4-string Electric Octave Mandolin
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Hi there. Thanks for visit my website. This website is dedicated to promoting a musical instrument concept that I am very fond of. I am a serious amateur classical violinist. You know, years of lessons, lots of hard work honing techniques, etc. But like most music lovers, I also want to play other instruments, explore other music genre. For me, I especially want to play rock and blues music; and today, rock and blues means a solid body electric guitar.
As with the violin, mastering the guitar takes hard work and time; but few of us have a lot of spare time to work on two separate instruments.
So, for the past 7 years, I have been experimenting with a series of instruments that would help violinists short-cut the learning process. In essence, it is an electric guitar, but with 4 strings and tuned in fifth. This allowed me to “jump right in” with the left hand, and after some practice with the guitar pick(s), I’m at home again, reading sheet music, playing chords, or improvising. No need to quit practicing the classical stuff.
I occasionally have some instruments for sale, so check them out. Or visit the gallery and look at my past work. If you’re a builder, I’ll be glad to answer a few questions and help you make your own. I do on very rare occasions build a custom instrument to order if the project is interesting, but my day time job is making such projects difficult to execute in a timely manner.
Enjoy your visit to this site, and keep on making music!
Tho X. Bui
December, 2005
