Re: Can anybody help me identify this instrument?
Originally Posted by
DeafWolf
I assume from what you're saying is its like a hybrid
A fair enough conclusion.
From what I've seen (and we're pushing the edge of my expertise here!), when it comes to the MANY instruments on the fringe of the mandolin family (mandolas, octave mandolins, mandocellos, lutes, bouzoukis, just to name a few), the string scale and tuning is far more definitive than the body shape. Even just "plain old" mandolins come as bowlbacks, pancake (all-flat) or army/navy style, canted-top flatbacks, arch-top As, arch-top Fs, "batwings", the list goes on. Some may have pin- or tie-on bridges, like a flat-top guitar. But the tuning of GDAE, and a scale length of 13 to 14.5 inches (with 13 7/8" accepted as "standard") makes them all "mandolins".
While some octave mandolins "look" like mandolins (pick from the array above), others started life as guitars, or were built from scratch to guitar dimensions. But their tuning makes them octave mandolins.
Hope this helps!
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
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I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
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