Yooper - Posted - 04/06/2021:  12:57:57

Most of us own more than one mandolin. Do you tend toward focus (multiple examples of the same design) or breadth (one of each of various types)? Personally, I tend toward breadth (1 f-style f-holes, 1 f-style oval-hole; 1 A-style oval-hole flat-top; 1 A-style, f-holes, arched-top, with a pickup). I'm especially wondering, if you have multiples of basically the same instrument, why?

TSSN - Posted - 04/06/2021:  14:54:28

I have an F5 clone and an F4 clone. The former is for bluegrass-type music, and the latter is for Celtic.

I also have a mandola that I acquired, because 1) it was from a local builder, 2) the price was right, and 3) I really liked the sound of it (the most important part).

mandosoft - Posted - 04/06/2021:  16:01:53

I go with a third option which is matching sets. I love seeing the old Gibson mandolin family sets. Working on getting a mandocello to match my mandolin and octave mandolin.

Yooper - Posted - 04/06/2021:  17:30:42

What's the difference between a mandocello and an octave mandolin? I have seen what I think are octave mandolins with scales from around 22" to 25".

And Patrick, how do you like that mandola? I've thought of expanding in that direction. Can you use the same fingerings as mandolin? And what is your head thinking when you transpose? E.G., if song was in C, do you just think "I'll pretend it's in G" and then play like you would on a mandolin? I tried octave mandolin once; no transposing, but fingerings are completely different.

Sorry, I guess I hijacked my own thread.

Yooper - Posted - 04/06/2021:  17:33:16

I just googled mandocello. It appears to be tuned like a mandola (CGDA), but an octave lower. The Gibson versions had 24 & 3/4" scales, so it seems like it could be tuned an octave below a mandolin with the right strings.

Edited by - Yooper on 04/06/2021 17:33:47

TSSN - Posted - 04/07/2021:  04:02:45

quote:

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Originally posted by Yooper

And Patrick, how do you like that mandola? I've thought of expanding in that direction. Can you use the same fingerings as mandolin? And what is your head thinking when you transpose? E.G., if song was in C, do you just think "I'll pretend it's in G" and then play like you would on a mandolin? I tried octave mandolin once; no transposing, but fingerings are completely different.

I like my mandola a lot.  The added bass side response really caught my ear, and the sustain is like a day in the life. 

As for fingering, you can do it just the same way as a mandolin, but the key will be different.  When I began playing, I started out thinking things like you mentioned, because you can do things like make a mandolin closed G chord on a mandola, but then there is no e-string, and you have to be careful not to strike the C...not efficient or smart. 

With time, I became better at transposing.  Those early experiments did help to reveal how to do that.

Still, even now, I am only truly comfortable in the keys of G, C, D, and A on mandola.

BUT...  to help you un-hijack:  until now, I have gone for focus over breadth.  Strangely, while my first love is the mandolin, I have way more guitars than mandolins.