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Thread: 10 string Mandolin/dola

  1. #1
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    Default 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I am curious how difficult you guys find this hybrid to play? If you play like a mando, does the C string get in the way? Likewise is the E string a hindrance to the mandola playing? Or does it really take on a role of its own? I maybe getting CBOM fever from spending so much time in these threads. Thanks. I am looking at the Tom Jessen hybrids that Mandobarts shared with us. I am looking at the A model hybrid on his site. Here is the link:
    http://www.cricketfiddle.com/mandolins.htm
    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

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  3. #2

    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    only interesting challenge happens if you are determined to play a five note chord... that takes a bit of a learning curve, otherwise, simple as it just is an extension of the scale downwards through lower C....
    John D

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  5. #3

    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    Issues are encountered in the build process and the sound of either the low C or high E.... generally, one suffers or the other, unless you start fixing the sound with longer course C string vs shorter course e string with fan frets and the like.... Even the big boys like Monteleone have wrestled with this problem, and not been totally successful with the "conventional" approach
    John D

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  7. #4
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I find it works pretty well for melody picking and chords. Mine is one of TJ's first of this type and the only nitpick I have is the fretboard is quite wide, like a guitar at ~1-7/8". The plus side of this is it is quite easy to fingerpick. The nearly 17" scale requires light E strings. .011's will snap. .010's will work but may break in use. I'm now using .0095's and the tension is better with ample volume.

    The best thing is the tone. Five course instruments have changed my musical life - I get the full range of a mandolin with the darker timbre of a 'dola. In the same way my 5 string viola has ruined me for violin.

    Nothing really "gets in the way" - nothing says you have to play all 5 courses simultaneously. Just like on guitar I rarely strum all six courses. Its part of playing - I'm in control of which strings I pick, skip or mute.

    Five note chords are really no problem - I use barres or cover two courses with one finger. My hands are only slightly larger than average.

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  9. #5
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I am beginning to get some of the differences in 10 strings. The Smart fanned frets gave me some of the same reaction I first had looking at Giacomel mandolin. Like they were refugees from the 60's. After some evaluation, I now understand the concept of the Smart, but might find it difficult to pull the trigger on that concept. I do like the Tom Jessen 10 strings. The wood cases appeal to me. The blocky neck, maybe not as much. Are all 10 strings necks that thick? At this point, I have not found that one I would pull the trigger on.
    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

  10. #6
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I had one built, fanned-frets CGDAE, scale ranges from 14.25" on the E strings to 16.5" on the C's. It's a great instrument, but readjusting from standard mandolin to fanned-frets takes a few minutes to reprogram the left hand.

    Since I'm basically a mandolinist, the five-course neck is wider, and I never chord all five courses if there are no open strings, I find myself playing the top four courses like a mandolin, occasionally dropping down to get some low notes on the fifth course. Every now and then I do find myself playing a piece (Kesh Jig, e.g.) in a lower octave, just to use the instrument's capabilities.

    So: taking on two new configurations, five-course and fanned frets, and at age 70, caused a somewhat steeper learning curve than I'd anticipated. Having said that, I wouldn't have it any other way. Gotta grow, 'til it's time to go...
    Allen Hopkins
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    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
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  12. #7

    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I have a couple of 10-stringed instruments.
    A 15" scale Vega Cylinderback which has pretty good intonation and no floppiness on the C string - .044, .032, .022, .012, .009 - using a mix of Thomastik flatwounds and a GHS Ultra-light E pair.

    The second instrument is a 24" Scale SOS Cittern - Great booming sound. No issues with intonation with the compensated and slanting bridge. - J78 MC set with .14 high E's
    Last edited by Eddie Sheehy; Apr-20-2016 at 4:44pm.

  13. #8
    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    So do you sting with a set of mandolin strings adding a low C, or string with a mandola strings adding an E string? In one of these threads, talking about using an uncompensated bridge, it is best to get an E slightly lighter like .0095 due to the longer mandola scale?
    Tony Huber
    1930 Martin Style C #14783
    2011 Mowry GOM
    2013 Hester F4 #31
    2014 Ellis F5 #322
    2017 Nyberg Mandola #172

  14. #9
    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I guess I use mandola strings plus the E's. I have an Allen tailpiece that takes ball or loop ends so I make a custom set out of single guitar strings with octave pairs on the C, G and D:

    C1 .045 C2 .023
    G1 .036 G2 .018
    D1 .022 D2 .011
    A .014
    E .0095

  15. #10
    Butcherer of Songs Rob Zamites's Avatar
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    Default Re: 10 string Mandolin/dola

    I have a 19" scale and a 23.5" scale in the works. Both likely citterns.

    #whynot
    =============================
    Apollonio Acousto-electric bouzouki (in shop)
    Mixter 10 string mandola (still waiting 2+ yrs)
    Unknown brand Mandocaster (on the way!)
    =============================
    "Doubt begins only at the last frontiers of what is possible." -- Ambrose Bierce

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