HOW TO CONVERT A GUITAR INTO AN OCTAVE-MANDOLIN.

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Several years ago I was given a fairly inexpensive semi-acoustic
electric guitar. Being that I don't play electric guitar, I
converted it, in a few hours, into a long-necked, octave mandolin,
for the price of two new tuning-machines, strings and some small
hardwood scraps.

The resultant instrument is wonderfully rich in sound/tone and

volume & is a whale of a lot cheaper than ready-made octave
mandolins.

This conversion is so easily accomplished that it can be described

quite quickly and easily.

ADDING TWO ADDITIONAL TUNING GEARS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elderly Instruments (& many others) sell inexpensive (less than
$10 per set) guitar or mandolin tuning machines (aka tuning
gears). I simply bought a set, hacksawed them into individual
units, drilled the proper mounting holes at the head-end of the of
the tuning box (there always seems to be room here to squeeze in
another couple of tuners) & slapped em on. My two new tuners jut
out at about a 45 degree angle, but this is of no consequence.

// _ _ _ _ \\
//\ / \ /\\ <-- the 2 new tuning machines
'' \/ \/ ''
/ O O \
| |
,, | | ,,
||--| O O |--||
'' | | ''
| |
,, | | ,,
||--| O O |--||
'' | | ''
| |
,, | | ,,
||--| O O |--||
'' \ / ''
\ ___________ /
||| || || ||| <-- the new 8 string nut
|~~~~~~~~~~~|
| |
| |

NUT
~~~
Remove the existing 6 string nut. Use it's shape as a pattern to
whittle/file out a new hardwood nut. Carefully plot out and cut-in
the grooves for 8 strings. Make sure the 2 strings nearest the
edges of the neck are not TOO close to these edges. It seemed to
work out niceley here that each of the strings within the 4 pairs
should be about 1/8" apart. If in doubt, initially just make very
slight grooves & only deepen them once you're satisfied with the
spacing.

TAILPIECE
~~~~~~~~~
The electric guitar I used utilized a conventional metal "fasten
to the end of the guitar-body" type tailpiece. No conversion was
made to it -- I simply (& quite effectively) hooked the ends of
the two new strings through the existing string-holes. One was a
bit tight with two strings now going thru it, and I probably
should have drilled the mounting hole out a bit.

BRIDGE
~~~~~~
This guitar had a "set-on" type bridge. I fashioned a new
similarily shaped bridge out of rock maple and notched it for the
four pairs of strings. This has worked out quite satisfactorily.
Such a bridge need not be "streamlined" or fancy. Calculate it so
that the grooves in the bridge allow the two outer strings to run
down the neck about the same distance from the neck-edge along
their lengths. Once again, initially make only very light grooves
here & deepen them once you're satisfied with the spacing.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR BRIDGE IS THE "THROUGH THE BODY"

TYPE WITH NO TAILPIECE:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remove the bridge saddle & ether a) add new grooves for 4 string
pairs or b) Make a new 8 string saddle out of plexiglass or some
other hard material. The two additional strings can be secured
through the High E and low E bridge holes (this may necessitate
"grooving" the associated mounting pins a bit deeper to take into
account the fact that there now are TWO strings going thru each
hole).

Now just string it up, adjust the action & play it! On the several
instruments so converted here, I have had no sign that the
additional pressure of two extra strings caused any problems. The
former electric guitar, for instance, stays in tune from year to
year - hanging most of the time on the wall!

I used appropriate gauge individual guitar strings, although they

do sell octave-mandolin (or Cittern) strings in several catalogs.

Over the years I've converted lots of instruments from one thing
into another and must say that this guitar - octave mandolin
conversion ranks about the most successful ---- very easy to do
too.
.................................................................
Late note (August 2002): Derek Darling had this neat idea,
although not claiming it to be an original idea:
"I took a 12-string guitar and used it for an octave mandolin.

1. Remove the low E and the G string(s)

2. Move the remaining high strings (E and B) over to the next set
of spaces.
3. Retune the A string to G, the D string stays the same, the old
B string down to A, and the new E (high) string stays the same

Viola, now you have an octave mandolin. Another variation is to

have all the strings in unison, more of a Bouzouki sound.
..................................................................

Dennis Havlena - W8MI

Straits of Mackinac
northern Michigan

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