Gold Tone Mandola/L Left-Handed Traditional Irish Mandola with Pickup & Gig Bag

This is the left-handed version of the Gold Tone Mandola — and if you are a left-handed player who has been waiting for a properly spec’d Celtic mandola built for you rather than a mirrored afterthought, this is the one to have. The mandola occupies the same sonic space in a Celtic ensemble that a viola fills in a string quartet: deeper, warmer, and richer than a mandolin, tuned in perfect fifths to CGDA a full fifth lower. Gold Tone built this instrument the right way — a solid spruce top over mahogany back and sides, an adjustable bridge, a cast brass tailpiece that outlasts and out-sustains anything stamped from sheet metal, and a ZeroGlide nut at 1-1/4″ that keeps intonation honest all the way up the neck. The snowflake inlays and high-gloss natural finish give it a clean, traditional Irish look that belongs on any stage or session floor.

The two-way adjustable mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard and 20 frets gives you plenty of real estate for the extended scales and droning intervals that Celtic mandola playing demands. Sealed guitar-style tuners hold pitch reliably through a long session. The built-in transducer pickup means you can plug straight into a DI or acoustic amp when the session gets loud — no retrofitting, no hunting for a compatible aftermarket pickup, no drilling. Gold Tone does the initial setup work at their Titusville, Florida shop, and the instrument arrives well within reach of a professional setup. The included gig bag means you are ready to carry it to your first session the same day it arrives.

Each instrument receives a professional setup at Gold Tone’s factory in Titusville, Florida before it ships to you. You will not be fighting the instrument on day one.

Why Buy From Banjo Warehouse

Banjo Warehouse is an authorized Gold Tone dealer, which means every instrument we sell is covered by Gold Tone’s manufacturer warranty and backed by our own customer service. I have been in this industry for more than 45 years — I co-own Watch & Learn in Atlanta, wrote Banjo Primer (the top-rated beginner banjo method on the market), and co-designed the OB-Standard with Gold Tone — so when I stock an instrument I am staking my own reputation on it. I do not carry instruments I would not hand to a student or a friend. The Gold Tone Mandola has earned its place here because it genuinely delivers Celtic tone and playability at a price that makes sense. Financing is available through PayPal Pay in 4, Afterpay, and 3, 6, 12, or 24-month plans with no late fees — because a good instrument should not have to wait.

Gold Tone Mandola/L Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a mandola different from a mandolin, and is this a good choice for Irish sessions?

A mandola is tuned CGDA — a perfect fifth lower than a mandolin’s GDAE tuning — which gives it a broader, more viola-like voice. In Celtic traditional music it fills a middle harmonic role, adding warmth and depth beneath fiddles and whistles while staying agile enough for melody. The Gold Tone Mandola’s solid spruce top, comfortable action, and built-in pickup make it an excellent choice for both session playing and stage work. If you already play mandolin, the chord shapes and scale patterns are identical — you are just transposing down a fifth.

Does the left-handed model require any special strings or accessories?

No — the Gold Tone Mandola/L ships strung and set up for left-handed playing from the factory, with a professional setup completed at Gold Tone’s facility in Titusville, Florida before it ships to you. The string gauges are identical to the right-handed model (.050w, .035w, .020w, .016 doubled), and standard mandola strings sold by any major supplier will work fine for future string changes. The transducer pickup and all hardware are the same as the standard model.

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