Re: High-strung Mandola
Howthehell can octave mandolin strings withstand being tuned an octave higher than the pitch for which they're designed???
Something odd here, IMHO. Maybe the music store, thinking it was a mandola, put mandola strings on it, which were then tuned to mandolin pitch…?
Even then, with a 20+ inch scale, they should have snapped well before getting to GDAE. If I tried to do anything like that, there'd be string fragments all over the place.
Why does the instrument sound "unhappy?" It definitely sounds lower, and OP misses the "bright sparkle" of severely overstretched strings. If the over-tension pulled the neck forward, then pushing the strings down to the fretboard might cause them to be stretched sharp.
Initial suggestion: a visit to a good instrument repair shop -- not where it was purchased, where staff doesn't know a mandola from an octave mandolin, apparently. Diagnosis of any possible damage from over-tension, proper set-up with octave mandolin strings, and putting it into the stringing and tuning for which it was designed.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Bookmarks