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| Blue Moon mandola - Mandolin - Other Instruments - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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Will Approved 
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Like its unfretted cousin, the viola (vis-a-vis the violin), the mandola lags far behind in popularity to its soprano-range cousin, the mandolin. Due to a much smaller market for mandolas, most available models of mandola cost around $500, a bit pricey to buy to experiment with. [Note: in Europe, the mandola is known as the "tenor mandola," not to be confused with what Americans call the "octave mandolin," which plays a full octave lower than a mandolin.] Fortunately, there are imported instruments from China that are not only low-priced, but well-made and good sounding. I took a chance, and ordered and received the $115 Blue Moon mandola (pictured below) from Hobgoblin USA. For the past few days, I've had great fun playing it in the original CGDA tuning by experimenting with a few 2 and 3 finger chords and playing chord melody style. It's about the size of a baritone uke, and will fit inside a baritone uke bag (but it comes with its own gig bag), with a similar scale size of about 19," which is longer than many mandolas (scale length 16" to 17"), but shorter than other octave mandolins (20" to 22" scale). With the right strings, this instrument can also be strung to GDAE as an octave mandolin, one octave below the mandolin. With a solid spruce top, it has a sweet and loud sound, and a much longer sustain than a mandolin. The sound hole is oval instead of F-shaped, and the bridge height is fixed (solid carved wood with slotted metal strip on top). The action is a bit high (the nut can be reduced perhaps 1/16"), but I'm used to playing 12-string guitar. The workmanship is not flawless, but excellent at this price. It is easier to play with a guitar strap or mandolin strap, so you'll need to install a metal strap button on the bottom (a hole is already drilled in the metal tailpiece anchor. Why play a mandola? For those of you who already play mandolin, it's immediately playable with a familiar fingering pattern (just transposed to a different key) and offers the tonal richness of a lower half octave, a more mellow and less penetrating sound (due to the larger body, oval soundhole and mahogany back and sides), and a much longer sustain (better than many of my guitars). For those of you who have tried mandolin previously but gave up because you found the neck too narrow and the fret spacing too cramped, the mandola has a wider and more comfortable neck. Capoed at the 7th fret, you'll have GDAE mandolin tuning, but with a wider neck, and the notes and chords are much easier to fret. You can use a tenor banjo chord book because it is tuned the same way (CGDA). This Blue Moon Mandola ranks up there with the Amigo baritone uke for "best bang for the buck." http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/product.php?ID=GR3205 GR3205: Blue Moon Tenor Mandola Pear shaped body, solid spruce top, natural matt finish. 485mm scale. Made in China  Complete with Case Price: $115.00 US Dollars Here's their UK web site page: http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/contentsframe.php?MS=mandola%5C  Last edited on Mon Sep 8th, 2008 05:07 am by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Will Approved
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I have since discovered that this instrument that I purchased a few months ago, sold as a "tenor mandola," is actually an octave mandolin (called octave mandola in Europe) because the scale is about 19.5" long, whereas most mandolas have only a 16" or 17" long scale. The extra light gauge strings that came with the instrument allowed it to be tuned to CGDA. However, I did not have a set of octave mandolin strings readily available, and when they arrive, I will try tuning the new strings to GDAE, one octave below the mandolin.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Will Approved
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I now understand why this instrument was sold as a tenor mandola. It sounds much better tuned to CGDA than the lower GDAE tuning. I tried installing the lower-tuned octave mandolin strings, but then the instrument sounded too muddy, perhaps due to the short scale. I then tried installing octave strings in place of one of the low G and low D, and it sounded better as gGdDAAee (bouzouki tuning), but because the bridge is not compensated, it adversely affected the intonation. After a few days, I went back to mandola tuning, but this time I re-set the floating bridge to get better intonation. The bridge is now slanted a bit to give more string length to the lower strings than the higher ones. Last edited on Thu Sep 18th, 2008 07:29 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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ThirdRatePoet Approved 
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The octave mandola is only a short step from the Irish bouzouki (which has a shorter scale length than the original). I quite like both instruments, but neither has the bright ringing punch that a mandolin gives you. For an effective alternative to a guitar, however, they seem well worth the investment...must get one for myself at some stage! Dan 
____________________ ezFolk My Website iTunes - 'The Folks Underground' |
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Will Approved
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ThirdRatePoet wrote: The octave mandola is only a short step from the Irish bouzouki (which has a shorter scale length than the original). I quite like both instruments, but neither has the bright ringing punch that a mandolin gives you. For an effective alternative to a guitar, however, they seem well worth the investment...must get one for myself at some stage! Hello, Dan: Since you mentioned the bouzouki, I have a Blue Moon bouzouki on order from Hobgoblin U.S.A., due anytime now. Because I have small hands, I chose the shorter scale 23" version rather than the 26" scale; otherwise, 4-fret stretches of some chords would be impossible for me to play. This Romanian-made bouzouki is tuned GDAE, with a solid spruce top and solid maple back and sides, for $315 US. http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/product.php?ID=GR3503  Last edited on Fri Sep 26th, 2008 05:37 am by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Jim Yates Approved 
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I've not seen an octave mandola. I do own an octave mandolin, and I assume that since the Octave Mandolin is an octave below a mandolin, and octave mandola would be an octave below a mandola. Isn't this the same as a mando-cello? I've always thought that the mandolin is tuned like a violin, GDAE, a mandola is tuned like a viola, CGDA, a mando-cello is tuned like a violin-cello CGDA, and a mando-bass (a rare find) is tuned like a string-bass EADG. I've given all these tunings from bass to treble. Am I right?
____________________ Jim http://www.myspace.com/jimyates http://www.myspace.com/kirbyandyates http://www.myspace.com/kirbyyatesmazurek |
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Will Approved
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Hi, Jim: Part of the confusion is that North Americans call an instrument tuned one octave below a mandolin an "octave mandolin" but confusingly, the same instrument is called an "octave mandola" in Europe. Also, what North Americans call the "mandola" is called the "tenor mandola" in Europe. Add to this the term "bouzouki" (which came originally from Greece, adopted and changed by Irish musicians during the 1960's) and even greater confusion has resulted: http://www.robinbullock.com/article02.htm Last edited on Thu Nov 27th, 2008 08:42 am by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Jim Yates Approved
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Thanks Will. There seems to be a great amount of confusion in the naming of these mando type instruments. I don't like the name bouzouki or cittern applied to modern, flat backed instruments, since the Greeks already have a bouzouki and there's already a period instrument called a cittern. I've been told that there's a certain length neck where an octave mandolin becomes a bouzouki. Others have told me that if it has octave G and D strings, it's a bouzouki and if they're unisons, it's an OM. Does this mean if I put octave strings on my OM it becomes a bouzouki? A local luthier, Grit Laskin calls hisd creations "long necked mandolins". I guess that makes as much sense as any. A musician friend of mine called minme a "Monster Mandolin". Last edited on Sat Dec 6th, 2008 09:08 pm by Jim Yates ____________________ Jim http://www.myspace.com/jimyates http://www.myspace.com/kirbyandyates http://www.myspace.com/kirbyyatesmazurek |
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Will Approved
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Jim, My instrument, the so-called "Irish bouzouki" is tuned with octave strings for the G and D courses, but has a shorter 23" scale (26" for the "regular" Irish bouzouki), gG-dD-AA-EE. I suppose that octave mandolins have a scale length that is shorter (about 20" to 22"), but if you added octave strings for the G and D courses to your instrument, you would then have yet another variation of the "short-scale Irish bouzouki." Robin Bullock's article (link above) seems to summarizes it all - somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| ezFolk Forums > Other Instruments > Mandolin > Blue Moon mandola | |
