Giacomel 10 string Mandocello/Octave Mandolin

[colorado_al]

My brother is visiting Carter's in Nashville and just sent me pictures of this 10 string fan fret Giacomel Mandocello



He says it sounds great but is weird to play the fan frets

[BradKlein]

The sound hole, fanned frets, and extra course really take that one to a new level of psychedelia!

[foldedpath]

Remember that Star Trek movie where there was a horrible transporter accident? Might have been the first one.

Maybe this 'cello isn't quite that bad, but for my personal taste it takes "being different" a little too far out there. And I've owned some out-there instruments. I do like the fanned frets. There are times I wished my OM had those...

[thecelloronin]

I would have preferred they depart entirely from the idea of a scroll, rather than introduce that awful straight line into an otherwise elliptical aesthetic. As a guy with small hands, I could get down with the fanned frets, though. What's the price tag?

[pheffernan]

what's the price tag?

$14k

[foldedpath]

On second thought, if I had money to burn, I'd probably buy this.

I always thought that if I ever got a mandocello, it should be a Weber F-style to match my OM. But this one probably sounds good, and there would be a great "WTF" factor if I ever showed up at an Irish session with something like this (with capo 2, for DAEB, which would make it even weirder).

[colorado_al]

Here's the listing in their website
https://cartervintage.com/products/g...ave-mandocello

This unique 10-string bridges the gap between Octave and Mandocello. Giacomel instruments are made by Corrado Giacomel of Genoa, Italy. This particular example features fan frets and a scale length that goes from 21" on the bass side to 20 1/8" on the treble.
Specs
Nut Width - 1 13/16"
Radiused Fingerboard
Bracing - X
Case - Gig Bag

[foldedpath]

I dunno... 21" on the bass side to 20 1/8" treble side doesn't sound like any mandocello scale I've ever heard of.

Sounds like a compensated OM to me, or actually a Cittern with a high tuning on the top course. You'd want to go lower scale length on the bass course for a true 'cello or Cittern reaching down there. It's an odd instrument in more than one way.

[dang]

14k with gig bag?!?

Good luck finding a hardshell case for that!

[Jim Garber]

Actually, it sounds quite nice here in this video. I assume it is tuned CGDAE?

[Marcus CA]

Carters still has a 1997 Nyberg cittern for $3,500. I played it last year and LOVED it. Do you hear $10K more of tone in the Giacomel?

[BradKlein]

Carters still has a 1997 Nyberg cittern for $3,500. I played it last year and LOVED it. Do you hear $10K more of tone in the Giacomel?

These instruments are way out of my realm of experience... but I can't imagine that they are comparable at all. Other than the fact that they're both stringed instruments, they are constructed as differently as night and day, and I bet they sound quite different as well.