Gold Tone Mandocello

[tmsweeney]

I couldn't resist the price on the shop worn Gold Tone Mandocello at Elderly so here it is.
I think this particular one anyway seems decent, and the price was hard to beat. Leaning more towards a solid body guitar, great for anyone thinking of getting into Mandocello without shelling out for the high end models. It is surprisingly easy to play and has a warm electric tone. It sounds pretty good acoustic but I am running it straight through a Fishman Loudbox mini with a little reverb. After jamming around, I thought I would take a stab at Nancy Blakes' "In Russia we have parking lots too". I of course had some 'splainin to do to my wife that I in fact bought yet another mandocello, she is still talking to me...

[Jim Imhoff]

Great to see the mandocello community expanding-- and great playing! I have posted several other places, but in case you haven't seen it I have a collection of solo mandocello music, written specifically for that great plucking instrument. Let me know if you're interested, and if you're not a member of CMSA we'd love to have you in the MC section.
jim

[tmsweeney]

As a follow up the A was always buzzing open which was a severe limitation, I went to change the strings and it only got worse, I did have to shim the nut ( it has a 0 fret) but only on the DA side, I raised the action until the buzzing disappeared, put Elixer Polyweb 80/20's on. I purchased Elixer baritone strings for the C (0.70) but haven't put them on yet. Still very playable though the action is noticeable at the first fret.

[NotMelloCello]

As a follow up the A was always buzzing open which was a severe limitation, I went to change the strings and it only got worse, I did have to shim the nut ( it has a 0 fret) but only on the DA side, I raised the action until the buzzing disappeared, put Elixer Polyweb 80/20's on. I purchased Elixer baritone strings for the C (0.70) but haven't put them on yet. Still very playable though the action is noticeable at the first fret.

I owned one of the first GoldTone Mandocello's in the country, and the action at the nut was very high. It did not have a zero fret, it was equipped with a Zero Glide nut which are a very poor design. I have 40 plus years at the bench as a guitar repairman, so I know what I'm talking about (see my thread about my Gold Tone elsewhere here).

If you have an zero fret raising the nut will do nothing. I expect you needed to adjust the truss rod which is overbowed, OR there was a high fret which should have been looked at by a competent and experienced luthier. Does it play out of tune? That would be the result if the action is still too high at the nut end - you are sharping the strings at both ends when you play.

[tmsweeney]

Thanks Not Mello cello, the gold tone plays in tune and no buzzing, but the action while noticeable, however is not too bad, before I shimmed the nut, fretting the first fret had no affect but the second sounded fine ( only the A strings), so I assumed it was hitting that first fret.
What I noticed about the gold tone and my Ratliff- while the scale is the same, the Ratliff has much narrower fret board and neck, reducing some of the stretch. On that subject the Ratliff is buzzing on the A string 8th fret only which I assume is needing a trss rod adjustment?

[NotMelloCello]

Probably.... But it could be a single high or low fret.