Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I was playing mandolin earlier, and was having fun chasing a riff that popped into my head, and ran out of strings. Found myself reaching for that fifth pair, what would be the bottom of a mandola. The tube distortion and delay may have been factors in my improvisation being drawn in that direction. (Yay headphones.)

I don't see a ten-string mandolin ever being in my budget, so I'll have to try to recapture that ephemeral inspiration a fifth higher, or on guitar.

(I know there are five-string violins, extended down to cover the viola's range, so I'm assuming that ten-string mandolins must exist somewhere as well. Not that it mat... -- Waitaminute -- I want a solidbody electric mandolin as well, so I should add this to the list of Projects I May Or May Not Ever Get Around To: a ten-string solidbody. I'd need a pawn shop mandolin with a decent neck and a crappy body (and a largeish headstock), a set of 12-string guitar tuners, a pickup, a nut blank (I hate carving nuts but hey, it'd be worth it), and enough wood to screw up on a few times with power tools before I get it right.)

I really like mandolas, by the way, and am easily distracted by them when I enter a music store that has a selection of mandolas within reach. Someday ...

[If you're reading this on one of the sites where I have enough icons to keep the Vader icon in the lineup, that's a bouzouki in the icon rather than a mandolin. Otherwise, you'll be seeing my default icon or the "Can you hear me now?" one, which feature guitars.]