Can RISA electric uke be used as an electric mando?

[MRMUD]

Has anyone out there tried a Risa Les Paul style electric saprano uke (on ebay) with a mandolin tunning? It looks like it is workable. It has a 363 mm (14.29 inch) scale length, but with the adjustable bridge perhaps one could get a 13 7/8 length out of it? They also have a Tenor Uke LP style that they say is compatible with mandolin tuning, but it is 432mm, which would be about a 17inch length. Do you think they mean "Mandola" instead??

[mandroid]

Has anyone out there tried a Risa Les Paul style electric saprano uke (on ebay) with a mandolin tunning?

Nope, But,[ soprano ukes are shorter than 17" might be a tenor uke they aim for..]

17" scale length suggests a Mandola like CGDA, or a even lower, fatter string Octave down GDAE.

with a fat .056", I get a 'reasonable' 8va down GDAEB on my Pentaula, and it's about a 15" scale ..

[John L]

Has anyone out there tried a Risa Les Paul style electric saprano uke (on ebay) with a mandolin tunning? It looks like it is workable. It has a 363 mm (14.29 inch) scale length, but with the adjustable bridge perhaps one could get a 13 7/8 length out of it? They also have a Tenor Uke LP style that they say is compatible with mandolin tuning, but it is 432mm, which would be about a 17inch length. Do you think they mean "Mandola" instead??

You can't just move the bridge on the soprano, it will not intonate correctly. The bigger one should work well for mandola tuning. I have never had my hands on one, so no opinion on the quality. Hard to beat a mandobird for a cheap emando entry point.

[Tom Wright]

14.29" is fine for GDAE normal mando. My Buchanan 10-string is 360mm and I use .010, .016, .024, .036. (and .047).

[Michael Richmond]

I use a RISA Uke-Solid-Soprano with geared tuners as my travel mandolin when on business trips. You probably have a decent chance of the LP working in Mandolin tuning if you work out the right strings to use. Obviously you'll get a different sound than a mandolin.

On my RISA solid, I use the Aquila 5th's set to tune up to GDAE. Not sure what strings you'd try for a steel stringed uke.