GEAR
[ GOLD TONE NEW HYBRID MANDO-GUITAR | Eric Dahl ]
KEY FEATURES
feel and plays faster with less resistance than
the gloss finish. Weighing in at a mere 2 pounds
Wider Neck Designed for Guitar
Players the instrument is much lighter than your
Satin Tobacco Finish time effortless. I’m also a fan of the Gold Tone
African Blackwood Fretboard
Lightweight: 2 Pounds
Worship music can sometimes seem a bit
stale due to the same old instruments used to
create it. Not that there is anything wrong with
that, but varied tonalities can better serve the
worship experience for the congregation and
the musicians!
I was first introduced to Gold Tone’s product
line when I was looking to upgrade my banjitar
for backing up my daughter at recitals. The new
A-6 Mando-guitar that was just released follows
in the wake of the company’s popular F-6 and
F-12 models. Designed with guitar players in
mind, it has a wider guitar style neck so that
we can navigate the fretboard easier. The larger
mandola body retains the visual aesthetics of
an A-Style mandolin, but also doesn’t feel as
average acoustic guitar making extended play
foam hardcases which protect the instruments
but are light to carry.
The Folkternative series (love that name) takes
the learning curve out of picking up another
instrument out of the equation for guitarists
since the A-6 is essentially an octave tuned
guitar. It fills a unique frequency set and doesn’t
conflict with piano, guitar or bass. When people
have seen me perform with the mando-guitar
they automatically assume it is a standard
mandolin thanks to the shape and tone.
Hopefully Gold Tone will continue to expand on
this line providing musicians with a new frontier compete tonally or style wise with the other
of sonic landscapes to play and experiment guitarist in the group. Fair warning when you
with. The A-6 mando-guitar is an incredibly play a Gold Tone A-6 you’ll probably want one!
versatile hybrid instrument that guitarists will
be able to pick up and play immediately. It is A-6: Retail $549.00 Street $411.75 Note: This
an excellent value and it will allow you to cover Mando-Guitar comes in an “F” style shape too:
some new praise ground musically and not F-6 Retail $699 Street $524.50.
diminutive as a real mandolin. Features include
a nice satin tobacco finish over a spruce top
with maple sides, back and neck. The fretboard
is created from African blackwood and has a
zero-glide nut along with vintage style open
gear tuners. The A-6 has a two-way truss rod
for easy adjustment at the headstock in the
neck, trapeze tailpiece and an adjustable ebony
bridge. The only thing missing from its F6/F12
cousins is that is doesn’t come with an inner
body pickup installed, but it can be added on
as an option if preferred. The form fit foam shell
case with carrying straps is a nice touch too.
Having played Gold Tone’s F-Style model
mando-guitars in worship and secular settings
the new A-6 seems much louder acoustically
possibly due to the different shape. The satin
tobacco finish has more of a vintage look and
December 2017
WorshipMusician.com
59