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Thread: Do I need a mandola?

  1. #1

    Default Do I need a mandola?

    Hello all,

    Been playing my latest find lately (Harmony Shutt style) and I wanted to pick up a teens Gibson A mandolin. However I don't like the ultra narrow nuts that a lot of the A's have. Plus between the Harmony, my Mid Missouri wide neck and my old Epiphone, I think I'm covered with mandolins. However, I don't have a mandola and I like that they have a wider nut width. I've never played a mandola but I assume I should treat it like a mandolin, just a longer scale and different key, or am I missing something?

    Thank you,
    Sam

  2. #2
    Pittsburgh Bill
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I believe a mandola is a nice addition to an arsenal of instruments. I like mine for playing tunes that often are sung in a lower register (i.e. Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, e.t.c.), and for solo play. I'm not a singer but many people like the mandola for voice synchronization. I also used mine in the mandola section of an orchestra. It does not get played as frequently as my mandolins, but it does have it's place.
    When playing with others you will need to have a grasp for transposing keys if you use the same note and chord fingering as your mandolins. Don't let that turn you off as it just takes a little thought. When I first got a mandola I frequently referenced "The Circle Of Fifths) for help.
    Last edited by Pittsburgh Bill; Sep-30-2022 at 12:55pm.
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    "Do I need a mandola?" is a rhetorical question, (do I need 6 mandolas is a different story- still struggling through that one).
    If its just a wider nut you are looking for, a wide nut mandolin may be what you seek.
    My 1920 Gibson F4 has a very wide nut (wider than 1 3/8) and I just picked up a sweet Collings wide nut, love it!.
    I know Northfield generally produces some wide nut mandolins, the NFSWN generally run under 4K new and there are few out there in the classified or on Reverb.
    The Gibson Black Night at the Mandolin Store is wide nut but its a bit pricey.
    Standard nut is 1 1/8", wide nut is 1 3/8", those 2 extra 8th of an inch make a big difference.
    Weber and others made wide nuts, they are on the rare side, but that generally does not raise the price as wide nut is not really in high demand.
    Or by all means try a mandola!
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  6. #4

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by tmsweeney View Post
    "Do I need a mandola?" is a rhetorical question, (do I need 6 mandolas is a different story- still struggling through that one).
    If its just a wider nut you are looking for, a wide nut mandolin may be what you seek.
    My 1920 Gibson F4 has a very wide nut (wider than 1 3/8) and I just picked up a sweet Collings wide nut, love it!.
    I know Northfield generally produces some wide nut mandolins, the NFSWN generally run under 4K new and there are few out there in the classified or on Reverb.
    The Gibson Black Night at the Mandolin Store is wide nut but its a bit pricey.
    Standard nut is 1 1/8", wide nut is 1 3/8", those 2 extra 8th of an inch make a big difference.
    Weber and others made wide nuts, they are on the rare side, but that generally does not raise the price as wide nut is not really in high demand.
    Or by all means try a mandola!
    My wife often asks me if I need another guitar, the answer is usually yes :D

    I do have a wider nut mandolin, which I play a lot, however I love the sound of an older instrument like the Harmony. I've seen a few older Gibson mandolins with a wider nut, but I like the idea of having something a little different. I might just have to pick up a mandola after all

  7. #5
    small instrument, big fun Dan in NH's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I didn’t read the thread, and I know nothing about OP or his situation.


    Yes, OP, you need a mandola. Your need is both great and immediate. You may, in fact, need TWO mandolas.

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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    If you want a wider nut and a different voice but don't want to deal with a different tuning, consider an octave mandolin. Lots of choices. Or just get a mandola.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?


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    Registered User Doug Brock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I didn’t think I needed a mandola till I “accidentally” played an Eastman MDA315 at the store. The deep voice really grabbed me and I called my wife and asked if she wanted to buy it for my Christmas present, lol. I do like it every time I play it, BUT I don’t play it often. The need to rethink my chords makes it a bit harder to just jump into songs, and if I want to play fiddle tunes in the traditional keys, I either have to play part of the tune down an octave (which I don’t like), or play up the neck. Up the neck is easy on my mandolin, but less so on the mandola since I don’t practice it enough. Maybe I’ll have more time to devote to mandola when I retire in a couple of years. (I also have the problem of enjoying learning/playing too many instruments, so that makes it harder to give any particular instrument the time it needs.)

    An energetic percussive style on the lower pitched strings does sound good and is fun, though, so that’s one thing you’ll get versus a regular mandolin.

    So, to answer your question - YES, if you think you’ll have the time this instrument deserves. And YES, if the money isn’t an issue, even if you don’t have the time but just want to expand your horizons a bit.
    Doug Brock
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    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I got my mandola (99 Mid Mo M-15) very soon after my first mandolin. It took some thinking to figure out how they are related, because I was only just starting to figure out how the mandolin works (and definitely not there yet on either). But it's so very cool and I love how it sounds and feels in my hands. Someday I think (I'm pretty sure) I want a 5 course instrument that can be both at the same time. It might be sooner than later because life's too short not to try 'em all

    Quote Originally Posted by Charles E. View Post
    If you want a wider nut and a different voice but don't want to deal with a different tuning, consider an octave mandolin. Lots of choices. Or just get a mandola.
    Or both .... life's too short ..
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan in NH View Post
    Yes, OP, you need a mandola. Your need is both great and immediate. You may, in fact, need TWO mandolas.
    Can confirm. And I secretly want an oval.
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    Registered User webber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Here's another vote for trying a mandola. The resonance and sustain is addictive... I pick up my Big Muddy more often than even my pricier instruments!
    1913 Gibson F2 (Blacktop)
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  19. #12

    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    there is also the big uke, its like a tenor guitar, you can string it in 5ths, nice low tone , nylon strings , very nice change and sound with the same fingerings but longer sting length

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    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Take any old guitar:
    Put the G string where the B string was. Tune it to A (or buy a slightly lighter G string).
    Put the D string where the G string was, no change in tuning
    Put the A string where the D string was, tune to G. (Or buy a slightly heavier A string)
    Put a spare old G string where the A string was.
    Put a spare old G string where the low E string was.

    Now it’s capo-time. Fifth fret.

    You’ve got yourself a sweet mandola-like instrument.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Mandola is a wonderful addition to any mandolinist's toolbox. I found the difference in scale lengths is not so large to make an entirely different fingering strategy necessary -- contrast with octave mandolin or mandocello. The mandola's "alto" voice provides a lot of opportunities for harmonies and counter-melodies, and also provides a pleasing range of vocal accompaniments. The tonal range meshes nicely with guitar, and pacifies those listeners who consider the mandolin "shrill" (I don't, but there are those who do).

    I have an old Stahl (Larson brothers) mandola that's now the instrument I usually take to sing-arounds, jams etc. Only trouble I found in taking up the instrument, was doing "head transposition" of chord fingerings: yeah, the tune's in the key of D, but on mandola I'm using "A" chords -- or they would be "A" chords if I were still playing mandolin...

    There are now a decent range of available affordable mandolas, from flat-tops like the Trinity College instruments, to carved-top Eastmans, etc. I currently stock three mandolas, the Stahl, a Washburn bowl-back, and a Sobell, and find them useful and often-played.
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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Everyone needs a mandola.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

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  27. #16
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    One way to get around the chord transposition issues with mandolas is to learn all major and minor chords as five string chords (cittern).
    Then you just shift any mandolin full, five course chords you have in mind up by one course towards the sky.
    Similar with melodies by learning the adjacent course keys each time and shifting.

    For example you have a tune in G on the mandolin? You learn it (by position) in it’s fourth, C on the mandolin too. Now you play it in C as it were, but on the mandola and you’re playing in the same key (G major) as all the other people who don’t have a beautiful mandola.

    Great practice, not a lot of extra work once you are solid in G major on the third and fourth strings of mandolin, and has huge benefits.

    (I’m not getting a mandola because I’m spoilt for deep tone while using my octave with a capo).

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

    Quote Originally Posted by pheffernan View Post
    Can confirm. And I secretly want an oval.
    Your secret is out
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  31. #18
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sue Rieter View Post
    Your secret is out
    This is the one I want (or more accurately a modern tribute): https://mandolincafe.com/forum/threa...ad-H-2-mandola
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  33. #19
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Do you need a mandola? Probably not. Do you want a mandola? Apparently. Embrace the desire.

    I did need a mandola at one point. I'd written a song that had a distinctive fingering pattern for its chord progression, but was so not in a good key for my voice. It was quite a good song (if I say so myself - well, someone has to, while I languish in obscurity), and demanded and deserved to be performed correctly. There just happened to be a really nice 1916 Gibson H-2 hanging on the wall at my luthier's when I visited one day. It was for sale on consignment by someone I knew, who had to come up with cash quickly to keep his house from getting sold out from under him. That meant selling a few instruments, including this - the better of the two he owned, but the other one was part of a mandolin-mandola-mandocello set with matching finishes, and he didn't want to break that up. My good fortune (for once), and it came just after I'd gotten my tax return. So a deal was struck. I'd been wanting one for some time, but this was a case of needing one, in order to solve the voicing/voice discordance. And I've been ever so grateful I stepped up so many times since. It's the first instrument I owned that qualified as being a real true fine vintage instrument. It has a deep, rich, warm, resonant, full sound, and is always still ringing when I put it in the case. This comports with what webber said. Yes, doing the transpositions in your head when playing with guitarists is a bit of a challenge, but you'll get used to it. Indeed, it is keyed to C the way a mandolin is keyed to G, so for songs in certain keys it may even be preferable.

    Life is short. Buy and play instruments!

    Epilogue: Last year I received a bit of a windfall, and used that to acquire a 1916 A-4, which just happened to have the same finish as the mandola. So I suddenly found myself with a matched set. Not looking to add a mandocello, but maybe someday ... who knows?

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by journeybear; Oct-01-2022 at 3:59pm. Reason: just one more thing ...
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  35. #20
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    A Quartet needs at least one.
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

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    Registered User Toycona's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I play mine as my main gigging instrument, then flip to mandolin for fiddle tunes. Lots of sonic fun!
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  39. #22
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I often ask my wife "Do you WANT (a piece of cake, a ride somewhere, help carrying something, et cetera), and she will often respond "Oh, I don't NEED it", leaving me frustrated with my specific and divergent definitions of the two words "want" and "need". No one NEEDS a mandola, but if ya want one, f'cryinoutloud, get you one.
    too many strings

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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    I like playing JSBach and the mandola is perfect for that. The low C string provides depth and sustain that propels the music.

    For other music, the mandola’s range is nice — it’s something like a more rational guitar. I find that fingering differences are no big deal. I suspect that the transposing challenge is not that difficult, but mando-fiddle is already using most of my available mental resources, haha.

    Strabo

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  43. #24
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Quote Originally Posted by musicofanatic View Post
    No one NEEDS a mandola.
    I can't believe the processor actually allowed that text be rendered on this page, blasphemy blasphemy!
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  45. #25
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do I need a mandola?

    Yes, the statement, ‘No one needs a mandola’ would probably make a music therapist laugh.

    Estimates on the number of people (in millions) who NEED to learn a musical instrument, anyone?

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