Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Wrinkles
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 05:50 AM

this has been really interesting. Thanks Guys ;-)

Wrinkles

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: mooman
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 05:42 AM

Yes... it's a Sobell model Ernest.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Ernest
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 04:28 AM

Are you sure about this, Tunesmith? When I saw Andy Irvine live he playes Sobells if I remember correcztly...
Regards
Ernest

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 27 Sep 05 - 04:13 AM

Andy Irvine's "guitar shaped" cittern is made by Fylde Guitars. I have heard Andy say that he thinks the guitar shaped body produces a better sound.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: John Hardly
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 07:46 AM

thanks. I've seen them on so many instruments and kinda wondered if their intended function really amounted to much. It's interesting to hear that they do.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Singing Referee
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 06:19 AM

Malcom Hobbs has a superb guitar bodied bouzouki he had made by Brook Guitars down in Devon UK. It was a special build, but now they've done it once I guess they can do it again. It's based upon their OM sized Taw model, and it's the best sounding bouzouki I've ever heard (although I'm not a bouzouki player myself!).

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Mooh
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 05:51 AM

Mandolin Cafe also has "Eye Candy" pages with many examples.

John Hardly...The side soundport is a sound hole in the upper bout intended to direct some sound to the player's ear and seems to give the instrument a bit more "dimension". Lots of one-off builders are doing them, and I've also got a guitar with the feature. Also serves to collect drool and crumbs, and eject picks.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: mooman
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 04:11 AM

Keep an eye open on the Mandolin Cafe classified ads. I check them every day an have seen a few guitar shaped mandolin beasties of all sizes on there over the past few months. As mentioned above, there are a few nice conversions from Harmonies and some of the cheaper old archtop guitars.

Peaqce

moo

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 04:09 AM

how about a woman?
similar sort of shape.....

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: mandotim
Date: 26 Sep 05 - 01:54 AM

Maartin Allcock (ex Fairport, Jethro Tull) plays a Stefan Sobell 'bouzar', a guitar/bouzouki hybrid. Fabulous instrument, but not cheap. I have a Wailing resonator mandolin with a minature National style brass guitar body. You see these on ebay from time to time. Nice.
Tim from Bit on the Side

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 11:36 PM

sobering up enough to remember now..


i also got 12 string electic solid body guitars that i restrung
middle 4 courses to best possible equivalent mandola tuning..
with
2 outer courses tuned as drones..
or whatever else i feel like whenever i do for the fun of it..

..and half size or 3/4 size electric kiddies guitars
provide all sorts of opportunities for hybrid banjo/mando/uke tunings..

no limit to immagination..

apart from those imposed by physics of string tension breaking point..

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: John Hardly
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 10:14 PM

"side soundport"

?

What's the function?

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: GUEST,J
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 10:13 PM

Have seen and played archtops converted to mandocello by adding tuning keys, new nut and bridge. Old Harmonys seem to make the most cost effective conversions. Played a tipple once which is a guitar shaped 10 string(5 courses) instrument from South America. It's comparable in pitch to a mandolin, but tuned like a uke. Michael Kelly(made in Korea and China) has mandolas and octave mandolins made in the shape of the F style mandolins popular in bluegrass, only larger. Haven't played one, but there's a ton of commentary on mandolincafe.com regarding them.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: JohnB
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 10:01 PM

Don't know the price but James Fagin plays one of the guitar shaped Bozouki's and it sounds great.
http://www.sobellinstruments.com/
JohnB

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 08:55 PM

got a cheap and not quite so nasty Crafter platic bowl back cutaway acoustic guitar shaped mandolin..


.. copy of a much more expensive ovation guitar/mando...



also got..


old new stock late 60's coral longhorn archtop guitar bodies
that i eventually intend to fit

mandola and 5 string banjo necks to..


.. now they'll be well cool!!!

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Mooh
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 08:47 PM

Got a guitar shaped bouzouki a year ago. It was pictured on the builder's site (www.house-guitars.com) but I think it's gone now. I like it. 25" scale, walnut back & sides, cedar top, ebony board, purpleheart elsewhere, tuned GDAE, side soundport, no pickup yet. Worth trying.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:35 AM

Tim O'Brien, late of Hot Rize and Red Nuckles and The TrailBlazers, plays an archtop guitar/ bouzouki hibrid that has a great sound. I have heard him talk about the instrument a few times on the tube. He also has an instructional DVD about playing similar instruments.
Google his name and you'll a load of info.

Don

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:32 AM

I have a Dojo, but I have reservations about recommending it. I had heard good and bad things about it, but went ahead and ordered one anyway. Fortunately, the guy I bought it from was an authorized Goldtone repairman. The one they sent him had so many things wrong with it he had to send it back. They sent him a better one, which he then sold me, and I have no problems with it. It seems they were selling them before they ironed out all the problems, so there are some faulty ones out on the market right now.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 09:03 AM

A shorter scale neck won't cure the floppy and buzzy string problem. From a string gauge standpoint there's no difference between a shorter neck and a regular-length neck with a capo. Either way you'll need to use heavier gauge strings to achieve your objective. Of course, if you do find an instrument with a significantly shorter scale-length, the builder will have already worked out what string gauges to use so you won't have to experiment.

And I'm afraid you'll find that most non-guitar-neck-on-a-guitar-body instruments are, indeed, custom made. The only off-the shelf one I'm familiar with is Gold Tone's "Dojo" which is a 5-string banjo neck on a resonator guitar body.

Subject: RE: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 08:19 AM

Well Wrinkles,

Drinking too much beer makes me floppy and dizzy...

Subject: Guitar bodied instuments: any makes?
From: Wrinkles
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 07:25 AM

I was reading that Andy Irvine had a guitar bodied bouzouki made for himself because "it's easyier to hold".

This would apply to ocatve mandolins, waldzithers, Banjolins, and a host of other teardrop shaped instruments.

Is there anyone out there making such beasties? Or would they have to be special orders?

On another topic since I've recovered from frozen sholder I've lost some flexability in my left arm and find that with full scale fretboards my playing's a bit off. Stick a capo on the third or fourth fret however and I'm OK. However that changes the keys; which I don't want. Downtuning to get the right keys with the capo on just makes the strings floppy and buzzy .

So once I'm solvent again and looking for a new instrument I'll be looking for shorter scale necks, but I don't want to loose fretboard width either. Anyone know of an off-the-shelf range that would suit me? I ask about off-the-shelf instruments in both cases because on a fixed income like mine a custom job is just out of my reach!

Wrinkles