Hora Mandolin, made in Romania

[Spycedog]

I'm interested to know what anyone might think about these instruments. #Has anyone out there tried them? #What would you compare them to? #

Here's their website: #

http://hora.orizont.net/pages/mandolins.htm

Thanks!

[fatt-dad]

Spycedog,

Looking at the "Modern Mandolin", that is exactly the mandolin that I use when I go to the beach (see my photo at my web page www.fatt-dad.com for proof that I go to the beach). It has a spruce top (I really think that it's solid), but mine is a four piece spruce top (don't see that very often - eh?). It has laminated sides and back and a wider-than-normal neck (along the lines of an older Gibson).

I figure that the greatest risk to getting one of these mandolins is in the setup. The real risk is that it may be so poorly setup that the only way to save it is to reset the neck. Being a flat top mandolin, if there is no neck angle to speak of then the strings have little break over the bridge and the strings just dont work on the instrument like they should. Check out this thread it shows what I had to do to fix my neck angle. The link shows page three and at the bottom there is a photo that shows my mandolin (away from the beach) after the major surgery was complete. I would not recommend buying one of these mandolins.

Just one man's opinion. . . . .

f-d

[Martin Jonas]

If you want a Hora, you might be better off with their "Portuguese" model than the "modern" model that fatt-dad refers to. These are sold under many different names by many different distributors, and they are decent beginners' instruments and a great price for an all-solid-wood instrument. However, they do need a proper setup, including adjusting the zero fret height (almost certainly too high) and adjusting the neck relief (they have a truss rod accessible through the soundhole). They also greatly benefit from a replacement ebony bridge, as the stock bridge is frankly amateurish. With these changes, they are really very nicely playable with a good resonant tone.

Most distributors use the same decoration as on the Hora web site, i.e. back and neck stained dark brown and an assymetric wooden scratchplate. I prefer the plainer decoration that the Troubadour instruments distributed by Dave Kilpatrick have -- these are made by Hora and are identical to their normal model except for the different optics. Also, Dave is a great person to deal with if you need further advice -- certainly easier than trying to deal with Hora directly.

Martin

[Lee]

If this type instrument interests you, check out Fylde. They're probably a better quality. Very rarely do they show up in the States.

[Martin Jonas]

Fylde are most certainly better quality. They are also more than five times the price -- the Hora is one of the cheapest playable mandolins available on the market, whereas Fylde is a solid mid-range builder.

Martin