Attention!: This is an older post. We are currently working on newer and better instruments in this category. Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop.
The new D. Rickert Octave Mando-Guitar is available now at the Don Rickert Musician Shop (D. Rickert Musical Instruments) 
For reasons discussed in the article The Octave Mandolin and its Relative, the Octave Mando-Guitar, we were absolutely certain that we wanted our first Octave Mandolin to be of the Mando-Guitar type. We decided to base the instrument on the best all-around tenor guitar we could find. That turned out to be a Gold Tone TG-18 Tenor Guitar.
We start with a new TG-18 tenor and make the following major modifications:
- Re-work the headstock into our shape (loosely based on a Stromberg-Voisinet mandolin head stock of the 1920s or later KayKraft models) and modify it appropriately for 8 Gotoh tuners.
- Replace the 4-string nut with a new Micarta nut that is grooved appropriately for 8 strings.
- Remove the fixed pin type bridge
- Repair the instrument top where the bridge was (e.g. expertly filling the bridge pin holes, glue removal, varnish repair, etc.)
- Craft a custom movable type bridge from ebony with a TUSQ™ saddle (Note: if you choose to have a pickup installed, the bridge may or may not have a TUSQ™ saddle)
Key Features
- Based on Gold Tone TG-18 Tenor Guitar body
- Solid Sitka Spruce Top
- Mahogany Back and Sides
- Mahogany Neck
- Double Action Truss Rod
- Ebony Fingerboard
- Ebony Bridge (moveable mandolin type)
- Gotoh Tuners
- D’Addario Octave Mandolin Strings
- Micarta Nut
- High mass cast mandolin type tailpiece
- Mini dot Inlay Pattern
- Scale 23”
- 14 1/4" Lower Bout
- 10 1/2" Upper Bout
- Total Length 37"
- Neck Width at Nut 1 3/8" (33.5mm)
- Lifetime Warranty
- Obviously, the modifications we perform completely void the original warrantee. The Warrantee is thus, from D. Rickert Musical Instruments and contains the same terms as the original.
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