Demo of Davy Stuart 22ins Octave Mandolin tuned CGDG

[This video is part of a series I am recording to assist 'gatheringdusk' in Auckland, NZ.]

The Davy Stuart Octave Mandolin (OB8) has a scale length of 22ins and is normally tuned GDAE or GDAD (one octave lower than a Mandolin), with the following guitar (ball-end) strings: G = 2x .050w / D = 2x .032w / A = 2x .022w / D = 2x .014.

This is great because, effectively, it gives you a short-scale Irish bouzouki, since the latter instrument is normally built to a 25½ins scale length. The main benefit here is that you can play as low as a normal Irish bouzouki with a lot less stretching if that is an issue.

However, there is another benefit to the OB8: you can view it as a 'long-scale Mandola'.

Historically, the Mandola always had a scale length of 16ins and was tuned CGDA, or a fifth lower than the Mandolin. Starting some years ago (I am not exactly sure when but I'd guess about 30 years ago, around 1980) Andy Irvine and his luthier friend Stefan Sobell (and I am sure others too) started stretching the scale length of the Mandola up to 20½ins and using guitar ball-end strings to accommodate various tunings, including CGDG.

However, I recently noticed that Andy had re-tuned his 20½ins Sobell 2 semi-tones higher to DAEA, and when I contacted him about this, he kindly told me he was using the following gauges: D = 2x .036w / A = 2x .024w / E = 2x .016 / A = 2x .011. I therefore decided to use these on my 20ins Stuart Mandola and they work a treat.

I then took this a step further, by re-stringing the 22ins Stuart OB8 with these very same gauges and tune it to CGDG, or 5 semi-tones higher than its normal (Octave Mandolin) tuning of GDAD. And, as you can hear from the short video, this solution works perfectly.

The rationale being: since these gauges work well on a 20ins instrument tuned DAEA, they should (in theory!) work equally well on a 22ins instrument tuned CGDG, since the latter instrument is 2 frets longer than the former, and the tuning is 2 semi-tones lower.

[To be complete, my OB8 already had 2x .012s, so I kept these and they work perfectly fine in lieu of 2x .011s.]

So, it seems that a good setup for tuning the 22ins Davy Stuart OB8 to CGDG is: C = 2x .036w / G = 2x .024w / D = 2x .016 / G = 2x .012

In summary, you might consider that the historical Mandola (16ins scale tuned CGDA with loop-end strings) has now been stretched, over the years, to a much longer scale length (up to 22ins) while still retaining its original tuning of CGDA or CGDG (among other variants) thanks to some creative lutherie and the judicious use of guitar (ball-end) strings.

Finally, please note that the sound you hear on all my videos is nowhere as full and rich as the real thing! My webcam is a Logitech 'ball' and quite lo-fi! I wish I had better quality recording technology, as my Stuart instruments have the most incredible sound, with an amazing sustain thanks to the choice of Indian Rosewood for the back & sides!

I hope this helped for now.
With kind regards;
Patrick.

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Music

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• 22ins
• OB8
• tuned
• CGDG

[ExclusiveVideosEV]

Lovely

[mountainrocker1967]

Very nice indeed :)

[TheDonaldido]

Very nice!