Eastman mandola

[Dave Hanson]

A friend of mine has just loaned me his Eastman 615 mandola, after a fresh set up and new strings this is without doubt the finest Far Eastern instrument I have ever heard, deep and sweet and more sustain than any other F style I've ever heard.

I cobbled together the new strings from ones I had lying around at home, 13, 24, 36 and 52 but can anyone tell me the recommended guages for this instrument ?

Thanks in advance, Dave H

[Eddie Sheehy]

I'd go with J76's... always loved those Eastman 'dolas.

[Dave Hanson]

Thanks Eddie.

Dave H

[Jeff Budz]

I have a 615 dola and strongly prefer J72 over J76. In fact, it's currently strung with J80 and they are working well for me too. It is a nice instrument, and although I don't play it every day I find it difficult to put it up for sale.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I'm currently considering TI-164 or Jazzdola (La Bella) flat-wounds for a Gibson H1 Mandola. Because of the length of the solk winding at the top of the strings - 9", there is only approx. 21.5" of "metal" which has to fit between the nut and the end-loop-thingie, and it's a tight squeeze for a H1 (using my measuring tape and forget about the horizontal/vertical combo thingies on Gibson tailpieces). Still, I'll probably spring for a TI-164 set and let you know how they fit/sound.

[rico mando]

I ordered a eastmam MDA815B -blonde mandola ,it has been almost 2 weeks and the wait is killing me ! ARRRGH !! at least it has cleared customs but where it is i do not know .

[Bernie Daniel]

A friend of mine has just loaned me his Eastman 615 mandola, after a fresh set up and new strings this is without doubt the finest Far Eastern instrument I have ever heard, deep and sweet and more sustain than any other F style I've ever heard.

I cobbled together the new strings from ones I had lying around at home, 13, 24, 36 and 52 but can anyone tell me the recommended guages for this instrument ?

Thanks in advance, Dave H

I think you are right about the overall quality of those mandolas -- they are a great value.

Unexpectedly last year I pick-up an essentially brand-new MDA815 on eBay for an unseemly low price -- just a lucky last second bid.

When it arrived there was nary a nick or a rub on it and it had fresh JazzDola flat wounds on it. They were fine strings but I changed over after a few months to D'Addario J76's phosphor bronze -- more my kind of sound.

The tone on these mandolas is very nice with lots of sustain -- the only improvement I would make on mine if I could is to figure out how to get just a bit more volume/projection from it.

But the mandola sounds really awesome with either type of string. For a classy looking "'dola with a scroll" it would be hard to beat the Eastman -- I believe the 615 and 815 are quite similar -- maybe the only difference is gold hardware on the 815 and nickel on the 615? Both are solid woods fully bound and have ebony fingerboards.

I noticed that they now sell the MDA815V (for varnish) as an upgrade.

[rico mando]

Well i really really really hope my new eastman mandola shows up tomorrow (monday). going to string it up with flatwounds and get a magnetic pick up for it some where .

[Bernie Daniel]

I know you'll like it -- here is mine with a quicky piece played along with a fiddle recording...They do have a nice tone to them -- this is with D'Addario J76 strings.

[rico mando]

Nice one Bernie . thanks for making it even harder to wait . finally received an update about shipping this morning . canada post has my mandola as of this morning . so it is somewhere in canada , i am hoping it crossed the border near the west coast .

EDIT --

well it came this morning . yeah . the box looks like it has been compressed some. no big holes in it from a fork lift but no fragile stickers on it either . well i have to wait 24hrs before i open the box. lets hope it is in good condition . the case was described as " oblong" and in pics you could see vinyl material and zippers so i am assuming it is a soft shell case

[rico mando]

well i have played for 20 minutes and i really have to say ,...meh

edit - actually its sounding better after letting it sit for a bit . plus its chilly so i put my hoodie up and it seems to make it sound even better

[rico mando]

wow does this thing ever have a fat neck and i mean wide fret board i can practically put my finger between the strings at the 12th fret . going to take some getting used to wish the frets themselves were bigger

[Bernie Daniel]

wow does this thing ever have a fat neck and i mean wide fret board i can practically put my finger between the strings at the 12th fret . going to take some getting used to wish the frets themselves were bigger

It should not take you too long to adapt. I have an octave and a few mandocellos around so the neck does not seem unusual to me but it is wider (@ 1 5/16") than a mandolin for sure. I find that I use the same fingering on the mandola as mandolin -- on the octave and mandocello I use guitar fingering. Good luck with it.

[rico mando]

Thanks for the encouragement bernie . i play a 5-string electric of 14 1/2 inch scale 99 % of the time . the eastman is 15 3/4 so i was hoping the mandola would compliment the electric better ( for the occasional acoustic gig ) , they are similar in nut size but the eastman widens much more as you move towards the bridge . i am going to try and get a new bridge and bring the strings closer together . also i will try a refret with a larger gauge fret wire ( if i can find the time) . this baby wins an award for ugliest fret board extension . big ugly chunk of wood under the fret board .

[Eddie Sheehy]

I run a home for wayward and unwanted mandolas... free room and board...

[rico mando]

not like my place , i run a chop shop . say good bye scooped fretboard extension . need to make room for a pick up . i am not into peizo's . i know a musician looking for a place to live can i refer him to you Eddie ? and do you have room for his drums and amps and guitars ?

[VictorLouis]

Be sure you really want to ...uh....alter...a beautiful dola in that manner. IF you do, know what you're facing in the lack of resale value.

[rico mando]

you mean this beautiful mandolin fret board extension

[rico mando]

here it is in full

[allenhopkins]

Rico, it's your mandola, and you can paint it pink if you want. Concur that a fretboard extension with no frets makes little sense. But by the time you pull the frets and refret, saw off the "Florida" extension, rout out the top for a big honkin' mag pickup, replace the bridge -- well, I hope you love your 815, 'cause few others are going to want it.

To me, instruments are tools to make music, and if they get altered and rejiggered and scuffed up in the process, well, that's what they're made for. I've had my share of rebuilds and such done, as needed. This sounds like a lot of re-working, basically changing an acoustic instrument into an electric one, and more than I would do.

Let us know how it turns out...

[rico mando]

hey Allen how ya doing ? read many of your posts and have found them to be informative and interesting . it was some of your comments that leaned me towards the Eastman .

any way as far as pick ups go - i have not been able to find another barcus berry stick on magnetic pick up , so i am currently in discussion with Pete at almuse pick ups to have a pick up made . he says he can go as slim as 6mm maybe and i have 17.42 mm of clearance when fretted so i will leave the router in the box .

as far as the the florida goes i feel confident that i could remove it ,sand,polish and add binding that it would look similar to their other models But there is no lacquer under the florida and it might not be necessary ( and i have enough to do already )

as far as the refret goes - for me it is a day long job ( maybe more because of the binding ) but i can also have some one else do it .i have bigger frets on my A-5 gibson because the old ones wore out and i quite like them .

replacing the bridge - no biggie was just going to try to get another from east man and exchange the top . the mandolin store did a great job of seating the bridge ,but the string are closer to the end of the frets than i like and it is only a 1/2 hour job( maybe longer including cleaning up my work bench) .

the K&k pick ups ( and other brands ) sound great ,fit inside nicely and have an amazing ability to make low end instruments sound even better than the do naturally . but imagine the most feedback prone performing situation for performing in and you will have my usual set up . when it comes to fighting for sonic territory after the drums and bass and guitar and vocals eat up a large portion of the sound field i find the magnetic pick ups sound fine in the mix and maybe transmit some of the frequency's that get through better IMO .

So yes i will keep you posted and Allen i was being sincere at the beginning of this post( no sarcasm intended ) . will repost with picture of my barcus berry pick up after i upload it to the cafe

[rico mando]

just stuck on with 2 sided tape

[allenhopkins]

You go, rico -- you've got taste! And I do concur that putting on a fretboard extension with no frets is pretty silly. My 615 'dola has a much shorter one -- with frets.