Cello to Mandocello Conversion?

[Harmon Gladding]

How about converting a cello to a mandocello?

[Bill Snyder]

It would be like playing a guitarrón.
It would not work well. Bracing, sound post both wrong. Only room for 4 strings. Hard to hold.

[Marty Jacobson]

Yes, the critical geometry related to supporting string tension is all wrong. The neck angle is way too high, to start with. You could put a new neck on it and beef it up enough, presumably. But then you're talking about rebracing the top, adding struts between the neck and tailblock, and making a new neck.
Might as well just design and build your dream mandocello from scratch.

Holding a cello in the mandocello position is actually feasible, not as awkward as you might think. But certainly not ideal.

I have lots of ideas for how to design a custom violoncello-sized mandocello if you are considering on building one.

[DavidKOS]

Theres guys are correct.

Plus the body feels really wrong to me when held like a lute or guitar. I've tried

[j. condino]

D'Angelico did it with a guitar:

http://www.americanguitarmuseum.com/dangelicor2.htm

j.
www.condino.com

[DavidKOS]

D'Angelico did it with a guitar:

http://www.americanguitarmuseum.com/dangelicor2.htm

j.
www.condino.com

Interesting, but it didn't start a trend!

[JH Murray]

Something like this?

[Harmon Gladding]

Wow, thanks, everybody, for the great responses to my cello question. I love the guitello video. Farbeit from me to redesign the wheel, but I couldn't help thinking of cello as the ideal, time-tested design for a mandocello. But, then, not. Then, at the end of the guitello video, youtube brings up a list of other instruments made from unusual materials--a pursuit that intrigues me. The concrete guitar is cool, and the bowed guitar from a cello could lead to a cello-mandocello. I should leave well enough alone, save my pennies, and buy a ready-made mandocello ala Gibson, another time-tested design, and go back to building that netherhorn with the cast concrete tubing coil and toilet-bowl bell.

[JH Murray]

Dennis Havlena is a real tinkerer and inventor of really odd instruments. He made the guitello. His web page is a real blast. Be sure to scroll all the way down to take it all in. http://www.dennishavlena.com/

[Martin Jonas]

Then, at the end of the guitello video, youtube brings up a list of other instruments made from unusual materials--a pursuit that intrigues me. The concrete guitar is cool, and the bowed guitar from a cello could lead to a cello-mandocello.

A "bowed guitar from a cello" would be a re-invention of a very old instrument: the bass viol (or viola da gamba). Cello-size, six strings, fretted and bowed. Played upright like a cello or (more rarely) held like a guitar or mandocello as in this painting from 1704:



Martin

[DavidKOS]

A "bowed guitar from a cello" would be a re-invention of a very old instrument: the bass viol (or viola da gamba). Cello-size, six strings, fretted and bowed. Played upright like a cello or (more rarely) held like a guitar or mandocello as in this painting from 1704:



Martin

And even earlier there were the Italian violas (Spanish viheulas) that could be played either with a bow (viola da arco) or plucked (viola da mano).

http://www.vihuelademano.com/viola-da-mano/daiLibri.htm

For a while there were instruments used both ways, but eventually the flat fingerboard and flat fixed bridge became the standard for a plucked lute and the curved fingerboard, raised non-fixed bridge was better for bowing, and the instruments diverged.

The link shows a reproduction of a viola da mano - other than the bridge it looks a lot like a bowed instrument.

[Harmon Gladding]

[/QUOTE]
…Might as well just design and build your dream mandocello from scratch.…

I have lots of ideas for how to design a custom violoncello-sized mandocello if you are considering on building one.[/QUOTE]

Marty,
My mandocello dream evolves with each new influence, one example of which being your fascinating website. What beautiful instruments!
The dream has now moved from a Stella 12-string-to-mandocello-10-string conversion to a scratch-built K-2-based instrument with 27-inch scale and laminated sides. Ten strings would be nice but complicated.
I have some century-plus 3x4 rock maple piano posts, possible rosewood boards a friend brought home from the South Pacific in WWII, homegrown American Hornbeam, 1800's apple plank, some wild grape boards for interesting veneer, a 1955 Shopsmith, mechanical engineering, and lots of wood time.
I'm interested in your mandocello ideas. Would your laminated sides lend themselves to rounded edges?
Thanks again for your input.
Harmon Gladding

[DroneAlone]

A "bowed guitar from a cello" would be a re-invention of a very old instrument: the bass viol (or viola da gamba). Cello-size, six strings, fretted and bowed. Played upright like a cello or (more rarely) held like a guitar or mandocello as in this painting from 1704:

The picture above shows Marin Marais, a french viola da gamba virtuoso of the 17/18th century, and one of the most important composers for the instrument. The way he holds the bow clearly shows that he's not currently playing. And, having learned the closest modern day relative of the viola da gamba, the double bass, I would also say that it is virtually impossible to bow a bass viol in this position. I would assume that if a preeminent figure like Marais had played the way you suggest, it would have been mentioned in the literature (e.g. Annette Otterstedt, "The Viol. History of an Instrument"). In my opinion he's simply resting the instrument on his knee.

As for a "bowed guitar from a cello" look for the arpeggione. It is also played upright, like a cello.

Peter