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Thread: Do I need a mandola?

  1. #26
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    This question of need could get rather philosophical. To quote [with annotations ] from Zen Guitar (which I just finished reading last night):

    ... I believe that anything that enourages people to pick up the guitar [or mandola] is a good thing. Give them six strings [or eight] and a slab of wood [well, aside from some electrics, a mandola isn't really just a slab] and you've given them a sense of identity and a voice in the world. Everyone has a song to sing ...
    A sense of identity and a voice in the world. We all need that.
    Last edited by Sue Rieter; Oct-17-2022 at 9:04am.
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  3. #27
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I asked myself this very question a few years ago. I had a mandocello, so I was getting the transposition down, but the stretch was just too much for me and I didn’t play it enough to get proficient at shifting positions. It was cool, but there also weren’t many situations where I needed it as a youth praise band leader (though I did a few times). This timing coincided with my daughter moving to Boston, so I moved her in and then beelined to TME to try out a Kimble mandola they had. It was a spectacular instrument and the fingering was much more natural given the shorter scale, but it just didn’t have enough low end or enough high end for me (not this particular mandola, just the range in general). But, they had a Girouard 20 inch GBOM there that blew my mind. It had been sitting there a while so I figured id sleep on it and order it when I got back to NC to avoid any airline nightmares. It sold later that day.

    So I very quickly turned the MC into a Weber 20 inch A style OM that I love. It gives me that lower register and a different sonic feel than guitar, and, if I capo at 5, there’s my mandola (albeit with a larger more resonant body).

    So, for me, the answer was, “No, I don’t need a mandola.” And, for now, I don’t really want one. But, that may change someday. If you want one, go for it! (And no shade on those of you who really love mandola. Love what you love, play what you love)!
    Chuck

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  5. #28
    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Yes.
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  7. #29
    Registered User Dave Wrede's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Ya gotta get a mandola...
    The range is almost identical to guitar, but the sound is nothing like it.

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  9. #30
    Registered User Tom Wright's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Agree the range is very useful. Even more useful is a 10-string mandolin, with the range of both but the convenient reaches of mandolin. I find it very popular for contra dances and English Country Dance, as well as classical and jazz.

    Key is a large enough body to resonate well. This is more important than scale length. Virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda uses one. I like it especially for jazz. There are only a few makers, which is a problem. Buchanan in the UK makes both pin-bridge and floating-bridge flattops. Tercio Ribeiro in Brazil makes a 10-string bandolim.
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  11. #31
    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Sue, I'm not sure this is a mandola (may be an F-5 mislabeled). I have asked for measurements.
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/11557202229...mis&media=COPY

    See NickR's thread under Forum: eBay, Craig's List, etc. titled Jubal Mandola F style

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  13. #32

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Ok, I bought a Mandola

    It's a 1916 or 1917 Gibson H1. Plenty of power, great full sound, very sweet sounding. Many replaced parts, but that doesn't bother me.

    Thanks for all the advice!

    Click image for larger version. 

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  15. #33
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Another happy ending! Congratulations!
    Chuck

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  17. #34
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Here's my 1916 H-2 (on the left in both pics.) The first is better for color, the second is better for focus.

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    I thought yours should have had Handel tuning pegs, so those have been replaced, and also the pickguard. I don't know what else. But those wouldn't affect the sound, which is the main consideration. Even if it's not a museum piece, you've got what may well be a fine player, and that's all that matters. Enjoy!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  19. #35

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Thanks! Yours look great!

    Yes, the pegs have been replaced, I have the originals in the case, but they have too much play in them. And the pickguard is a replacement as well as you said. I also believe the tailpiece has been replaced. Still as you mentioned, none of it effects the sound. What I might do over time is replace these pieces with original parts if I can find them.

  20. #36

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    If you are in a mandolin orchestra or ensemble which NEEDS a mandola then obviously that is the route to go. Otherwise it can often be an infatuation which lasts for a short while and then it hangs on the wall, no doubt to be sold at a financial loss. I've been there and done it. Having said that I recently strung up an Eastman MD 315 mandola for a friend who wanted a different deeper sound. I strung it up as a mandolin (yes I got it to work with light strings) and it sounding and played great.

    If you think Gibson A models have narrow nut then I'd buy a wide nut mandolin rather than a mandola. 100%

  21. #37
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by samdjr74 View Post
    Thanks! Yours look great!

    Yes, the pegs have been replaced, I have the originals in the case, but they have too much play in them. And the pickguard is a replacement as well as you said. I also believe the tailpiece has been replaced. Still as you mentioned, none of it effects the sound. What I might do over time is replace these pieces with original parts if I can find them.
    I replaced the stewmac repro tuners on my old F2 with Handels. They work better than the repros did. They are kind of loose coming up to pitch, but when you get there, they stay. Really well. I'd go out on a limb and say if someone knowledgeable went through those originals and put them back on, they might well be good to go. I paid a pretty hefty price for mine.
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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  23. #38

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Here's mine from 1914 which was amazingly inexpensive as it has a new back. I am hoping my luthier will carve me a new back, one day but it sounds great. It needs a tweak or two but it does play but there is a slight bow in the neck. If I want to give my fingers a major work out, it is the assault course of choice!

    Click image for larger version. 

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  25. #39
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    It's worth pointing out that a mandola is a different instrument than a mandolin. Similar in many ways, of course, but different. I got mine because I wanted to, and could, not needed to. Well, perhaps I did need to, in a way. You see, I'd written a song that used a chord progression with a fingering pattern that included a bass note sequence that was seriously snazzy, but the key was oh so wrong for my voice. But the notion that the intrinsic key change provided by a mandola would solve this problem immediately was charming, so much so that I couldn't get it out of my head. So when one appeared on my luthier's wall for sale, at the same time I'd received a sizable tax return ... well, there I was with the crime trifecta of motive, means, and opportunity. A deal was struck, and I walked out of there a happy man, with my first collector's item.

    Sorry, but I don't have a recording of the song I mentioned that played such a prominent role in this story. But I do have this, which demonstrates to some extent the delightful sound of this fine instrument. Again, the choice of mandola over mandolin here was compelled by the conflict between fingering and singing. I wish it were recorded, played, and sung better, but at least the coda's pretty good.



    BTW, I wonder whether yours has been refinished. From what I've read hereabouts, I understand blond finishes were pretty rare then; what we call "pumpkin" was much more prevalent.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  27. #40

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Thanks for posting the video, it sounds amazing!

    And yes, I believe mine has been refinished as well, but it wasn't recent from what I can tell. The purchase price I paid reflects the replaced parts and refin.

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  29. #41

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I don't need a mandola, but I've got one.

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  31. #42
    Mandol'Aisne Daniel Nestlerode's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    You don't need a mandola. What you need is a 5 string mandolin, electric or not.
    Mandola on the bottom four, mandolin on the top four.


    Daniel

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  33. #43
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Nestlerode View Post
    You don't need a mandola. What you need is a 5 string mandolin, electric or not.
    Mandola on the bottom four, mandolin on the top four.


    Daniel
    Like this one

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    Last edited by Sue Rieter; Nov-23-2022 at 6:36pm.
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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  35. #44

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Nestlerode View Post
    You don't need a mandola. What you need is a 5 string mandolin, electric or not.
    Mandola on the bottom four, mandolin on the top four.


    Daniel
    So you're saying that 4 + 4 = 5??

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  37. #45

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    You must have a mandola. A proper mandola, like my Kentucky KH-1300, with the correct Gibsonesque scale length. And certainly not one of those strange things the Europeans call a mandola.

    Get a mandola so you can properly learn the fingering for the Bach cello suites before you make your ascent to 8-string nirvana - mandocello.

    But most importantly, get one so you can join the Revolutionary Mandola Army and help fight the onslaught of octave mandolins trying to take over the 8-string world.

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  39. #46
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    [QUOTE=tcpasley;1886144 help fight the onslaught of octave mandolins trying to take over the 8-string world.[/QUOTE]

    True, I remember many post on this board a few years ago about "where can you get an octave mandolin" the choices were thin, Weber, Freshwater, Trinity College, now days it seems you can't find a place not selling them.
    That's what we get for hyping up octave's on the Cafe.
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