4-String, Solid Body Electric Mandolin Options

[Relio]

I'd like to purchase a 4-string, solid body electric mandolin to keep at my workplace office. I would like to be able to close my office door and work on fretboard study exercises without the person in the next office being able to hear me.

I can't find many options to purchase online. Any ideas on brands or places to look. I'm looking for decent quality and would be willing to spend +/- $1,000. Thanks!

[Cornelius Morris]

Check with John Gonzalez at Sparrow:
https://www.sparrowukulele.com/produ...ctric-mandolin

[BrianWilliam]

I love my 90s MandoBlaster!

[journeybear]

I was going to suggest the Epiphone MandoBird, as being an inexpensive choice suitable for this purpose. I picked up two of these from eBay a bit more than ten years ago, for about $125 each. They were discontinued several years ago, but they show up used. Then I thought I'd check, to make sure there were some out there for you. I was stunned to see how expensive they've gotten - only two of them available for under $500. These aren't collector's items! Good lawdy, they're barely more than toys - and I say that even though I got a lot of use out of them at gigs for a couple of years, until I made a significant step up to a Ryder. Now Steve has also retired. This post is going well.

Still, if you can't find anything else inexpensive, you might want to consider googling Epiphone MandoBird and see what you find. Currently, there are two under $400, an eight and a four.

[jefflester]

Mosey on down to the solidbody subforum, plenty to read there:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/f...ring-Electrics

[urobouros]

I have a MandoBird that I like as an 8 string. I gravitate towards 4 & 5 strings with standard scale emandos and enjoy 8 strings with the octave scale but I think preferences in emandos are more passionately held than acoustics, if that's even possible!

[jerrymartin]

Kevin Schwab used to make solid-body 4- and 5-string emandos, very solidly built and a hoot to play. I'm pretty sure he's retired now, but you might look for 'Schwab' in your searches - they come up here on the MC every now and again. Happy hunting!

[Jim Bevan]

...or go to http://emando.com/builders_active/index.shtml
and spend a few hours seeing what all these guys have in stock.

[Elliot Luber]

The Mandobird, like many four-strong emandos, has a rather dead e-string. If you buy one, expect to have to swap-out the pickup for a Bill Lawrence or something similar. I did this with my Kentucky 300e and it made all the difference. Listen to whatever you plan to buy. Of course, if all you are looking for is a silent practice instrument, you're golden.

[pops1]

Relio, sent you a PM