In the late 1890s and early 1900s, the guitar or harp-guitar generally occupied the bass voice in the typical mandolin club or ensemble, occasionally augmented by a violoncello, or in more orchestral settings, a piano. As the popularity of plectral ensembles grew, so did the interest in having more tonal range, or, at least, providing an equivalence to the standard string orchestra. This expansion saw creation and adoption of the tenor mandola (mandola in c), octave mandola (mandola in g, or octave mandolin), and the mando-cello, the latter augmenting the baritone/bass sections in the rapidly expanding roster of clubs and ensembles.
This expansion was driven, in large part, by the aggressive and innovative approach that the Gibson Guitar and Mandolin Company took: distributing its instruments by way of teachers who would occupy certain territories and encourage their students to adopt Gibson instruments at only pennies per day. Moreover they encouraged teachers to create clubs, ensembles, and full orchestras (ostensibly using only Gibson instruments). “Every one a Gibsonite,” became an advertising rallying cry.
With its conquest of the “tater-bug” mandolin complete, Gibson turned to actively shaping the mandolin landscape in its own image – formally rallying against the octave mandola as a viable voice due to the overlap between the tenor mandola and mando-cello, “defining” what a proper ensemble consists of: efforts approved by the American Guild of Banjoists, Guitarists and Mandolinists (the “Guild”). With these progressive innovations, it should come as no surprise that Gibson claims to have invented the Mando-bass…at least in the United States.
It is clear, however, that Mando-Bass was originally developed by the U.K. based Clifford Essex Company in 1909-1910; but even that “invention” was a derivative, inspired by the long standing Russian balalaika and Eastern European domra ensembles. In the May 1912 issue of the Crescendo, a report from England acknowledges
“[t]he visit of the Andreeff Imperial Balalaika Orchestra to this country two years ago, is an instance of the powerful force of example. Previously, the appearance of this wonderful combination of players at the London Coliseum, the standard of banjo and mandolin orchestras was indeed very low. The charming balance of the Andreeff orchestra; the convincing effect of the deep-voiced instruments and the clever manner in which every item was orchestrated, made every banjo or mandolin orchestra I had ever heard appear ridiculous. The immediate result was the over-hauling of our own orchestras; the appearance of the mando-bass […]”
Inspired by the bass balalaika and the bass domra, Clifford Essex developed the first mando-bass. Their design incorporated a large body, a mountable/retractable side pin so that the instrument could be played seated or standing in the same horizontal position, and clearly reflected its Russian/Eastern European inspiration by having only 3 strings (although later models would have four). In the September 1912 issue of B.M.G, Emile Grimshaw describes the Clifford Essex bass:
“The tone of this instrument is rich and powerful, and supplies the necessary fundamental bass of the orchestra.”
The Clifford Essex bass was situated two octaves lower than the mandolin and tuned in fifths so that it would be an easy transition for mandolin players.
Despite the praise, at least one prominent Guild member, Herbert Forrest Odell dismisses the Clifford Essex instrument out of hand in a January 1910 article in the Crescendo where he observes
“The mando-bass or bass mandolin is of course intended to imitate the double bass. It is not an especially effective imitation…In small organizations this instrument is entirely unnecessary…I have never seen a mando-bass in the U.S., but have played upon two or three in London, and after a careful trial of them I came to the conclusion that they would not be especially effective or at all popular, or really necessary.”
While he will later go on to endorse the mando-bass as part of a standard mandolin orchestration, Odell made a very accurate prediction.
Whether inspired by the Clifford Essex creation or developed independently, in April 1911, Gibson announced that it would exhibit its mando-bass at the July Guild convention in Philadelphia, declaring in an advertisement
“Then there is the Mando-Bass. Oh, is there! Yes. it’s came. Teacher, it’s came, and its voice sounds like the moving of Jericho (whatever that is).”
Introduced by G. Laurain of Gibson at the 1911 convention, the Gibson Mando-Bass was to be tuned the same way as the bottom 4 strings of the guitar (or the same as the double-bass). However, in responding to a letter by Clifford Essex to the Guild, he clearly indicates that they’d not really thought the whole thing through.
“It is merely putting another voice in the mandolin orchestra. We experimented: there in making an instrument to take that voice. We do not seek to lay down any plan of playing the instrument, tuning the instrument, stringing the instrument or anything of the kind. We have merely made the instrument to take the voice. That seems to be rather a hobby with us of following the voicing of the violin orchestra.”
The mando-bass was accepted by the Guild in July, 1911 needing to vote on how to tune it, indeed on what even-to call it (eventually mando-bass was approved), without any concept of how to play it, and without any firm notion of how to score music for it. The latter two concerns directly affected the early adoption and likely doomed the instrument in the long term.
The first (and only) mando-bass method book was devised by Walter Boehm and released in April 1913, two full years after the mando-bass was introduced and at least one year after the first recorded mando-bass was shipped by Gibson. Boehm advocated for playing the mando-bass with a plectrum, but there is ample evidence of using the fore-finger pizzicato style as an additional option, and even using a small felt-covered hammer as if it were a piano! (Modern Mandolin Thumb Talks, the Cadenza, January 1922)
While the Gibson instrument came equipped with retractable end and side pins, the recommended playing position was only using the side pin, and if you needed to stand, you put it on a chair!
In 1914, Gibson would re-engineer its mando-bass to have a longer scale length and with that, advocated a different playing position that positioned the mando-bass more like a violoncello with the pick motion moving laterally rather than vertically. Boehm’s method was no longer advertised after 1914, leaving it entirely in the hands of the teachers to infer how to play it – whether to adapt the double-bass fingering or to use the guitar-style fingering.
Without any agreed upon standard for how to play the instrument, makers were free to make design choices that would force players to adapt to the instrument.
The other notable aspect of Boehm’s method is that it is written in both bass clef and universal notation. In 1911, there were competing arguments as to whom the mando-bass would most appeal, guitarists who could adapt to the familiar tuning, or mandolinists, likely because of numbers. This led to the “Great American Clef Fiasco” as ridiculed by contributors to England’s January 1912 issue of B.M.G magazine.
“There has been considerable discussion in the U.S.A. as to whether the mando-bass should be written for in the treble or bass clefs. As the mando-bass is the lowest-voiced instrument in the orchestra, and is of the same pitch as the contra-bass viol, the absurdity of the whole discussion will at once be evident.”
Regrettably it was not as evident as suspected. The idea of adopting universal notation was to leverage the familiarity with the treble clef for all instruments, theoretically promoting a facility with reading music. This notion was put forward strongly by Gibson, and L.A. Williams in particular who in severely hyperbolic language derides the non-progressives. His counterpoint was none other than Herbert Forrest Odell who argues strongly for the bass clef noting particular the parallels with string orchestras and thinking it absurd that this mandolin fraternity has the audacity to change hundreds of years of practice and the scope of music for all other instruments. Eventually, it would be for the Guild to decide.
Despite the challenges of having an instrument with no clear method of instruction, and no agreement on how music for it should be written, the Mando-Bass’s introduction was met with considerable enthusiasm. And in the lead-up to the 1912 convention, three other major makers entered the market: Wm. Stahl (1911), Vega (1912), and Leland (1912), each with their own take on the instrument and advertising, but with clear nods to the pioneering “Gibsonite” approach.
It is worth noting that the March 1912 issue of B.M.G magazine indicates that there were five firms manufacturing mando-basses, subsequently using that as self-affirming evidence that the instrument was talking off. There is no specific evidence in any of the period magazines as to what that fifth firm was. One possibility is they refer to the H.F. Meyers company, that eventually came to market with the Contrabass Guitar in 1914 and did create at least one domra-inspired mando-bass.
In the U.K., both J.E. Dallas and Abbott offered mando-basses for sale. Smaller makers such as Favilla and Tieri in New York each produced at least one instrument. Although Lyon & Healy also developed a concept, they did not offer a mando-bass when launching their “own make” line in 1916-1917. Other contemporary major makers such as Martin, Bacon, and Weymann appear to have declined to invest in mando-bass development.
The teens and early-mid twenties saw the explosion of the plectral choirs – trios to orchestras performing locally and, eventually, on the radio. This rapid growth was fueled by Gibson’s relentless advertising. The presence of mando-basses in many of those groups was with no doubt made possible by the Guild’s endorsement of the mando-bass as being the correct and preferred bass instrument (recall that it was the Guild that mothballed the octave mandola). It did not hurt that the majority of orchestra and club leaders were themselves Guild members. That the majority of mando-basses produced in that time were Gibson, should also come as no surprise.
The issues with instruction and notation notwithstanding, the viability of the mando-bass, especially in larger settings was challenged by the very simple fact that audiences often couldn’t hear it. Odell’s prediction about the suitability of the mando-bass was coming into sharper focus.
In July 1915, as part of a Mandolinists Primer in the Crescendo Magazine, it was written
“A regular string bass is capable of great things in a mandolin orchestra –it can furnish a continuous legato bass better than the mandobasses can, also it is a great deal more powerful.
It is however much more consistent to use mandobasses with mandolins. But how on earth one mandobass is expected to have any show at all in an orchestra where there are, say ten firsts is to me quite incomprehensible!! I am beginning to think that it needs one mandobass to every stand of first mandolins!!!”
A reader wrote in that despite various attempts at positioning the mando-bass section in their orchestra, they kept finding that they were continually drowned out. The recommended solution was to create modified end-pins that would allow the mando-bassists to stand and raise the instruments above the level of the seated players. Perhaps they could have adopted the early Gibson method of mounting the bass on a chair!
Despite the efforts of Gibson to the contrary, it is clear that the mando-bass never really took off, and its claims of being a “colossus of tonal power” could well have been just that, claims. The teens saw a shift away from actively promoting them in advertisements.
- Clifford Essex: 1910-1915
- Vega: 1912-1927
- Wm. Stahl: 1912-1919
- Leland: 1912-1914
Gibson, on the other hand – continued to carry them in their catalogs through 1930, and frequently mentioned them in the laundry list of instruments in their print advertising beyond, possibly due to unsold stock.
Gibson did try to hold on to the mandolin craze through the 1930s by offering the full mandolin family of instruments through their Kalamazoo discount line, with mando-basses appearing as late as 1937. But by 1940 their production was spent.