where might one acquire a Mandocello?

[Jonks]

Hey guys,

I hope things are well!

I am brand new to Mandolin Cafe, and the sole reason I created this account is to acquire a mandocello. I came across this instrument while doing some research on my instrumental forte, the Cello. From what I can tell, the Mandocello is the lovechild of the cello and guitar, and is even prettier than it sounds. I am now seeking to acquire one. However, there is one issue: it is not a common instrument. Not only does this make its intructors rare, but also puts a wildly high price on it. My goal then is to rent, borrow, build or in some other way acquire one at a low price. My budget being very miniscule, how might I go about acquiring a Mandocello? I'm all ears for any comments and suggestions.

Stay safe and all the best,

Jonk

[Johnny60]

I’ve only ever played 2 mandocellos, but here goes...

Played an Eastman one with F holes a couple of years ago - very nice instrument with flawless workmanship, good playability and nice, rich tone.

Last year, while shopping for a new mandolin for my youngest son, I tried a used Weber Tamarack hanging on the wall. Oh my God - the sound still haunts me. Deep, rich, sonorous. A stunning instrument, beautifully made, with a sound that made several people in the shop turn around and listen - for the right reasons.

Didn’t buy it, as I’m not a Mandocello player, but if I’d had the spare funds I’d have bought it on the spot. It was that good.

Hope this helps,

John

[MoreThanQuinn]

Ok, a few things:

Realistically, I think it's going to be hard to find a place that rents mandocellos.

I know you emphasized that you don't have the budget to buy one at the moment, but still it might be worth pointing you here (NFI):
https://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin...rmat=headlines
Yes, mandocellos can be expensive, but as we bowed instrument players know very well, so can instruments of the violin family. I think you may actually get more bang for your buck buying a mandocello than a cello, in the sense that $2,000 is going to buy you a pretty darn good mandocello (and $4,000-$5,000 a top of the line one). Cellos, obviously, go well into the 10s of thousands and probably even 100s of thousands depending on age, etc.
And you can certainly find mandocellos for less than the $2,000 number I just spit out (there are even some in the classifieds that I linked. Those eastmans look like high quality, beautiful instruments, especially at that price).

I guess my advice for you would be one of two options:
1. Save until you have enough to buy a mandocello.
2. Contact any sellers near you (including individuals selling on the classifieds) and see if they are willing to rent or do a payment plan.

As far as mandocello instruction, that's also pretty difficult to come by. However you might be in luck because Mike Marshall's course on Artistworks (while admittedly completely designed for mandolin) often features mandocello content and mandocello students. I think he would welcome someone joining solely as a mandocello student, in fact I have seen other students do just that.

Good luck on your hunt!

(Personal opinion, the old mandocellos by Gibson, both the A and the F style, are beautiful and have an incredible sound to boot.)

[CES]

Your best bet if you don’t get any leads from this thread, would be to post a want add in the classifieds. There are lots of folks (well, “lots” being a relatively small number given the niche) who have done conversions of less expensive guitars that may be your best bet $ wise. I used to own a Weber Yellowstone that I absolutely loved that I bought from The Mandolin Store. Awesome sounding, looking, and playing instrument, but because of the scale length and the music I play most often it was more of a novelty rather than regularly played, so it became a nice shorter scale octave mandolin...

You may also have some luck talking to some of the Cafe sponsors like TMS and Elderly, alerting them to what you’re after. They may be willing to accept something they normally wouldn’t on trade (ie, one of the inexpensive guitar conversions) if they know they have a buyer for it, or may be able to get you in touch with someone who’s looking to sell such a creature.

FWIW, I’ve only ever seen one mandocello hanging on a music store wall, and that was a Rattlesnake I saw at Carter Vintage 6 or 7 years ago. It had the tone, but needed some set up work. The point is, you’re likely to have to do some digging, or do some saving up. Or, search for some of the conversion threads and try one yourself. Best of luck!

[gordonjackson83]

You don't say where you are, so I'm guessing the US. Pity. In the UK Paul Hathway makes lovely mandocellos: lovely to look at, lovely to play and lovely to hear.

[Eric F.]

Not everyone's cup of tea, but the only builder I know of that makes low-cost mandocellos is Steve Wishnevsky.

[Jonks]

Yeah! Always good to hear what's good to hear. I'll keep Eastman and Weber in mind.

[Jonks]

I’ve only ever played 2 mandocellos, but here goes...

Played an Eastman one with F holes a couple of years ago - very nice instrument with flawless workmanship, good playability and nice, rich tone.

Last year, while shopping for a new mandolin for my youngest son, I tried a used Weber Tamarack hanging on the wall. Oh my God - the sound still haunts me. Deep, rich, sonorous. A stunning instrument, beautifully made, with a sound that made several people in the shop turn around and listen - for the right reasons.

Didn’t buy it, as I’m not a Mandocello player, but if I’d had the spare funds I’d have bought it on the spot. It was that good.

Hope this helps,

John

Thanks for the tips! Ill keep them in mind.

[Jonks]

Ok, a few things:

Realistically, I think it's going to be hard to find a place that rents mandocellos.

I know you emphasized that you don't have the budget to buy one at the moment, but still it might be worth pointing you here (NFI):
https://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin...rmat=headlines
Yes, mandocellos can be expensive, but as we bowed instrument players know very well, so can instruments of the violin family. I think you may actually get more bang for your buck buying a mandocello than a cello, in the sense that $2,000 is going to buy you a pretty darn good mandocello (and $4,000-$5,000 a top of the line one). Cellos, obviously, go well into the 10s of thousands and probably even 100s of thousands depending on age, etc.
And you can certainly find mandocellos for less than the $2,000 number I just spit out (there are even some in the classifieds that I linked. Those eastmans look like high quality, beautiful instruments, especially at that price).

I guess my advice for you would be one of two options:
1. Save until you have enough to buy a mandocello.
2. Contact any sellers near you (including individuals selling on the classifieds) and see if they are willing to rent or do a payment plan.

As far as mandocello instruction, that's also pretty difficult to come by. However you might be in luck because Mike Marshall's course on Artistworks (while admittedly completely designed for mandolin) often features mandocello content and mandocello students. I think he would welcome someone joining solely as a mandocello student, in fact I have seen other students do just that.

Good luck on your hunt!

(Personal opinion, the old mandocellos by Gibson, both the A and the F style, are beautiful and have an incredible sound to boot.)

I understand that compared to the Cello the Mandocello is a heck of a lot cheaper, but the cello is my primary I've been playing for over a decade, so a lot of cash has gone Into it. Not quite ready to drop the same cash on something I am not so experienced in.
I'll definitely check the classifieds, and see what's avilable elsewhere.

Thanks for the recommendations!

[Jonks]

Your best bet if you don’t get any leads from this thread, would be to post a want add in the classifieds. There are lots of folks (well, “lots” being a relatively small number given the niche) who have done conversions of less expensive guitars that may be your best bet $ wise. I used to own a Weber Yellowstone that I absolutely loved that I bought from The Mandolin Store. Awesome sounding, looking, and playing instrument, but because of the scale length and the music I play most often it was more of a novelty rather than regularly played, so it became a nice shorter scale octave mandolin...

You may also have some luck talking to some of the Cafe sponsors like TMS and Elderly, alerting them to what you’re after. They may be willing to accept something they normally wouldn’t on trade (ie, one of the inexpensive guitar conversions) if they know they have a buyer for it, or may be able to get you in touch with someone who’s looking to sell such a creature.

FWIW, I’ve only ever seen one mandocello hanging on a music store wall, and that was a Rattlesnake I saw at Carter Vintage 6 or 7 years ago. It had the tone, but needed some set up work. The point is, you’re likely to have to do some digging, or do some saving up. Or, search for some of the conversion threads and try one yourself. Best of luck!

Contacting the sellers seems like a good idea, I'll try that out.

I have looked into the converted guitars, and they do seem like a pretty good option right now.

Thanks for the help!

[Jonks]

You don't say where you are, so I'm guessing the US. Pity. In the UK Paul Hathway makes lovely mandocellos: lovely to look at, lovely to play and lovely to hear.

That does sound a shame. Well, I'll be sure to hit him up anyway (just in case).

[Jonks]

Not everyone's cup of tea, but the only builder I know of that makes low-cost mandocellos is Steve Wishnevsky.

Thanks for that.! I'm in contact with him now.

[stevojack665]

Hey guys,

I hope things are well!

I am brand new to Mandolin Cafe, and the sole reason I created this account is to acquire a mandocello. I came across this instrument while doing some research on my instrumental forte, the Cello. From what I can tell, the Mandocello is the lovechild of the cello and guitar, and is even prettier than it sounds. I am now seeking to acquire one. However, there is one issue: it is not a common instrument. Not only does this make its intructors rare, but also puts a wildly high price on it. My goal then is to rent, borrow, build or in some other way acquire one at a low price. My budget being very miniscule, how might I go about acquiring a Mandocello? I'm all ears for any comments and suggestions.

Stay safe and all the best,

Jonk

What is your budget?

[Charles E.]

This is a good price on an Eastman in the classifieds...

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/151009#151009

NFI

[Jonks]

This is a good price on an Eastman in the classifieds...

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/151009#151009

NFI

I have contacted the owner. Thanks for that!

[allenhopkins]

The Cafe has a forum for mandolas, octave mandolins, bouzoukis and mandocellos; you might want to visit there.

Gold Tone imports from Asia a guitar-bodied mandocello, somewhat like the Eastman instruments but more affordable; here's a current listing of a "B stock" (which means some minor flaws, supposedly not structural) Gold Tone instrument for less than $750 with a case. That's about as affordable as I've seen a new instrument listed. It's electrified, which may or may not appeal to you.

And here's a bit of an oddity: a Swedish-made Levin guitar-bodied mandocello, labeled "Goya" for US sale and dated 1960, for less than $700. It's basically an eight-string Goya acoustic guitar. Description says it has a number of repairs, but is playable. I've never seen a guitar-bodied mandocello from that era, though I know Martin made a very few mandocelli on dreadnaught guitar bodies.

Happy hunting!

[Jim Garber]

No one mentioned the Pango mandocello? There is info on this thread. A few MCers have bought that and others bought mandolins made by this Chinese company. Very reasonably priced and supposedly decent instruments.

I had use of an Eastman mandocello and it needed some set up. Evidently, they took an archtop guitar and adapted it but the neck was pretty wide and for the one I had the nut was not correctly cut. Still it was a nice instrument and if you can find one a decent price then worth putting extra work into it if necessary.

One other possibility is this Portuguese company, APC, who makes flattop mandolin family instruments.

[August Watters]

At a much lower price (and mostly under the radar, to those of us in the USA) fly other options, designed primarily for the European mandolin-orchestra community:

Thomann
Musikalia
Gandharva Loka

[Mandobart]

Speaking of guitar conversions, my Eastman MDC 805 is essentially a guitar with two extra tuners and a tailpiece, bridge and nut made for 8 strings.

There are many folks here who have converted archtop and flattop guitars into a mandocello.

I took my oldest 6-string and selected appropriate gage strings to tune it F-C-G-D-A-E. Alternately you could string it up C-G-D-A-E-B. Either way you get 5ths tuning in the mandocello range. Can be done for the price of a decently built guitar, couple tuners, new bone nut and saddle blanks. And a weekend with some tools and know-how.

[derbex]

I think I have come across one of these cheap and cheerful instruments from Hobgoblin strung as a mandocello - https://hobgoblin.com/blue-moon-bb-1...ear-shape-body

I did play one in their London shop and it sounded a lot better than its price. I am not sure if the Blue Moon/Gremlin stuff is imported to the USA, I think other Ashbury stuff is.

[Explorer]

I understand that compared to the Cello the Mandocello is a heck of a lot cheaper, but the cello is my primary I've been playing for over a decade, so a lot of cash has gone Into it. Not quite ready to drop the same cash on something I am not so experienced in.

Just as a suggestion...

Years ago, I was considering making a change to full fifths tuning on a six-string/course instrument, which seemed like a much less expensive path forward than buying an instrument built for the purpose.

Before I did so, and just to be sure of the feasibility of actually playing at that scale length, I retuned a standard 6-string guitar (originally tuned EADGBE) to CGDDAE, which didn't require any string changes. I just ignored one of the extra D strings when required, and worked my scales, shifting technique and melodic fingerings.

After a bit, I removed the higher D string (originally tuned G), and moved the lowest three strings (CGD) over one space. I then worked fifth-tuned cittern chords as well, including finding workable forms which worked across all five strings.

At that point, I then converted a nice 12-string Ovation to what I called a mandophone, using strings from Octave 4 Plus to tune the highest course to B4 above the normal E4 (yes, at a 25.5" scale length).

You don't have to go to such extremes, but just retuning a well-playing but inexpensive guitar to CGDDAE will give you the ability to try a mandocello tuning without any expense other than the guitar, which you might well already have on hand. If not, you can probably find a decent experimentation guitar for less than $200, which is more budget-friendly than buying one out of the gate for much more before trying it.

Whatever path you choose to explore, good luck!

[stevojack665]

I have a Morgan Monroe MM-MC100 that I really like.
https://www.morganmonroe.net/mm-mc100.html

It was made by Pango/Afanti/Feeling in China. They sell it direct from the factory for $1000.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Feeling-Han...p/362663856940

Solid spruce archtop with maple laminate back and sides. It needed setup and fret leveling when I got it. Also. I put longer screws into the tailpiece since it has a mandolin style tailpiece. Plays great with a 1.5" bone nut. Has a 5" deep body and is super resonant.
I would like to get an ebony bridge made for it, as it comes with a rosewood bridge, but so far it has not been an issue.
I think it is the best archtop that you'll find anywhere near that price range.

[Jonks]

No one mentioned the Pango mandocello? There is info on this thread. A few MCers have bought that and others bought mandolins made by this Chinese company. Very reasonably priced and supposedly decent instruments.

I had use of an Eastman mandocello and it needed some set up. Evidently, they took an archtop guitar and adapted it but the neck was pretty wide and for the one I had the nut was not correctly cut. Still it was a nice instrument and if you can find one a decent price then worth putting extra work into it if necessary.

One other possibility is this Portuguese company, APC, who makes flattop mandolin family instruments.

These seem like great options! I'll be sure to look into them more. The pango is a bit pricy and the Portuguese company doesn't seem to list their prices. You wouldn't happen to know anything else about the Portuguese ones?

[Jonks]

At a much lower price (and mostly under the radar, to those of us in the USA) fly other options, designed primarily for the European mandolin-orchestra community:

Thomann
Musikalia
Gandharva Loka

Wow thanks! Very reasonably priced stuff here. Do you know if they deliver to the U.S.?

[Jonks]

Speaking of guitar conversions, my Eastman MDC 805 is essentially a guitar with two extra tuners and a tailpiece, bridge and nut made for 8 strings.

There are many folks here who have converted archtop and flattop guitars into a mandocello.

I took my oldest 6-string and selected appropriate gage strings to tune it F-C-G-D-A-E. Alternately you could string it up C-G-D-A-E-B. Either way you get 5ths tuning in the mandocello range. Can be done for the price of a decently built guitar, couple tuners, new bone nut and saddle blanks. And a weekend with some tools and know-how.

I'm considering it. Do you know how the smaller guitar size will effect the bass?