I couldn't find much on MC about building a fan-fret (multi-scale) mandocello, so I decided to start my own thread. Maybe someone will find it useful in the future, and I hope it will satisfy some people's curiosity as well as my own. I couldn't find any fan-fret mandocellos on YouTube either.
When I wanted to find out about mandocellos, the first thing I wanted to know was the scale length. Looking at MC posts on the subject, it quickly became clear that it's a problem. To get good bass notes you need a long scale (27 inches/686mm), which makes a big instrument which is hard to play. If you reduce it to a more manageable size (Gibson used 24.5 inches/622mm) you get disappointing thuddy bass notes. Someone suggested a fan-fret instrument may ease the problem, but little more was said on the subject. Ever since I saw someone playing an orpharion the desire to make a fan-fret instrument has been lurking at the back of my mind. Now's the time.
I got a lot of valuable guidance on dimensions from the admirably comprehensive Mandocello build thread by John Hamlett ('Sunburst'). Interesting discussion but not much information on the thread Multi-Scale (fanned-fret) MandoCello and some information in the threads Mandocello Measurements and Ideal Mandocello Body Size? There are also useful photos of Andy Manson's 12-string fan-fret mandocello here but no info.
Unlike Sunburst's F-style masterpiece, mine will be a flatback instrument. My first step on this path was buying this 1960-ish mandola by French maker Louis Patenotte which had been strung as an octave mandolin. Based on this, I made the octave mandolin you can also see in the photo:
My mandocello will follow the same pattern, using similar body dimensions to Sunburst's.
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