Gold Tone GME-6/L Left-Handed 6-String Solid Body Electric Mandolin with Gig Bag

If you’ve ever wanted a mandolin that could hold its own on a loud stage — plugged in, turned up, and completely feedback-free — this is the instrument worth looking at. This is the left-handed version of the Gold Tone GME-6, a six-string solid body electric mandolin built around a double-cutaway alder body finished in vintage cream high gloss. Gold Tone engineered this instrument for players who live in the space between acoustic tradition and electric muscle: Texas Swing pickers, hillbilly jazz cats, Western swing fiddle tune players who want sustain, and yes, even rock and roll mandolin players who are tired of fighting feedback from a carved-top acoustic in front of a monitor. The dual-rail mini humbucker delivers serious grunt and clarity with none of the squeal, and the cast compensated metal bridge gives you individual string adjustment for both height and intonation — something you rarely see at this price point.

The neck is slim maple with an integral maple fingerboard, traditional black dot inlays, 20 frets, and a two-way adjustable truss rod — all radiused for playing ease whether you’re running single-note lines or chord melody. Sealed guitar-style tuners and a ZeroGlide nut (1-1/16″ width) round out a package that punches well above its price. The six-string configuration tunes GDAE with doubled courses, giving you the familiar mandolin voicing but with the fuller sound of a six-string arrangement. Volume and tone controls are right where your hand expects them. The multi-layer pickguard and chrome hardware complete a look that’s genuinely cool in that vintage electric way. At 3.4 lbs, it’s light enough to play a long set without fatigue. This is a purpose-built electric instrument, not an acoustic mandolin with a pickup bolted on — and that distinction matters enormously in live playing situations.

Every instrument receives a professional factory setup at Gold Tone in Titusville, Florida before it ships. The neck relief is checked and adjusted, the action is set at the nut and bridge for comfortable playability, intonation is verified across the fretboard, and every string is ensured to speak cleanly. It arrives ready to plug in and play — not in need of an immediate trip to a repair shop, which is the frustrating reality with too many instruments sold online without any hands-on attention.

Why Buy From Banjo Warehouse

Banjo Warehouse is an authorized Gold Tone dealer, which means every instrument we sell carries the full manufacturer warranty and comes through legitimate channels with proper support behind it. I’ve spent more than 45 years in this industry — co-owning Watch & Learn in Atlanta since the 1980s, writing Banjo Primer (consistently rated the number one beginner banjo method), and working directly with Gold Tone to co-design instruments like the OB-Standard. I know these instruments in detail, and I only carry things I’d recommend to a student or a friend. If you have questions about whether the GME-6/L is right for your playing style, reach out — I’m genuinely happy to talk through it. Financing is available through PayPal Pay in 4, Afterpay, and 3, 6, 12, or 24-month plans with no late fees, so you can get the instrument you actually want without compromising.

Gold Tone GME-6/L Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this really a mandolin, or is it more like a short-scale guitar?

It’s a true mandolin in terms of tuning and string courses — GDAE, the same as a standard mandolin — but it’s built like a solid body electric guitar rather than a carved acoustic instrument. That means it’s designed to be amplified, has much greater natural sustain, and produces essentially no acoustic feedback. If you’ve played mandolin before, the scale length and tuning will feel immediately familiar. If you’re coming from guitar, the double-cutaway body shape and guitar-style controls will feel intuitive, though you’ll want to spend some time adjusting to the shorter 13-7/8″ scale and mandolin fingering.

Will a standard guitar amplifier work with this mandolin?

Yes, absolutely. The dual-rail mini humbucker output is completely compatible with any standard instrument amplifier — guitar amps, bass amps in a pinch, even a small practice amp. Many players also run it through effects pedals without any issues. If you’re playing Texas Swing or Western swing in a band context, a clean-voiced amp with a little reverb is a classic pairing. For rock applications, any overdrive or distortion pedal you’d use with a guitar will work here.

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