Similar to tc?

[Rick Cadger]

i'm posting this in the general section as the range in question encompasses mandos as well as zouks and OMs.

could TC owners take a look at this
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-RICHWOOD-ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC-OCTAVE-MANDOLIN-gmr2e_W0QQitemZ120078032597QQihZ002QQcategor
yZ10179QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-RIC....iewItem</a>
and tell me if it looks like the same product with different branding?

i believe Ozark and Ashbury are made in the same place as the TC stuff, and this sure looks similar to me, but i'm not an owner, so i could be wrong. what do you guys think?

[Martin Jonas]

I can't answer your question, but more generally, I don't think that all Ozark or Ashbury instruments are made in the same place: they are simply the brands-of-convenience used in the UK by Stentor and Hobgoblin, respectively, for their imported lower-grade folk instruments. Stentor have used the Ozark brand on rebadged Romanian Hora bouzoukis as well as on OMs that seem identical to Saga's TC line, and on F-style mandolins that seem identical to Washburns.

Martin

[steve V. johnson]

There is a common assumption ('urban lore/legend'? &lt;GG&gt;) that a lot of different Asian mando-family instruments are built in the same facilities and simply branded differently, and like many assumptions of that sort, it's borne out, to some degree, in fact.

The only way I know to tell how similar these instruments are is to look closely at the specs, particularly the measurements of the body, scale length, nut width, etc., and the materials.

There are two common sources for these inexpensive instruments, Asia (China, Korea) and eastern Europe (Romania) and the models each location differ pretty distinctly.

TCs are a bit more sturdily built than many, but the one thing that seems to set TC apart from the others is some level of quality control that keeps more real dogs from the retail marketplace.

stv

[Rick Cadger]

you're right guys. i didn't phrase it clearly.

i think i can recognise the east european models - they often (not always) have the slot head, carved scratchplate etc.

seems that most of the bluegrass ones are made in southeast asia, and these folky ones as in the link. it is this last very specific range of round-hole models i was asking about. the ones which look, at least superficially, to be in the style of the TC OM.

i know that Ozark, Ashbury et al collect many different species under their umbrella branding.