MENDLE

In all our years of business, seldom have we encountered a more interesting member of the mandolin family than this Mendle octave mandolin. One is immediately struck by the modernity of this instrument’s features and the tasteful, yet sexy abstract aesthetic touches on display. For instance, the slightly skewed, pinched symmetry of the body is seemingly centered around the radiating splay of the fanned frets. This carries over to the bridge, nut, truss rod cover, and headstock lines, which all follow the same trend, creating lines that theoretically resolve in a distant horizon somewhere beyond the treble-side waist—indeed, this s quite the exercise in visual extrapolation!  Meanwhile, the headstock sports a fantastic, yet understated minimalist inlay of outline and intersecting lines. All these design elements work in harmony with the elegant use of beautiful natural materials, particularly the lightly-tinted figured maple of the back and sides, the maple binding, and the humble spalted maple rosette.  (On an interesting aside, in the course of inspecting the top, we found an inscription in Latin reading, "Domine, exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat." Evidently this is the opening verse of Psalm 102, and a prayer for mercy from an afflicted person, translating to: "Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry for help come to You.")

In terms of performance, this octave mandolin is quite unique. The aforementioned compound scale (reflected by the fanned frets), not only translates to more comfortable reaches and improved intonation, but also imparts a firmness and clarity to the bass response, while also warming the note edge of the trebles.  In concert with the compound scale, the reflective nature of the curly maple back and sides adds further refinement and clarity, as well as an overall even response that is very desirable for any multicourse instrument. Meanwhile, this Mendle’s design certainly favors the taste of a guitarist, as its oblong guitar-shaped body is very comfortable to hold relative to any conventional F-style or certainly A-shaped mandolin body—being a little guitar-biased around here, that is just fine with us!  Needless to say, any Tim O’Brien or Darryl Scott fan, or simply a fretted instrument player in need of a new path to explore, would be very eager to own such an instrument as this! Regardless of its categorization, this Mendle Octave is a truly inspiring gem!  As such, it is a rare opportunity to own something that is not only a unique musical tool, but also a finely-crafted piece of visual art!

Condition

This instrument was produced fairly recently and has very well maintained since, such that it has no major structural issues to note. From a cosmetic standpoint, we note only a handful of very minor shallow dents or dimples. EXCELLENT+ to NEAR MINT condition.

• 00-Inspired Body
• Sitka Spruce Top
• Tapered X-Bracing with Two Scalloped Tone Bars
• Curly Maple Back & Sides
• Curly Maple Binding
• 3-Ply Black/Maple/Black Fiber Top, Back, and Side Purfling
• Maple Endpiece with 3-Ply Black/Maple/Black Purfling
• Single Ring Spalted Maple Rosette
• High Gloss Body Finish
• 5-Piece Maple Neck with Mahogany Center Strips
• African Blackwood Fingerboard
• African Blackwood Fingerboard Binding with Single Ply Maple Purfling
• Metal Circle Side Dots
• Evo/Jescar Fretwire
• Compound Scale with 18 Fanned Frets
• Solid Headstock
• African Blackwood Headstock Veneer
• High Gloss Neck Finish
• Ebony Bridge with Drop-In Saddle
• Bone Nut
• Compensated Bone Saddle
• 22.875” Scale Length
• 1 ¼” Nut Width
• Schaller Grand Tune Tuners with Ebony Buttons
• Original SKB Molded Hard Case