Since as a youngster I played violin, as an adult I can play a bit of mandolin (with its similar left-hand fingering). I enjoy trying to play mandolin while reading classical or popular sheet music, or while picking out folk or show tunes by ear.
Since as a younger person I also played a bit of guitar, I enjoy the informality of strumming chords while accompanying others who sing, especially on a classical-style guitar with its soft-sounding nylon strings.
It seemed that it might be fun to play a hybrid instrument, one with tuning similar to a violin, but with strings similar to a classical guitar.
Other people have written on the Internet and in these forums* about similar ideas. I would be glad to briefly describe my current experiment.
My hybrid instrument is based on a tenor ukulele, but its 4 strings are replaced with nylon guitar strings. These strings are tuned one octave lower than a regular mandolin. The effective result is a mellow-sounding octave mandolin that is easy on the fingers (with 4 nylon strings instead of 8 steel ones), and that does not require the same stretch as an octave mandolin (with a scale of 17 inches instead of 20 or more).
Experimentation with several instruments and sets of strings, combined with research with a couple luthiers and manufacturers, have led me to this current choice of nylon-type guitar strings from D'Addario:
1st - E (e' - E4 - 329.6 Hz) - NYL034 - nylon only
2nd - A (a - A3 - 220.0 Hz) - NYL026W - steel-wound nylon
3rd - D (d - D3 - 146.8 Hz) - NYL034W - steel-wound nylon
4th - G (G - G2 - 98.0 Hz) - NYL048W - steel-wound nylon
These choices do not represent the only possibilities (I have tried several). But they represent sort of a balance after trying some strings that were too loose, and others that seemed too stiff.
A music teacher with whom I am currently studying is excited about this hybrid instrument, which he likes to call a mandolele. A few other references to mandolele can be found on the Internet. The version with which I am experimenting is more like an octave mandolele.
A choice of strings is not obvious, as no sets of pre-made strings currently exist, of which I am aware, for turning a tenor ukulele or similar instrument as an octave mandolin, with 4 nylon-type strings.
Neither is a choice of names obvious for the resulting instrument. A few people who write about similar hybrids use various names.
Throughout the years, string instruments like lutes, mandolins and guitars have apparently taken on different shapes, configurations and names. The current instrument with which I am experimenting may not be easily categorized, but it sounds pleasant, and it is enjoyable to play.
The instrument may not be perfect, and its player is far from that(!), but playing the instrument is enough fun that I am communicating with a luthier about making a custom version of the instrument.
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* Here are a few related links in these forums:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...do-GDAE-tuning
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...andolin-(GDAE)
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...-guitar-hybrid
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