what is the loudest + weirdest sounding oddball mandolin?

[Jim Bevan]

I stopped using the above-linked Rigel/National resonator at Irish sessions when I bought an old Sobell 10-string – the loudest "normal" mandolin I've heard.

[Jim Garber]

I still haven't finished this thing, but I feel it should be a winner on loudness whenever I finally do. Currently tweaked to be a four-string electric octave, using a walnut body/receiver core and a slimmed down Strat neck.

John D'Angelico built this electric mandolin-rifle probably in the late 1940s. I saw it at the Guitar Heroes show at the Metropolitan Museum, I think in 2014.

[dan in va]

Magnus, it's possible that Mikhail would've approved of the hybrid in the photo. There's an interesting interview of him in his later years that basically said if he had it to do all over again, he would've rather invented something useful for the farmer, like a lawn mower. i don't know if he preferred traditional Russian music, but if so he might've gone for a mod that was a bit more balalaika-like. i also wonder if Mikhail knew of Dave Apollon.

[Jess L.]

A winner at airport security, too, I'll say.

Yep, might have some xplainin' to do...
Passenger: "But it's just a musical instrument!"
Security: "Sir, step over here please."
3 hours later...

But you know what might be cool, would be to incorporate some of those gun-style parts into actual mandolin functionality. I dunno, maybe make some of the moving parts somehow operate a strat-style tremolo or something, not sure that would even be possible on a short-scale instrument (or even desirable, given the tuning-stability implications) but it'd be something different anyway... not that the average audience member would necessarily notice, though... if you wanted to do that for fun effect you might have to exaggerate it somehow so that people did notice it in action... just an idea. (You can have the patent, I don't want to bother with the paperwork, but when you get rich from this, cut me in for 1 percent royalties.) Then again, it would take a certain type of audience to appreciate such an unusually-shaped instrument in the first place, and even then, one would probably have to prepare for the occasional 'un-encouraging' correspondence from people who didn't appreciate the technical/design achievement involved in such things.

[mandotool]

Commodium. The Bepandolin. Built by Kieth Cary. Still on my bucket list.



Jamie

Thanks to my esteeemed colleague Mr. JEStanek for bringing to my attention
The "Commodium" AKA "Bedpandolin" and the very accomplished trio of..Axelrod,Cary and Foss...
Got sucked down the commodium wormhole for what seemed like several hours the other day..discovered the Commodium has a big brother ..the "Bedpandola"...
What a sound !!!!..
Anybody known to have one of these Commodium family items in the greater NY tristate area ?

[mandotool]

here's that Bedpandola AKA DolaCommoda if you will..?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5KJwtDXNOY

[Magnus Geijer]

Yep, might have some xplainin' to do...
Passenger: "But it's just a musical instrument!"
Security: "Sir, step over here please."
3 hours later...

But you know what might be cool, would be to incorporate some of those gun-style parts into actual mandolin functionality. I dunno, maybe make some of the moving parts somehow operate a strat-style tremolo or something, not sure that would even be possible on a short-scale instrument (or even desirable, given the tuning-stability implications) but it'd be something different anyway... not that the average audience member would necessarily notice, though... if you wanted to do that for fun effect you might have to exaggerate it somehow so that people did notice it in action... just an idea. (You can have the patent, I don't want to bother with the paperwork, but when you get rich from this, cut me in for 1 percent royalties.) Then again, it would take a certain type of audience to appreciate such an unusually-shaped instrument in the first place, and even then, one would probably have to prepare for the occasional 'un-encouraging' correspondence from people who didn't appreciate the technical/design achievement involved in such things.

I did actually have some fever dreams where the magazine would house an effects pedal, so you could change mags for different effects, and use the trigger to activate. Maybe a charging handle tremolo?

[Dacraw54]

This is my loudest and weirdest. Made by Ron Hyde:

[Bill Kammerzell]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner . . . especially in the 'weird' department . . .

At the very least it's an early entry and the front-runner.

[mandotool]

This is my loudest and weirdest. Made by Ron Hyde:

Another county heard from...compliments to the builder Hyde's prolific + exotic output .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ihghVucws

[tonydxn]

Recently got hold of this German-made mandolin with an internal soundboard and very tall bridge. Not the loudest instrument on here I'm sure, but it is loud and scores pretty high on the weirdness scale too:


Sound sample here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_k2SlNlfs

[Hypoxia]

When I slip a resonator back on grampa's century-old 6+ lb Gretsch banjo-mandolin and attack it with steel fingerpicks, it's pretty damn loud, even with the original hide.

[slimt]

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

That is Just to kool..

[Jess L.]

It's a Stroh violin. There's mandolin versions of it, too.

Yikes. I missed seeing that post earlier. Afraid to imagine how it might sound... mandolins can be shrill enough already without having extra metallic/tinny-ness added...

I suppose that would be a supreme test of one's playing ability, to play one of those things and make it sound good, or at least less-bad? I'm guessing that it would surely require some finesse and subtle alterations to one's picking technique in order to partly compensate for whatever tonal deficiencies the instrument might have.