Convert 8-string to 4-string?

[man dough nollij]

I'm considering an e-mando for my next trip down to the ice. Frail wooden instruments are just killed by the 1%RH in the buildings here-- no way 'round it.

I'm leaning toward an eight string, just to keep it as mandolinny as possible. Probably just play it through a little cube amp with no effects. Might get into that later.

I'm wondering-- if you just take four of the strings off, does it convert okay to a four-stringer (w/o actually cutting a new bridgetop and nut, etc.)?

I have a nasty little plywood loaner with me that had such horrible nut spacing that it was unplayable. I found that if I took of the second G, the first D, the second A and the first E, it had spacing somewhat more laid out for human fingers. I've been playing that most of the winter, and I find I kind of like the four-string thing. Both left and right hand technique are simplified by not having to fret two and pick two at a time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to have a "convertible". No, not a car with no roof. It's 9F and blowing 70kts right now. Brr.

Anyone successfully take half their strings off?

My appologies if this has been discussed a billion times here-- I don't usually lurk on the e-mando thread.

Thanks in advance,

Lee

[mandroid]

Of course just leaving half the pair off is easy enough to do , [the inevitable ] but, ...
I'm happier with the feel when the single string is in the middle of the course, where the gap was between the pairs,
I got an EM 150-ized Gibby A 50 mandolin with an .050" C for 'dola CGDA tuning ,
with a Pro [well done] Conversion: a 4 pole stacked Humbucker dual coil has a nice Jazzy warm tone.

another conversion that worked well was a banjo-mandolin which got single stringed .
Remo synthetic head is pretty good as the barometer swings around.

its THE thing to bring to the Pub Jams with loud Irishmen.

Sunrise a bit down there yet?

[Eddie Sheehy]

I've often played my 12-string guitar as a 6-stringer. So it should work in theory.... and you get to have 4 spares....

[man dough nollij]

Sunrise a bit down there yet?

Yeah, it's light most of the time now. A month ago it was pitch dark all the time, pretty much. Now it's pretty bright out when I come to work in the morning, and when I go home. Since we're close to the equinox, our night/day ratio is about the same as yours. The sun is WAY closer to the horizon during the night, though, due to the flatter trajectory of the sun near the pole. It's very different from the real world.

[Keith Erickson]

Hey there Lee,

I was just thinking about you just the other day. I'm reading "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton. One of the main charactors, Peter Evans, get's himself in a pretty bad jam out on the Ross Ice Shelf not too far from McMurdo Station.

Let me ask you, what exactly is an e-mando? It sounds pretty interesting. I'm sorry to hear about your mando troubles in McMurdo. I hope you return with something that can handle the dryness.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Check out Emando.com

[Eddie Sheehy]

Man Dough, have you considered an Ovation? They have the expensive MM68 with the solid spruce top, the cheaper MCS148 with a laminate top, and the cheapie Applause with a laminate of inferior wood top - at least that's my understanding. That plastic back should be humidity-proof.