String a snakehead A as a mandola?

[Paul Statman]

Has anyone tried this? I am thinking that this could be interesting to try. Being that my snakehead A is very bassy and loud, it might just work. Right now, the truss rod is slacked off all the way, and the neck is still too straight, so it's rather 'buzzy'. I'm thinking it would likely handle the additional tension pretty well. Strings are on the way The plan is to put them on over the existing nut and saddle to see how it works out, followed by replacing them both if I like the result. Opinions, anyone?

[mandroid]

I bought an A50 , Pro converted to be an electric 4 string, the C is a .049", takes up a bit of space,
even more if there's 2 of everything, and as Martin pointed out, there is a bit more tension load.

[Paul Statman]

I bought an A50 , Pro converted to be an electric 4 string, the C is a .049", takes up a bit of space, even more if there's 2 of everything, and as Martin pointed out, there is a bit more tension load.

Thanks. I'm actually hoping for more tension to put some relief in that overly straight neck. Now..who's this 'Martin' fellah, and why don't I see him pointing?

[trevor]

You would need heavier than standard mandola strings to get the mandola notes, its unlikely to sound good. Not a great idea in my opinion. If the neck isn't right I would suggest you take it to a good luthier.

[danb]

Pixie- don't do it, you'll likely damage a fine old vintage piece. You should be able to trade for a nice H1 or H2 pretty easily if your snakehead works as a mandolin- the issues you describe just sound like set-up work to me

[Tom Smart]

The same scale length tuned to a lower range means less tension, not more. If you're planning to put standard mandola strings on a mandolin and tune them CGDA, they will be very floppy and buzzy. To get higher-than-normal tension at that tuning and scale length, you would need much fatter strings than a normal mandola set.

It won't damage the neck to try normal mandola strings at normal mandola tuning, but I would bet you won't like it that way. If you try to bring the mandola strings up to standard mandolin tuning, you might have problems.

[Paul Statman]

Thanks, Trevor and DanB. I already spoke to my repair-luthier, who was at a loss as to what to do about the straight neck (the truss-rod already being at its loosest adjustment). When I consulted him on the mandola question, he suggested just the re-stringing at this stage, and see how it holds up. I don't see how the neck thing is still just a 'set-up' issue, although I take your trade for a mandola idea as a good one! I'm still waiting for the strings, so I suppose I'll have to eat that pudding before we know for sure, eh?!

[Paul Statman]

The same scale length tuned to a lower range means less tension, not more..

I had wondered about that, but concluded that this would be true only if I were to try this with mandolin-gauge strings. If I'm using thicker, heavier gauges, wouldn't the tension be greater even at lower pitch, given the shorter scale?

[mandroid]

lower pitch with same string = lower tension , but,
to make lower pitch on short scale, with heavier string to make tone and feel less floppy, not necessarily so.

to get numbers on this, there are string tension charts available to look it up.

[Tom Smart]

The heavier gauge of mandola strings provide proper tension for CGDA tuning on the longer scale length of a mandola. When you put them on a mandolin, tuned to CGDA, the tension will be significantly less. To see exactly what the tension will be, follow mandroid's advice and use a string tension calculator. (You can probably find one on google).

[Paul Statman]

..bugger-bugger-bugger-bugger..

[Tom Smart]

Sorry, pixie. If its any consolation, I like your John Lennon quote.

Maybe you could buy a mandola to go with your new strings...

[Paul Statman]

Sorry, pixie. If its any consolation, I like your John Lennon quote.
Maybe you could buy a mandola to go with your new strings...

Thanks for that, Tom. As for buying a mandola for the strings, well..with a Brentrup PML in the works (ETA end of next month), there is just way too much month left at the end of the money..