I had the guys at Weber make me a mandocello in 2003. I asked them to make it with a darker finish than their regular instruments and it turned out beautiful. It's a lot of fun to play. It reminds me of a Venezuelan bandola. It is tuned in fifths just like a cello: C-G-D-A.
Its acoustic sound isn't as deep as I had wished. Probably because the body is quite shallow. To reproduce sounds in the cello register you need a larger body (like that of a cello!). But it has a piezo under the bridge saddle so it can be easily amplified.
I have Lute strings on it. They are flatwound Thomastiks. I prefer the mellowness of the flatwounds for instruments in the mandolin family.
You can see more about Weber instruments here: www.soundtoearth.com
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