hands.
http://www.acousticguitar.com/NAMM-S...s-from-Seagull

[Perry]

If it is anything like the Seagull S6 guitar it will be a tremendous bang for the buck

[multidon]

I think it looks like they took a Merlin, a 130 dollar instrument, slapped on 4 on a plate tuners and a tiny MOTO pick guard, sprayed it with something shiny, and voila! A mandolin! Only I wonder, is the shiny finish, pick guard (which looks too small to do any good), and 8 string capability enough justification to charge TRIPLE what the Merlin costs?

Oh, it does look like the body might be a little thicker than the Merlin. Maybe.

Of course if I see one in a music store I will certainly not be able to resist trying one. I hope I will be pleasantly surprised. But my expectations will not be high. It is, after all, when you get right down to it, an oval hole flat top. I wonder how it is constructed. If it is built like a Merlin, that means it is routed out of a single piece of wood like a Martin Backpacker. That would make it mostly good as a travel instrument. If it has more conventional construction it may sound better.

It seems to me, just looking at it in the video, not having played one or heard one, that they seem overpriced and for 400 dollars there are better options out there. But all of the above are just preliminary evaluations based on admittedly very little information. I will be very curious to read the review when Petrus gets one!

[acousticphd]

I think it looks like they took a Merlin, a 130 dollar instrument, slapped on 4 on a plate tuners and a tiny MOTO pick guard, sprayed it with something shiny, and voila! A mandolin!

It is interesting to speculate (and why not, since Seagull might not necessarily tell the whole truth about the timeline of the two).
It does look like the Merlin inspired the mandolin, rather than the other way around.
("What about if we develop a mandolin?"
"Why don't we try a walkabout dulcimer first; if that succeeds, we can easily modify the design a little and produce a mandolin")

The guy in the video says it has a bent top, though this is hard to see visually. The body pretty clearly is smaller/shallower than a full-size flattop; the bridge is almost on the edge of the soundhole and the neck looks strangely too long for the instrument. Without hearing it played, even as a demo, it's hard to conclude anything.

[Petrus]

I have suspicions it's one of those travel sized mandolins too. It's interesting enough to want to take a closer look. I'll live with it for a while and if it doesn't meet my needs I'll move it along like I've done with many instruments over the years.

[multidon]

I took a closer look at the video. The bend in the top is visible to me and the body is definitely considerably deeper than the Merlin body. So the only thing it has in common with the Merlin, apparently, is that odd shape.

[Petrus]

In the photos it does look like a flat top, sort of like an elongated pancake style, but the Godin rep in the video mentioned it having a bend or cant on the top, like some vintage mandolins.

I like the curved shoulder cutouts visible from the back. The finish is very nice as are the tuners. I'm a little worried about that scallop tailpiece ... a similar one on my Gretsch gave me nightmares until I finally replaced it. Truss rod cover is a surprise -- I wonder if it's just for show.

[multidon]

The tailpiece looks like a variation on the scallop she'll. it is probably one piece very much like the one on the Gretsch.

I HATE the off center back seam! Looks cheap and haphazard. Also reinforces my opinion that this is routed out body. I don't think the seam would end up there in conventional construction.

[Caleb]

I've always been a fan of Godin though I've never owned one of their instruments. A friend owned a Seagull 12-string for many years and it was a real workhorse. I used to play that guitar from time to time and always liked it. The Seagull mandolin is definitely a road less traveled design, and for me at least, it's good to see people not making the same old thing. I'd love to play one sometime.

[Petrus]

I find the off-center back seam adds to its quirky charm.

[odeman]

[QUOTE=Jon Hall;1428295]Has anyone played one of the new S8 acoustic mandolins from Sea Gull?

I love mine. It is cute as a button, easy to play, solid as a rock, unique ( take one to a jam ), inexpensive.............and MUCH louder than you would think. Those Canadians really know how to build musical instruments.

[Genesis]

the back seam is not a back seam.. there are 2 seams, because the neck is part of the back, it features a neck-through-body construction.

[odeman]

I have had mine for a couple of months and absolutely love it. It's easy to play, has a nice bright tone with a lot of sustain. The only thing missing is a woody bottom end that you would find in the more expensive mandolins. I haven't taken my Weber or Ode out of their cases in weeks.

[multidon]

the back seam is not a back seam.. there are 2 seams, because the neck is part of the back, it features a neck-through-body construction.

If this is true, why don't I see the matching seam on the other side in the picture?