Eastwood Mandocaster Electric Mandolin (Antique Sunburst)

BACKGROUND:
Traditionally, the mandolin is described as a short-neck lute with eight strings, named after the Italian ‘mandolina.’ It has the same fretboard and tuning as a violin, and originated in its current form around the 16th Century and likely developed to fill out the scale of the lute family. The instrument became popular in North America into the 18th Century and particularly in parlors where simple instruments were used to entertain. Into the 19th Century mandolin ensembles toured the Vaudeville circuit and the mini-lute soon captivated the average person as a viable instrument of choice to play at home and with friends (its small size was great for travel); this occurred well before the popularity of the steel-stringed guitar as thousands of mandolins were sold through Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs.

Lyon & Healy were one of the larger mandolin manufacturers in the early stages, but Gibson soon took up the challenge to become the primary manufacturer. And it was in 1905 that the Gibson A-4 was developed, breaking all mandolin traditions as the design moved from the typical bowl-back shape to mimicking violin construction with a carved top and back. This helped to set the stage for a preferred mandolin shape in American folk and popular music. Today the mandolin may be best accepted or connected to folk and country bluegrass music, but it also has been used in rock music of various genres, including works of Led Zeppelin, Tea Party, Alan Parson Project, The Byrds, Hall and Oats, REM, Jethro Tull, Yes, and many others.

The flat-back style of mandolin took a unique turn in 1956 when Fender developed a 4-string electric version, with a body shaped similar to a Stratocaster – and its name to become the Mandocaster. Highly collectable, mostly because of its unique shape, the Mandocaster was limited in usability due to the four strings and a less robust sound of typical mandolins. Nonetheless, it did find an audience due to its appearance and electric capabilities before being discontinued in 1976.

As with other rare and vintage instruments, Eastwood Guitars swooped into production to create its own unique version of the Mandocaster, which construction and appearance rivals the old Fender issues. Available in a high-quality finish of antique sunburst or black (I ordered an antique sunburst model since it so reminded me of a vintage instrument), the Eastwood Mandocaster boasts a solid alder body with a maple bolt-on neck and rosewood fingerboard. In fact, when describing this instrument it can be described accurately as a solid-body guitar, as though a James Bond villain miniaturized a Telecaster and gave it 8-strings. Surprisingly heavy in feel, you can tell you have something in your hands that will last for years without breakage or environmental damage. It is built to stand up to regular use.

Eastwood Mandocaster Electric Mandolin (Black)

HARDWARE:
The bridge is a fully adjustable Tele-Style bride, which means a fully intonatable saddle just like its big brother. The bridge plate is cast and plated, and each set of strings has its own saddle with height adjustment screws. When first received, my Mandocaster had some buzzing on the third string, but with the included hex key (Allen wrench) included, it took seconds to fine-tune. The machine head hardware is quality Gotoh nickel and chrome, and the keys feel exceptionally smooth and solid in use.

NECK:
The maple neck with truss rod is very solid and bolts onto the body with four contact points. The neck is more of a U shape rather than a C shape, which may be a concern for a full-sized guitar, but I did not find it cumbersome or ‘thick’ in the least. Rather, having a rounder or chunkier neck for its size is a requirement since the neck of a mandolin is so narrow and small to begin with and you need enough bulk to make it strong and lasting. As well, with a solid-body Tele there certainly needs to be some harmony in the design and I could not imagine a thinner neck; even a person with small hands should not be hindered by the neck’s shape and I put myself in that category.

The frets are smooth on all edges and they may seem rather small if you’re use to today’s jumbo fret electric guitars. But I do not think one would want them any larger – the fret spacings are small, as they are with any mandolin, and a chief complaint of people with large fingers is the difficulty playing a mandolin effectively. Larger frets would reduce fret space and make the task of playing more challenging and particularly in the upper register. Moreover, the action is low and playing is smooth, and so the neck and fret size certainly do work together.

ELECTRONICS:
The vintage Fender Mandocasters were limited by a single pickup, whereas the Eastwood model has two single-coil pickups, together with a 3-way switch and a tone control (the switch and tone pots are smooth, solid and have little play), thus offering far more possibilities in the eventual sound. The pickups do not offer a lot of output, but they are super quiet even when you turn your amp up to high levels. And if desired, because they are standard-sized pickups, you can replace them with a different type. Nonetheless, the tone of a mandolin seems to cut through just about any mix and having extremely loud/sensitive pickup capability is not as much an issue as some would think. After all, it is unlikely a mandolin will be paired up with Death Metal music, and just about any other genre that incorporates a mandolin tends to be more subdued, even within certain rock genres. Consequently, I see these pickups as being sufficient for the job. As well, with such passive pickups, the true tone of this instrument shines through, whereas going a different route (with something more ‘active’) may reduce the mandolin sound one is trying to achieve.

TONE:
I own a quality pumpkin-back mandolin, and what can be said about these acoustic counterparts is that there is a certain resonating and vibrating quality that cannot be achieved with a solid body electric. Well, certainly, and that should be obvious, as obvious as being able to achieve sounds with a solid-body electric that cannot be achieved with an acoustic model (with or without a pickup). These are different animals and one would not compare an electric solid-body violin with a regular violin either.

Having said that, the Mandocaster has a definite mandolin tone which a person may or may not like, depending how much of a die-hard ‘acoustic’ mandolin player you may be. I’m a guitarist and like using a mandolin the odd time for enjoyment purposes or to include a mandolin within my compositions, but I’m certainly not a mandolin connoisseur. Yet I would state that the Mandocaster is the genuine article and produces its own array of unique tones that are unmistakably ‘mandolin.’ And those unique tones are the result of the body construction and the pickups.

The neck pickup is my favourite and has the most organic timbre the two. The bridge pickup offers a thinner sound, as is the case with any electric guitar, but it does cut through the mix better. Thus, for more robust music accompaniment, the bridge may be best, whereas the neck selection would be superior for unaccompanied or less voluminous music. And then you have the middle selector position, which has a slightly out of phase characteristic that definitely offers a mix of both worlds. A piezo pickup may be an interesting modification and this may result in even a better or authentic ‘acoustic’ sound, but the neck position does provide a full-bodied richness that has me returning to it repeatedly.

DIVERSIBILITY:
As important as the qualities of each pickup and the sounds that you can achieve, the Eastwood Mandocaster reacts like a regular guitar, in that it has good response with effects pedals. High levels of drive and distortion may not be apropos, but certainly a little edge/distortion with flange, tremolo, chorus or other ingredients bring out unique colors that makes people think twice about the mandolin and how well it can fit into modern music. And although too much drive or distortion may make the tone a bit abrasive, easing off on the volume knob cleans things up nicely.

Finally, I encourage readers to check out a video demonstrating the Eastwood Mandocaster, featuring Wendell Ferguson, an award-winning Canadian guitarist on YouTube:

PLUSES:
With two pickups, a three-way switch and a tone knob, there are many sound possibilities, besides any effect (tremolo, chorus, flange, etc.) you care to throw at it in order to produce your own unique mando tone. The weight and quality of construction is very good and you feel like you’re playing an electric guitar. Since the Mandocaster has standard sized pickups, you can replace them with any other single-coil model if desired. And… it comes in a lefty version.

MINUSES:
The Mandocaster may not sound as organic as a typical acoustic mandolin, but then again – this was not meant to replicate an acoustic model – it is what it is. The three-way switch may get in the way of some larger hands and particularly players with long and aggressive picking/strumming strokes.

Review by Brian D. Johnston

Eastwood Mandocaster Review from MyRareGuitars.com

Eastwood Airline Electric Mandola (Seafoam Green)

Following on the success of their top selling Mandocaster, Eastwood introduces the Airline Mandola. It features a solid Seafoam green alder body in a USA map shape with an 18” scale maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. A single Humbucker pickup with volume and tone controls delivers a deep, dark, mysterious tone that is completely unique sounding – like a baritone mandolin. The Mandola is tuned in fifths (C-G-D-A low-to-high) and a fifth lower than a mandolin. Historically, the larger Mandola is the actually ancestor of the Mandolin, the name of which means simply “little Mandola”.

“As with all our Eastwood and Airline models we are striving to offer something a little different for today’s modern players,” said Mike Robinson, President and founder of Eastwood Guitars, “Last year we introduced a Lap Steel and a very successful electric Mandocaster. The Mandola fits perfectly into this new family of instruments along with the Folkstar, Ukulele and Tenor. All of these models will continue to help our customers expand their sound.”

The New Airline Electric Mandola from MyRareGuitars.com

Vintage 1967 Cameo 1402T Electric Guitar

Actually, the history of this back and forth between violins and guitars goes back at least to the 1880s and involves another cousin, the mandolin. Back in around 1880 a group of performers named the Spanish Students were all the rage in America. They were a mandolin orchestra and before long there were local copies everywhere, soon followed by banjo orchestras, all usually including guitars. Mandolins have bent or arched tops. What followed was some pretty interesting competition as instrument makers started coming up with variations to woo players of different instruments. This is how the tenor banjo came about. Anyhow, into this mix plunged Orville Gibson in the 1890s with his carved top mandolins, emulating the violin. Later came his harp guitars and then Spanish guitars. Then finally his archtops in the 1920s. Similarly, there were other guitarmakers like the Larson Brothers who stressed or bent their tops somewhat like a mandolin. By the 1930s it was commonly accepted that arching the top of a guitar – either by carving or bending – added to the output volume and most makers were producing violin-like guitars, including Kay which made some model with the top and back extending out with a lip like a violin.

Vintage 1967 Cameo 1402T Electric Guitar

The notion of shaping a guitar to look like a fiddle comes from the bass side of guitardom. In the late 1940s Everett Hull started amplifying his double bass with an amplified peg – Ampeg. By 1953 Gibson was producing its violin-shaped Electric bass. By ’56 Hofner in Germany was producing its version, what would become known as the Beatle Bass thanks to Paul McCartney. It was the Europeans who ran with the idea, and by the early ’60s a number of companies were producing both basses and guitars shaped like fiddles. In around ’64 or ’65 Italian-made EKO violin guitars and basses started coming into the US.

These violin guitars became EKO’s most popular models, so it was only a matter of time before the Europeans’ chief competitors, the Japanese, should come out with their own violin basses and guitars. They embraced the concept with gusto and soon an avalanche of fiddle guitars started emanating from most Japanese shops!

Vintage 1967 Cameo 1402T Electric Guitar

Who sold the Cameo seen here is unknown, but it’s identical to the Aria 1402T made by or for Arai in Japan. Japan had a virtually indecipherable system of production and exportation back then, with any number of large (or small) shops that built the instruments and another trading company that sold them to distributors in the market country. By the late ’60s one of Arai’s main suppliers was the legendary Matsumoku factory in MatsumotoCity, so it’s possible this came from there, but who knows? All the appointments are the same as on the Aria version, down to the trapezoid-topped pickups.

What we can say for sure is that this guitar is a bit below a Hofner in grade and certainly as good as an EKO. Violin guitars like this Cameo are light-weight and really comfortable to play. Back in the ’60s when this guitar was made Japanese guitars, and especially their pickups, were pretty much a joke to serious guitar players, but looking back these are really not that bad as long as you can deal with the chance for feedback!

So, next time you pick up a violin-shaped guitar, you’ll know it’s about a lot more than Sir Paul. Take that violin players!

Fiddling While Rome Burns (1967 Cameo 1402T Electric Guitar) from MyRareGuitars.com

I have always been haunted by the sounds of the mandolin family of instruments. From an early age, my father played mandolin in a mandolin orchestra, with, sometimes, as many as 35 members. As a child, I remember going to the concerts. Occasionally, during a practice, I sat beside my father in the middle of the orchestra, listening to the classical or Russian folk tunes, or to popular European melodies, all in tremolo or rhythmic picking styles. The conductor was a high school music teacher and they played well into my father’s 70s. Walter, the conductor, was arranging and conducting for the orchestra right up until the year before he died, in his early 90’s.

In my time, I have collected, and have played, mandolin, mandola and mandocello in various bands and in various styles of music. Below are a few pictures, one is pictured alongside my EASTWOOD Savannah to give you a comparison of the size.

Gibson Mandocello

The mandocello has the same scale length as a guitar but the strings are a heavier gauge and give a deep, mellow, resonant sound like a regular cello. It is tuned, like the cello, C (.074), G (.048), D (.034), A (.022), (low to high). It can also be strung and played as an octave mandolin. It is in the same range as a baritone or bass voice and with a tremolo style of playing, can sustain a note similar to the bowing of its counterpart, the cello.

Being a fretted instrument, the mandocello can be chorded, and the voicings are quite unique in sound. The mandolin has similar chords, being tuned the same, only a 5th higher. However, with a higher frequency, and having a shorter scale length, there is little sustain and the chords are more percussive in sound.

Chords on a mandocello can sound quite full and deep and complement the guitar chords beautifully when played together. Because the notes are different (sort of the reverse of a guitar), access to a different melody line is possible.

In short, it is an instrument of great potential. The drawback, as I see it, is that the double, heavy-gauge strings make chords and playing solos hard on the left hand. You need a gorilla grip to move up the neck with moveable chords and fast solos. As well, the body is not as large as the cello. So the sound is not as deep and resonant as it could be.

Gibson Mandocello & Eastwood Savannah Guitar

Here is where an electric version of this instrument would bring out its many fine and unique qualities and allow it to take its place in a modern context.

The lower action of an electric instrument would make this a faster, easier instrument to play; less force and more sound. The sound can be amplified and processed to bring out that rich deep tone, (close to a baritone guitar but played mando style). The sustained note of tremolo-style picking can offer an expressive harmony line or solo that blends with the human voice, and with any of the violin family, or as a rhythmic drone to a guitar solo.

I have a piezo pickup in my old Gibson mandocello and play it acoustically or amplified. It sounds great and can fit into any style of music I wish to play along with. Even though I have had the neck adjusted and reinforced, and put bass frets on, it still has a hard action to work with. Think of the difference between an acoustic and an electric guitar or a stand up bass and an electric bass.

If there are any readers out there in cyber-land who would be interested in owning an electric mandocello for a reasonable cost I would really love to hear from you. If you are interested, please would you write to Mike Robinson of this newsletter and give him some feedback?

Gibson K4 Mandocello

Should there be such an instrument already in production commercially and available at a reasonable cost, I would like to know about this as well.

Gibson K4 Mandocello

Happy picking.

Post by: Michael Aronoff

In Search of an Electric Mandocello from MyRareGuitars.com