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Thread: Tuning and care of a mandola

  1. #1

    Question Tuning and care of a mandola

    Hey all,

    I'm 18 and a first-time mandola owner as my grandfather died in late 2018 and I was told a couple of weeks ago that he left me a mandola in his will.

    Unfortunately, I don't know what type of mandola it is and have no way of finding out as it's currently in the UK and I live in Switzerland. However I do have a few questions:

    1) Are there any specific methods I should do to care for it when I get there?

    2) How do I tell whether it's a standard or an octave mandola?

    3) Once it's identified, where's the best place to find new strings and similar supplies?

    Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me

  2. #2
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tuning and care of a mandola

    Quote Originally Posted by RhythmAndFlo View Post
    Hey all,

    I'm 18 and a first-time mandola owner as my grandfather died in late 2018 and I was told a couple of weeks ago that he left me a mandola in his will.

    Unfortunately, I don't know what type of mandola it is and have no way of finding out as it's currently in the UK and I live in Switzerland. However I do have a few questions:

    1) Are there any specific methods I should do to care for it when I get there?

    2) How do I tell whether it's a standard or an octave mandola?

    3) Once it's identified, where's the best place to find new strings and similar supplies?

    Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me
    Post a picture when you get it. There are differences in nomenclature between the US and Europe. In other words, you might be calling it one thing and here we call it something else and also the person telling you it's a mandola might not know what it really is.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  4. #3
    Pittsburgh Bill
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    Default Re: Tuning and care of a mandola

    With out knowing if you have an octave or a mandola part of your questions may be answered after posting of pictures.
    But for basics:
    Avoid extreme temperatures and do not expose it to rapid temperature changes. Allow it to stay in a box or case until it has attained approximate ambient temperature.
    Avoid extremes in humidity. 35% to 70% is safe.
    .
    Big Muddy EM8 solid body (Mike Dulak's final EM8 build)
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  6. #4
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tuning and care of a mandola

    You could ask the people in the UK, what is the scale length?
    And does it have a flat or bowl back?

    You really need a certain number of individual lessons first, to check the set up on the mandola or octave mandolin (octave mandola, they say in Uk) and to make sure you start without too many eclectic habits.

    Good luck, have fun, it’s a great instrument.

    What genres of music interest you?

    (Be careful not to put strings on until you’re sure the instrument can handle them, and as Mike has said, a photo will help a lot)

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    Default Re: Tuning and care of a mandola

    What Mike said...whether it's a mandola or octave mandolin/bouzouki will affect string recommendations (at least to a degree...I actually use mandola strings on my octave mandolin) and tuning (CGDA vs GDAE).

    In general, regardless of what it is:

    1) When it arrives, assuming it's cold where you are n Switzerland, you'll need to let it acclimate before opening it. This is the toughest part of getting a new instrument via mail or post, because you really should resist the urge to tear right into it. If you're bitterly cold let it sit overnight. If it's not too horribly cold, then you can let it sit until the box feels room temp, pop open the top and let that sit until the case and packaging are at room temp for a couple of hours, then open it up. If you just tear into it right away you run the risk of finish crazing or even wood cracks from the sudden temperature change.

    2) See if you can get a case humidifier to have ready unless your home is humidity controlled already. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. I have a couple at home that I like, but, of course, can't remember the brands. One is a clear plastic tube that you fill with water and control the humidity by how many holes of the sponge end you leave open. Another is a small black plastic contained that has some substance inside that holds water without expanding. You soak it in water for 5 minutes or so. Depending on how cold and dry it is, these will each make it a few days to a couple of weeks before needing to be refilled. I usually try to position them in the case so they're not touching the wood and store the case so there's little to no chance of any spillage onto the instrument if one were to fail. I'm a little leery of the sound hole ones because I've heard of failures and damage from them, though I've not personally seen that.

    3) You can go a head and get a clip on tuner (Snark, D'Addairio, etc) or, if they're hard to find/expensive on your side of the Atlantic, there are plenty of guitar tuning apps you can get for free if you're willing to put up with the occasional add. I have iStrobosoft on my phone which I think was $9.99 USD, but it's super accurate (done by the Peterson Strobotune folks) so the price was worth it, especially when setting intonation. The only negative with it is that it's so sensitive you really can't use it at a jam or in a noisy environment otherwise. I used a black rectangular Korg tuner for years before moving to the clip ons (the Korg is still in my bass gig bag pocket). Lots of options ranging from free to pretty expensive.

    Congratulations, and, welcome to the obsession! Do post some pics when you get it and the Cafe members will be happy to help further...
    Chuck

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