Ten String Mandolin

**Dagger Gordon** · May-29-2005, 2:41am

I play a Sobell large bodied 10 string mandolin and have done for over 20 years.

Not sure of the scale, but I use standard mandolin strings plus bottom guitar strings (usually from a set of D'Addario lights) on the extra bass string, which I tune to D.

I once had to accompany a song in C for a recording, and tuned the bottom down to C (the only time I can remember doing it). I think it worked OK.

I don't play much melody on the bass string, but I do fret it a lot when I play chords, so it's more than just a drone in D.

Ian MacLeod of Shooglenifty has a very similar mandolin. I think he does some chordal riffy things quite often up the neck, but not too much melody, as far as I can know.

Cheers
Dagger.

**Dagger Gordon** · May-29-2005, 2:43am

'can know' did'nt sound right. Didn't mean to say that.

**prayerbone** · May-30-2005, 10:49am

take no notice of me late nite i cant count duh 12 aj

**Dave Wendler** · Jun-01-2005, 7:58am

Sorry, I found this thread a bit late. I've built one, and it used a 15" scale. Low C course uses .056" strings...thru a .009 on top. Played in tune pretty well; big chords are a real stretch. Lows had solid tonality. I've also done a five string; it also used the 15" scale.

I'm sure there are fewer issues with an electric; however my body design helps to bring out the low resonances that we're looking for.

I felt like it was successful enough to repeat...

**Paul Hostetter** · Jun-01-2005, 11:40am

Dave - these are exactly the scale and string gauges I settled on too. Only made acoustics though. About as good a compromise as I ever found. Except I am still intrigued by the fanned fret notion, which I haven't had a chance to try.

**delsbrother** · Jun-20-2005, 5:12am

Boy, this thread has so many different subjects it's hard to keep track! I want to go back a couple pages - Paul, did you ever find that photo of the Knutsen with fanned frets?

I'm curious if they were truly "fanned" as the Novax is or simply "angled" - didn't Rickenbacker angle its frets for awhile there too?

**Paul Hostetter** · Jun-20-2005, 2:28pm

I found the photo (and a huge pile of others, whatta trip down memory lane!).

It was fanned, but lightly, compared to one of Ralph's. If you drew straight lines through the first fret and through the one closest to the bridge, they would meet at a point about fifteen feet to the right of the photo. The fret closest to the bridge was approximately parallel to the saddle on the bridge (itself a fret). It played quite well in tune.