Little creature with a big (electric) sound.

[MixSon]

For years… no, decades… I have dreamed of a portable instrument that I could take around – to school, to work, on road trips – and practice with on lunch breaks and such, when my thoughts are on music and I’m thinking “How would I play that?” But I’m also thinking “What if it was a really good instrument, an electric that is pretty quiet when unplugged, but worthy of jamming with too?” Enter Mukudo.
I have a Mukudo tuned to standard pitch of the guitar's first four strings. Very nice. Or I can tune it to Tenor Mandola, which it technically is.
Or Tenor Uke. Or Short-scale Cuatro...
In fact, it can be tuned just about any way I choose.
It is quiet when unplugged, great for practicing in bed (what's that you say?!), and of course potentially very loud when amplified. The compact design really makes it advisable to use a cord with a right-angle connector, as in the photo.
Finally I have my little Derringer of an axe. And when it's cranked up through my signal processors, people in the other room are hearing big guns.

[Jim MacDaniel]

Very interesting design John, from both functional and aesthetic points of view (and that Norak looks wicked cool as well) -- I am looking forward to hearing clips of it.

BTW, your name rang familiar, and I thought I remembered an intriguing black laquer onion-shaped electric mandolin of yours that I saw somewhere on-line a year or two ago. I just did a quick google and couldn't dig up any pics of it, but a happy surprise was this gorgeous acoustic instrument that I found on your web site. Are you still building acoustics, or was this a once-off project for you? Either way, you do some very nice work, both on this as well as on all of your electrics.

[MixSon]

Thanks, Jim. The black solid-body mandolin that you recall seeing was built quite some time back and is the only 5-string I've made. The scale is 14-5/16. Needed to let go of it, and that was right at a year ago. The buyer has said he likes it a lot.

Mukudo is the only instrument I'm trying to build up some stock on right now, but I would build an acoustic for a seriously interested party. The one in your attached photo is the Verona. I have one in stock and have attached photos - with finish, this time.
Until recently there were photos of the Verona and sister model Milan on my website. The time came to change things up a bit, so that's no longer the case.
Thanks for your comments.

[MixSon]

Here's the first video of the little ba'tard. It's not mando tuned this go 'round, but I look forward to posting it in my favorite genre soon. http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/r3_1dWF52cE/default.jpg (This is a first for me; will have to check the link.)

[MixSon]

well, that didn't work. Let's try again...

[Ed Goist]

...snip...Enter Mukudo. I have a Mukudo tuned to standard pitch of the guitar's first four strings. Very nice. Or I can tune it to Tenor Mandola, which it technically is....snip...Finally I have my little Derringer of an axe. And when it's cranked up through my signal processors, people in the other room are hearing big guns.

This is the coolest thing I have ever seen...The Klingon Bird of Prey E-Mando!

[MixSon]

Thanks, Ed
I hadn't made the connection to the Klingons, but now that you mention it...
The horny design is really one of practicality - how to protect the tuning machines. It has the fortunate side effect of providing supports for both the lap and the forearm.
It was immediately apparent, and this was some years ago when it all began, that it would resemble a horned beast of some sort. Then more recently, I manged to figure out how to mantain some height and curvarture to the back side of the "nose" (where the tuners are located), so that it ultimately looks more fluid and natural than an abrupt transition to the typical ~1/2" head of a typical headed instrument. Then it really did take on a biological look.
An accident of manufacture led to the "wavy" horns of the Ram model, which my wife insisted on me incorporating into that model's design, which is no mean feat to do on purpose, let me tell you.
Thanks for your comments. More videos (esp. mando) to come...

[Jim MacDaniel]

Thanks for the vid, John. That's a nice sounding and cool looking handcrafted eDola -- and at $559, that's a very attractive price as well.

[MixSon]

Thanks, Jim. I had hoped to offer them for even less, but when the cost of materials was finally tallied, it just wasn't feasible.
Haven't managed to make that mando-tuned video yet, as it's been difficult to find the playing time lately. I'll take your comments as encouragement, though.