fretless mando hybrid

[mandomentch]

I wonder if some of you might be interested in seeing these recent oud inspired builds. The first is essentially a fretless 5-course cittern with a scale length of 23". Nylon strung, it is currently tuned, low to high, DADAE. I placed 1/16" dots on the side of the fingerboard at all of the actual fret positions, which helps considerably to find where your fingers go! The strings pass over a free floating bridge and tie at the tail block, in the manner of a Bashir style Iraqi oud. I like that each string is nearly a straight pull from tuning peg to tie block.....more so than most conventional tailpieces provide.

The gold tuners are made by Sperzel for nylon strings and a solid peghead design. The back & sides are figured Big Leaf Maple. The top is sinker Redwood with an Ebony fingerboard, bridge and tie-block. The faceplate is figured Claro Walnut and the neck is Red Maple with 2-way truss rod and carbon fiber stiffeners.

The sound is warm and full with considerable volume......pretty much as I hoped it would be. I'm not sure my abused old ears are up to the challenge of no frets, but it is great fun to try!

Robert

[tablaninja]

WOW! Very interesting. As somebody who noodles around on sarod but LOVES mandolin I really want one!

[mandomentch]

Here is the second of the fretless experiments, a 6-course (11-string) guitar/oud hybrid. It, too, has a 23" scale, Sperzel tuners and nylon strings. It has a fixed bridge design and 5 flush frets. Since the instrument is tuned in fourths like an Arabic oud, CFADGC, I didn't see the need for markers further up the neck. I probably wouldn't need them at all if I were a better player. The body is a 12-fret OOO guitar shape with Black Walnut back & sides and Sitka Spruce top. The neck is Mahogany with 2-way truss rod and carbon fiber stiffeners. The fingerboard is Ebony, the bridge is Rosewood and the faceplate is figured Claro Walnut.

It sounds remarkably oud-like, especially on the un-wound treble strings.

Robert

[Dan Krhla]

Those are pretty darn cool! Hope more builders start think outside the box.

[Jordan Mong]

The first one was awesome, especially because I asked a while back about a possible fretless mandolin.
But that second one, please, is it for sale?

[Londy]

WOW, id love to hear how these babies sound! Can you post a video?

[JeffD]

I would love to try and play a fretless mandolin. I don't know how I would do. I take pretty fair advantage of those frets up the neck. Probably my playing would change.

Cool.

[Barlon Mando]

Beautiful, beautiful. I hope it sounds as good as it looks.

I cannot tell if the fingerboard is radiused or not. That would be nice for a fiddle player as myself.

[tmsweeney]

very cool, must require an entirely different left hand approach

[mandomentch]

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback. Sorry.....I've never tried making, much less posting a video. My level of tech savvy is barely enough to log onto this forum.

My old picking pal David Surette came over last night and wound up taking the guitar/oud home for some fretless exploration. It should be very interesting to hear what results from that encounter!

Both of these instruments have flat fingerboards.

Robert

[zoukboy]

Bob: you have done something that I have wondered about for ages. I would love to get my hands on either/both of those.

[David Surette]

I just returned the guitar/oud hybrid to Bob last night. I had a lot of fun with it; it's a beautiful instrument, with an intriguing, full tone somewhere between a nylon-string guitar and an oud. I found playing fretless in tune a real challenge. I ended up tuning into DADGAD (actually the C version, CGCFGC), and getting some traction with some DAvy Graham-inspired improvs. It's a very cool ax.

I also got a chance to play a really great "banjola" Bob made, a tenor with a lower C tuning than normal, one octave down, I suppose. We had some fine music, banjo/box tunes; thanks, Bob!

[Chip Booth]

Very nice instruments. I imagine some real difficulty from playing fretless multi-string courses, but it would be fun to try!

[mandomentch]

Very nice instruments. I imagine some real difficulty from playing fretless multi-string courses, but it would be fun to try!

Yes, indeed! I find intonation to be a real challenge, but people in middle Eastern countries have been playing fretless ouds for thousands of years.

Robert

[scifi]

That's very hot! I would love to try some oriental tunes on it. Quarter notes