That's reassuring. I think I can risk my US$46 with a light heart.
Pix indeed. As for the technicalities: I'll probably fiddle with the tuning but I expect it'll be somewhere around standard to start. Linear or re-entrant? Unison, octaves, or mixed? I'll experiment. I've found some online calculators to guide me on string-gauge selection. If things get weird, well, I know a guy who knows a guy who's a string-maker.
If you are planning to use nylon strings, you'll probably be disappointed. Mandos are built and braced for doubled steel strings, with thicker tops. Nylon strings don't have enough oomph/tension to power them, so you can expect the sound to be pretty weak.
Nope, no nylon strings. I know better than to put nylon on a steel-braced instrument, and vice-versa. (My first wife put steels on her student-classical guitar and nicely warped it. Oops.) I have an assortment of metal strings in my stockpile. I know I'll find some interesting combinations.
I've only had it strung for about seven hours now but I'm impressed. Fit and finish are very good, intonation and playability are excellent, and as I said, the tone is brighter and more resonant than my old Kay (which is all I have to compare it to at home). I've tried more costly mandolins that didn't feel-play-sound as good. I am not disappointed. And even though I've noodling on mandolins for years, I still consider myself at a fairly beginning level. When I get better, I'll buy something fancier.
Yes, that's what I first tried -- and abandoned. The mando neck is too narrow for the chording a 'uke demands, at least with my not-small hands. I measured neck widths at fret zero: Kohala soprano 'ukes, 35mm / 1.4". Kala tenor 'uke: 38mm / 1.5"; Kay mando: 30mm / 1.15"; Rogue mando, 27.5mm / 1.08". Yup, too narrow.
If you have small hands and thin fingers, go for it! But I have another idea for reviving and mutating a problematic mando: Remove two strings and replace the nut and bridge with six-slotters to turn it into a three-course axe. String spacing will be about the same as a soprano 'uke; lots of room for fingers to fly about. Or leave the strings and cut the nut and bridge for two 3-string courses and one 2-string course. See this huge set of instruments and tunings for possibilities.
My motivation for tuning a 'uke in fifths was less about a mini-travel-mando and more about hey-it-can-be-done, and also that I'd have a quiet axe for chord practice (my wife sleeps in late). I won't be pounding it. Probably. But I'll make a note about 20-pound fishline. Thanks.
Thanks for the source tip. Meanwhile, I had a retro idea I was hesitant to broach previously, something suitable for a mad lute-butcher. I've seen beautiful old viols with sympathetic strings set in their interior, tuned from the scroll. So, a little Rogue franken-surgery: Cut 3-slot bridge and nut -- we'll only play three strings. Add a machine, top-center on the tuning head. Drill-out the neck lengthwise. Cut a suitable slot in the soundboard just before the tailpiece and add an interior bridge (glued down). Feed interior sympathetic strings through the neck to the machines. Now we have an axe with three playable strings and six hummers. Hook it up to the lightning rod and await a good thunderstorm. When the bolt hits, shout, "It's alive! It's alive!"
Electric ukes?!?!? Oh no, ain't going there. I'm doomed! The cig-pack amps would be okay, but I'd be sorely tempted to plug in the 250-watt rig and wail. Then neighbors would show up, carrying shotguns, and... No, wouldn't be prudent. I won't do that. Really. [/me looks around nervously] Maybe I should stick with harmonicas. Unamplified. Yes, that would be safer...
My solid old Aloha lap steel came paired with a branded 15-watt tube amp (both US$25 at a thrift shop long ago) that served me well... until a now-ex-friend decided he didn't need his rig, and sold me his Tamara bass and Yamaha bass amp for US$150. How could I turn that down? So on 4 July I roll the Yamaha to the sliding door, plug in the Aria archtop via a couple stomp boxes, and set the Star Spangled Banner flying through the conifer forest. Guys around the post office two miles away said they heard it last year. Well, this is usually a quiet forest.
Maybe I'll use the fretless 3-string cigar-box electric this year. That should be interesting.
