Mandola/Octave Mandolin Converted, 17" scale, Ibanez EWP13-DBO Piccolo Guitar

Here's a lightly used Ibanez EWP "Piccolo guitar' that's been converted into an eight-string, four course, instrument. Depending on the strings, tuning and musical style this can now be played as an octave mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, double-strung tenor, double-strung steel string baritone ukulele, or even just a regular six-string.

Currently set up as a Mandola or 8-string Tenor guitar, I've taken advantage of the short scale to tune it up to DAEB, but I am happy to set it up differently for you before shipping on request. It's playing absolutely beautifully with a crisp clear voice that sounds bigger than its body size.

The underlying guitar is a unique offering from Ibanez, a steel string guitar built with a 17" scale. This happens to be a perfect scale length for Mandolas, traditionally tuned CGDA, and it also works very nicely in GDAE as an octave mandolin or ever DGBE or GCEA! If you've ever wanted a double course steel string tenor ukulele, this is your chance!

This example has very nice playable action, tons of room on the saddle, and a working dual action truss rod. Very nice cosmetically with only a few small blemishes, though note some damage to the thick lacquer and veneer where the new tuners were installed.

The conversion process entailed, among other steps, fitting two additional tuners, adapting the nut, modifying the saddle, adding and slotting four bridge pin holes in the correct positions, and exploring various setups to optimize the instrument in this eight-string configuration. The original bridge pin holes and nut slots are retained, so this instrument can be returned to a six-string configuration with just a slight nut modification.

Ships fast, well protected, and fully insured in a basic gig bag.

By the way, I'm happy to do a similar conversion on your instrument, either something you already own or a model you buy new for the purpose. Not all acoustic guitars can easily accommodate the extra pins and tuners, but many can. Shoot me a message or visit wisterialutherie.com/conversions if you're interested!