New mandocello day!!!!!

[aphillips]

My friend Sam Picotte built me this beautiful guitar-bodied mandocello that I just received!

All solid
Honduran Beeswing Mahogany back and sides
Carpathian Spruce top
Claro Walnut rosette/binding, headstock.
mini-Gotoh 510 tuners
K and K pure mini pickup
www.picotteguitars.com

Here's a recording so you can hear it (keep in mind I've only been a mandocello player for a day and a half)!
http://www.reverbnation.com/adamphil...docello-sample

[aphillips]

https://www.facebook.com/adam.philli...7792899&type=3

Here's some pics!

[Wade Hampton]

Congratulations on your new mandocello, Adam. I can't see the photos because I'm not a member of Facebook, but that's okay. Is it an archtop or a flat top?

I played a 1916 Gibson K 2 mandocello in an Irish music duo back in Chicago in the late 70's and early 80's. Great instrument, but it belonged to the other guy, so when we parted ways it went with him. Then about 10 years ago or so I ordered a custom Weber Absaroka mandocello, which was actually the better instrument of the two.

What I discovered, though, was that when going for that lower register, I liked my McAlister acoustic baritone guitar better. So eventually I sold the Weber.

Mandocellos are a lot of fun, though, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Dan Carey]

Here you go Wade...sure is a pretty one, isn't it?

[aphillips]

Thanks Dan!

[philjs]

How are you tuning it, Adam? And what's the scale length?

Mines a bouzar:



Built by Russel Crosby in 2010. Sitka spruce on curly maple, rosewood binding, bloodwood rosette, tenor (Martin size 0) guitar body, 23" scale, 8 strings, tuned GDGC or GDAD.

You can hear it here.

Phil

[Wade Hampton]

The traditional mandocello tuning is identical to cello, just with 8 strings in unison pair courses instead of single string courses: C G D A, low to high.

When I ordered my mandocello from Bruce Weber I told him I wanted an octave string on the C course, which he'd never done before but thought sounded intriguing. So he strung it that way for me. It kind of lightened the tone of that low string but in a fairly indiscernible way. You didn't really hear it as an octave course, for some reason, just as a nice clear-sounding string.

I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I encountered a Ratcliff F-style mandocello strung that way at Dusty Strings in Seattle, and really liked what it did to the sound.


whm

[tstrahle]

Happy Ne Mandocello Day! I've never typed that sentence before.

[aphillips]

Hey Phil - cool instrument!

Wade beat me to it - mine is tuned a fifth lower - C G D A - and man it sounds killer! I used it at two gigs this weekend and people were just drooling over it (which is saying something considering me meager skills).

The scale length on this one is 24.75 and the nut width is 1.5.

It's a lot of fun!

[philjs]

Originally Posted by aphillips

Wade beat me to it - mine is tuned a fifth lower - C G D A - and man it sounds killer! I used it at two gigs this weekend and people were just drooling over it (which is saying something considering me meager skills). The scale length on this one is 24.75 and the nut width is 1.5.

It's a lot of fun!

They are that, for sure. What are you using for string gauges? I have to admit that my photo of the bouzar --which also has a 1.5" nut -- was taken when I was tuning it AEAD but now that I'm tuning it a full step lower (GDGC) I'm using a pair of wound 2nds and I like it a lot better. I'm looking forward to having a 1.72" nut width on a DADGD 10-string "guittern" that I've got coming in the spring!

Phil

[aphillips]

Hey Phil - they are the D'addario mandocello strings - J78s - it was a lot of "fun" attaching the ball ends.........

so the gauges are .022 - .034 - .048 - and .074


Also, I was able to upload pics at the mandolincafe - so you can see the back and sides here -

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...Mandocello-Day!!!!

the mahogany on the back is gorgeous!

[philjs]

Originally Posted by aphillips

Hey Phil - they are the D'addario mandocello strings - J78s - it was a lot of "fun" attaching the ball ends.........
so the gauges are .022 - .034 - .048 - and .074

Wow! Those are heavy! That's a load of about 30lbs per string. Are you finding that fretting pairs at that tension is difficult? I'm using a custom set of D'Addario EXP strings (unison pairs of 042, 032, 020 and 014pl) and are a bit under 20lbs each. I find that if I get any harder tension than that it can be hard to play...I can't imagine trying to fret a note on paired strings with a combined 60lbs of tension!

Originally Posted by aphillips

Also, I was able to upload pics at the mandolincafe - so you can see the back and sides here -
!!!!
the mahogany on the back is gorgeous!

'Tis beautiful indeed (I substituted the image from Mandolin Cafe in place of your link). As I mentioned mine has curly maple back and sides with a varnish-coloured stain (incidentally, the body wood and top wood of my bouzar are all from Nova Scotia):



It's pretty amazing how similar the backs look!

Phil