Mark Wybierala's SG-style double-neck mandolin/octave mandolin [Pictures] - created 08-31-2011
Wybierala, Mark - 08/31/2011.07:30:00
Full Time Instrument Tech
I'm still on this kick of building solid body mandolins. They're fun to build, they're cheaper to build, and they sell quite well into a fairly untapped market. Anyway, somebody at our shop made a crack, "Why don't you build a double neck" -- so I did.
The scale lengths are 14-3/4 at the top and 24-1/2 on the bottom. They are an octave apart. I have no idea what someone would do with something like this but alternative tunings are one suggestion or maybe even using the lower neck for slide.
Wow, what is the combo --mandolin/octave/mandocello? More pics please Mark. That is so cool.
What is the tailpiece? It looks like a TOM keeper.
The body and the neck are mahogany. The pickups are from a Mexican made P-Bass and these work great for a mandolin. The bridges are built to incorporate a piezo with a bone saddle. I build bridges like this by using three layers of 1/8" hardwood -- whatever I have available. This makes it very simple to get and archtop style bridge with a removalble bone saddle and a very good flat-bottomed saddle slot for a piezo pickup.
The tailpieces are from aluminum bar stock from McMasterCarr. The needed ground wire for the strings comes up under each. These are easy to make with little more than a drillpress and an alignment jig of some sort. The easiest and safest way for me to make a path for the ground wire is to use a long 1/4" drillbit and drill a straight line from the strap button position to the pickup route. Because the line is straight, I can easily drill straight down under the tailpiece and intersect the hole. I then plug the opening and install a strap button.
Nibs on the binding of course...
Headstocks
Neck joints
Very unique instrument. Great job!
I'm not a "nibs on the binding" kind of guy, but I can appreciate the work that goes into doing that.
Really nice work Mark. I love how this turned out.
> I'm not a "nibs on the binding" kind of guy
Me neither, but streuth I wish I was. I love this instrument, and the idea of using P-Bass pickups for a mando is a gem. I'm filing that one away for future reference.
Very cool. I like it! No idea what to do with it... but I like it!
Really cool!
This is super cool! Here's my electric mando, which I too have been thinking alot about lately. This was my first instrument I've built from chunks of wood! Once I get done with my LP Jr, Im onto the next electric mando...no more 4 strings either..Im convinced its kinda pointless...
4-Strings = Ukelele...
But ukes are tuned funny.
>But ukes are tuned funny.
Then it's a fretted violin!
I used to play a four-string electric solid-body mandolin, and I found it far from useless! I played lead guitar type things on it, and string bending was very fun and nice but when I played that kind of stuff on an 8-string it sounded more like a mandolin and less like a lead guitar and string bending on the double courses was no good either as each string would bend at a slightly different rate and it would sound out of tune. So, as far as I feel, four-string electric mandolins have a legitimate reason to exist.
I fully confess I am no mandolin player, so I can't say I'm a good reference...chord stuff is what I know on the mando, so it sounded..off to me. Ive had two fluent players test drive it, and they loved it. One of 'em is buying this one actually, but both said they wanted the clarity of this one, with the fullness of an 8 string...so, I'm going to try that next...I have a lovely piece of flamey cherry for it!
For me, the first time I worked on a mandolin and looked up a few chords and heard them in the violin tuning mode I was hooked. Its nearly the full range of a guitar in only four strings. I build both four and eight string solid body mandolins including instruments of double the scale length. The tone is so rich. We have a few wild guys working in the shop who think musically on their feet and on more than one occassion I've heard some killer rock and roll via full tube amp distortion from one of these 26" scale mandolins - both four and eight string versions. They rock! My double neck will probably hang on the wall of the shop for a long time but sooner or later someone is going to walk in and it'll suit them perfectly -- there are all kinds of twisted people in this world.
Electric mandos have not been explored enough for the variation in tone! Theres tons of possibilty there...I just want to make the ones that the real skilled guys can play happily, cause my skills arent on the mando! I've just started my prototype maple and ebony "tune-o-matic" for the next one...its a seed of an idea that I think will be purty neat!
That is a beautiful bridge. Alembic makes something sort of related to that. Its a TOM built entirely of bolt together brass and stainless steel and I've taken the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of one up close for the purpose of someday trying my hand at building one. Your use of ebony is inspiring.
I set out initially to make miniature Les Pauls and the adventure has really taught me a lot about LPs, -the order of construction and other cool stuff that you only get from experience. Solid body mandolins have a sound all their own. Following the Gibson recipe for a solid body guitar, with a set mahogany neck in a solid mahogany body, you get quite a lot of the LP character of extraordinary sustain and an ability to put the string height down unbelievable low to the fretboard -- so much so that many mandolin players don't like it that low. Once you have the instrument, you can tune it any way you like with many different string configurations. I like putting the 3rd and 4th unison pairs as octave apart pairs but there is a valuable tonal result doing it the traditional way too. I really dig your bridge but haven't found fully adjustable intonation needed. Sometimes dissonance is a good thing and you get that with split octaves. With all strings fully unison, the traditional offset works quite adequately. I still like your bridge. On my solid body mandos I typically make a single piece bridge from aluminum bar stock unless I want a piezo.
Here is an example of my first bridge. Its a variation of the original Gibsom bow-tie and its on a '58 Les Paul goldtop. This type of thing is quick and easy to make with a beltsander, a bucket of water and a dremel. I don't seem to have any pictures of the mando bridges but they follow the same idea.
If you folks are interested and think it would help you somehow, I have a Gibson electric solid body "florentine" mandolin I can show you and take measurements and so on.
Kind words Mark W, thank you! Since that photo, its been relagated to the dustbin..I intend to put thumbwheel & posts under the "wings" if you will, and in the process of routing those undercuts, the ebony blew out, despite all precaution of having it backed, and of course router direction...it was a bummer. Fortunatly, I made jigs for the whole process, so I just have to do it again...just rethinking the process, taking the chance to improve. The trick really is the bushings for holding the saddle screws...I think I can do better next time though..and it will have a radius, for the next mando will be an archtop, like a les paul. The things you mention about studying the gibson reciepe is exactly where my head had been too! It feels awesome scaled down, mando size....I really like the "fluidity", if I may, of your bridge, its nice to see it on instruments instead of all ridgid geometry!
Also Mark S, I would love to see photos if you have any handy! I would really like to know how they wired it, pots, caps, etc...and I'd love to have one of them pick-ups to study. Those earlier ventures into electric mandos are interesting to learn about, like the Bisgsby stuff, and the Ricks too...