The Octar?

The octar is simply a poor man's mandocello. I am a poor man. My current octar was adapted from an approximately seventy year old six-string Harmony arch top guitar: it now has eight strings in four courses tuned in fifths: F - C - G - D. The F and the C strings are tuned in octaves. The string gages were taken from a Portuguese mandola. Starting with the low strings, the course of Fs, the gages are as follows:

24w/42w 12/30w 20/24w 12/12

Natuaraly, I have to buy my strings individually in bulk. I usually play the octar with a flat pick. I tend towards unison arrangements. I pick out the notes of the melody I'm singing, using chords and pairs for emphasis, and neighboring strings for drones.

I love the sound of my octar. Harmony guitars were never renowned for any richness of sound. Yet this 'dryness' is an asset when playing an instrument with paired courses for it stops it from sounding too rich or too pretty.

Nevertheless, I'm sure I could get to like any of these fine instruments shown below. Click on them to get to their maker's web sites. You can buy me any one of these, but if you can, please have the luthier set it up with the gages I list above. Thank you very much!

Webber Gallatin mandocello

Fletcher Brock mandocello

Bacorn Guitars mandocello

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