Mr. Tidy,
I almost bought a Ric mando once, until I played it.
Unlike acoustic mandos, there was no separation in the sound of the double course of strings. I thought it sounded like a Les Paul
with a capo on the 12th fret.
I have a friend who has one since the '90's; I talked to him today about it, in anticipation of posting here.
Here's what he said:
1) They're too tight tension-wise and the notes fade too quickly.
# # #He suggested tuning it a step down, maybe more,
# # #so the strings wouldn't be so tight on the instrument.
2) The pickup is in the wrong place, just way too bright.
# # Plus, the pickup is too strong on his, too 'hot'.
# # The new 'toaster' pickups aren't wound as strongly
# # as the earlier 'vintage reissues'. If you buy a used one
# # and you want to have any hope of getting a Ricky 'jangle'
# # sound, you're going to have to partially unwind the pickup
# # (don't forget to tune it 'down').
3) The only way to get an even sound across the board is to
# # take one G string off and play it as a 7 string ( really, he said
# # this was the most important thing to tell you).
4) He disagreed with my 'Les Paul with a capo' analogy;
# # said it was 'more like a Mexican Tele with a capo'!
5) It's a fairly close knock-off of the original
# # 7 Rick mandos, but not an exact copy. That makes it a reissue
# # of a model that 'never was'. Plus, the original that I've seen
# # down here in the Southwest USA has a warped headstock.
6) The dealer that had it was highly motivated to get rid of it.
# # #My friend bought it for $700. I asked him, if he
# # #had to do it all over again, if he'd buy it. He said he would
# # #for $700, but not for $1100, 1200 or 1300. By the way, he # # #
# # #doesn't want to sell it. He uses it for playing at night so he
# # #won't #disturb his family. I've never seen him play it at a gig.
# # #
7) #My friend and I used to try and figure out ways to make
# # #is sound better that were reversible; eight saddle bridges
# # #(instead of the four saddles they come with), custom
# # #piezo 'power bridge' saddles, pulling the standard bridge
# # #and replacing it with a Fishman mando bridge, then running
# # #it through a Stereo output jack to blend (or not) outside of
# # #the mando, etc. The basic idea was to try and find some
# # #way of getting the string courses to behave like they do
# # #on an acoustic mando, resonate and work against each other
# # #in a slightly chorus-y, ever-so slightly out of tune way. #
8) Up Side? It's as cute as a button! #Rick mandos are like a '60's
# # motor-cycle; Cool Factor way high, everything else sucks!
If you'll PM me, I'll give you his email address. He said you're
welcome to get in touch with him if you have any questions.
I'm sure I've forgotten something in all the years we've tried to
figure out how to make it sound better.
Good luck. I'd back out on the order if I were you.
"Oh, no, Sweatheart, I've had this mando a long time!
Don't you.....recognize the case?"
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