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Thread: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    These are always subjective questions... but here we are.

    What would you recommend as a good, solid OM for less than $1000 used?

    I'd like to stay near 20" scale if possible. (I think heavier strings can compensate for the shorter scale.)

    The Mandolin Store has lovely Weber Gallatin A-style OM's, but it's more than I want to spend.

    (I did bid on a Trinity College TC-325, but lost... I figure it wasn't meant to be, and I took it as a blessing, as I hadn't really done much research on it.)

    Anyway, any recommendations?

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I'm a big fan of the Pedersen OMs, which are in that price range or a bit below (over the years I've owned three of them). There's a nice Flatiron 3MC in the Classifieds now for $950 (NFI). As a step up, Phil Crump makes great OMs, but they're pricier than your suggested range.
    EdSherry

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    Butcherer of Songs Rob Zamites's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Might want to look over this thread. I got an email from that luthier, he stated in part:
    I have one bouzouki, please see attached pix, available @ $485 including insured USPost shipping w/ a used chipboard case. It is handmade of curly maple (body & neck), Adirondack red spruce top, nonadjustable truss rod, rosewood fingerboard, Fishman guitar pickup, Golden Age restoration tuners and custom Selkie peg stock/fingerboard inlay of mop, abalone, & veneers. New package of bouzouki strings included. I experiment w/ finishing and this one is black w/ clear lacquer top coats. There is a minor stand dent on the back side of the neck. Excellent condition w/ no owner yet! My own bouzouki is the same thing and my grandchildren love it. It is very durable and it is a flat top
    Wasn't my speed, but I'd bet he'd make you a new OM for under $1000. [NFI, just passing on info]
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    Registered User Mike Anderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by EdSherry View Post
    I'm a big fan of the Pedersen OMs, which are in that price range or a bit below (over the years I've owned three of them). There's a nice Flatiron 3MC in the Classifieds now for $950 (NFI). As a step up, Phil Crump makes great OMs, but they're pricier than your suggested range.
    Two players I really admire, Mike Katz from the Tannahill Weavers (primarily a piper) and Kelly Russell (with Figgy Duff) both were/are Flatiron players.
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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    The flatiron in the classifieds looks nice, but is 23.5" scale... hoping for closer to 20"

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    fishing with my mando darrylicshon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I really like the Weber Gallatin F Short Scale 20" scale length (W154) , but it is more than you want to spend, i am saving for one by the time I get the money maybe i will find a used one but i have a few others i want first
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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by terzinator View Post
    The flatiron in the classifieds looks nice, but is 23.5" scale... hoping for closer to 20"
    1. Flatiron "bouzoukis" are great mandolins, but they're definitely long-scale. I remember, after owning my Flatiron for a couple years, I saw my first Trinity College OM and wondered if it really was the same instrument -- the neck was so much shorter.

    2. I think, for a "budget" OM, you'd be good with either the Gold Tone or the Trinity College (quite similar). Petersen Level Ones are in your price range, but their scale's around 22.5 inches, which still may be long for you. The new Gold Tone OM-800 also has a 22.5 inch scale; the Trinity College specs at 20 3/8 inches, so that may be closest to what you're looking for.

    3. Most of the other short-scale OM's I find on line are small-builder and quite expensive. If you want to stay under $1K they might well be unreachable, even used. Mandolin store carries a Lafferty short-scale (21 inch) for $1.3K, but the Lafferties are a fairly recent introduction, and there wouldn't be many on the used market, IMHO.
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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    The 20" requirement might be silly, but I've never owned an OM. I figure it'll be a literal stretch, regardless, and I'd like that to be as minimized as possible. A 23" scale and I might as well try to palm a basketball.

    The Trinity i lost out on eBay was local, and had a $395 buy-it-now. Shoulda jumped on it. But I missed the BIN when someone else put the first bid in, and my max was $10 over the BIN. Someone wanted it just a little bit more, and I just told myself I wouldn't go higher than that.

    Anyway, I figure I should play some before choosing, but they're pretty rare around these parts.

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    Butcherer of Songs Rob Zamites's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Minnesota? Cricket Fiddle. Again, NFI, but he makes some good looking stuff.
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    If nobody else grabs the Weber octave from mandolin store ....I think I might take it.....seems like a deal.

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    Butcherer of Songs Rob Zamites's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by terzinator View Post
    The flatiron in the classifieds looks nice, but is 23.5" scale... hoping for closer to 20"
    Here you go: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/82258 - I think Petersens are 22.5" scale, but honestly, under 21" or so, I think you're getting more into mandola territory. The price is sure great for that! (NFI, YMMV, etc., etc.)
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    My Weber Hyalite OM is 22.5, and I'll admit it's quite an adjustment. I immediately tried to play many of the fiddle tunes I know on mando on it, and really had trouble shifting to OM fingering, where to accommodate the reach you cover frets 1 and 2 with your index finger, but then go a fret per finger thereafter. ie, your pinky plays all those 5th fret notes your ring finger normally plays on mando, at least in first position.

    I quickly understood why the advice that it's "really a different instrument" than mandolin is offered so wisely around the Café. I initially considered selling or trading it, but the more I play it the more I like it, and it's good for my pinky strength and dexterity on my other instruments as well. I've also considered detuning a step and playing it with a capo on the second fret, effectively shortening the scale, but I've bought into the fact that it's its own instrument, and am really trying to learn it like a "real" OM player. Doesn't mean I won't cheat a little if I really want to use it in a performance setting and am having some degree of trouble with that pinky, but, it's really getting better.

    So, shooting for a 20 inch scale is probably smart on your part since you're worried about the reach, but, the stretch isn't unbearable for me on my 22.5. The pinky issue is more one of fatigue than reach, and I don't have large hands/long fingers at all. It's likely that, unless you can reach out to play mando fingerings, it will be an issue with either scale length. On a positive, I'm getting to the point with the OM where I think I could be tempted by a mandocello again...

    I could live perfectly well without an OM since I play guitar, too, but I'm really growing to like it's voice, and am finding "excuses" to use it in place of guitar and mando on more and more occasions. So, snatch up a Trinity College used (or check with that guy Allen mentioned in the thread linked above) and run with it!! Also, there used to be a guy in Winston-Salem, NC, who built mando family instruments inexpensively named Wishnevsky (OMs start around 600 per his site). Can't speak to his quality, but may be worth looking into, esp since he might be able to accommodate your scale length request. NFI, and, again, no idea about his quality...
    Chuck

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    A 22.5" scale is pretty much a standard length for an octave mandolin. I play a Crump 24" scale octave mandolin/bouzouki. I don't find it a stretch at all. A 22.5" scale sounds more like a bouzouki. A shorter scale length (20.5") makes an octave mandolin sound more percussive with less ringing as a general rule. However, an Abnett cittern I had at that scale had lots of sustain because of the three piece staved back.
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I play one of the OM's from the Cricket Fiddle Instrument Company { http://cricketfiddle.com/ } and I love mine. TeeJay makes good quality instruments IMHO. I also have an "A" oval he made. Both sound good and are easy to play.
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    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I got to play a Peterson Level 1 and a Level 3 side-by-side a few years ago. I thought that the Level 1 had a decent tone, but I fell in love with the Level 3 and ended up buying it, since it wasn't that big of a price difference. At the $1K price point, I doubt you'll find anything better than what Peterson builds. Even at $2K, you might not.

    I've never played a short-scale OM, but I wonder how effectively the heavier strings would offset the shorter scale. The low G on an OM is 1.5 steps above the low E on a guitar, and guitar scale length is usually over 24". My daughter has a short-scale guitar, and its high end sounds way better than its low end.
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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I guess I'm slightly influenced by this response from Dennis at the mandolin store, when I asked him about the scale lengths on his Weber Gallatins...

    "heavier gauge strings compensate for the less tension. We order almost all of the octaves in 20"...people prefer it for easier playability over the 22"."

    But again, I gotta play both long- and short-scale to figure out if the scale length is an issue.

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Well....pulled the trigger on the used Weber Gallatin at the Mandolin Store this morning. With my tiny hands I wasn't willing to risk the longer than 20" scale.

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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by fredhicks View Post
    Well....pulled the trigger on the used Weber Gallatin at the Mandolin Store this morning. With my tiny hands I wasn't willing to risk the longer than 20" scale.
    Nice job Fred. I was mulling it over, but nowhere near pulling any triggers!

    Let us know how you get on with it!

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Now I just need to get rid of something.....I have a 5 string Mann electric mando that I have hardly played that should probably go away. Still wondering about whether to sell my 1924 Gibson F4......

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by fredhicks View Post
    Well....pulled the trigger on the used Weber Gallatin at the Mandolin Store this morning. With my tiny hands I wasn't willing to risk the longer than 20" scale.
    Great choice, Thats what i want, post some photos once you get it
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Well, FedEx finally delivered the used Gallatin from the Mandolin Store last night. After letting it sit for a couple of hours (it had been sitting in the truck since Saturday morning) to let it adjust a little bit I got about 30 minutes in on it. Pleasantly surprised so far. I have tiny hands and am only having to seriously adjust in the 1st position. Will eventually have to re-learn which fingers will be going where....once I get to 3rd position I can reach fairly well. Haven't tried the Bach big chords yet......some notes are going to have to be left out. Lowered the bridge as soon as I got it since it was pretty high. As the advert had stated.....it's in mint condition, not a scratch. I had them throw in an extra set of the Pearse octave mandola string.....but since I prefer the Thomastik strings on the mandolin I might look for an equivalent in that brand. I took a quick look+search but couldn't find octave mando chords and I am sure I have seen people post these before....anybody point me in the right direction?

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    Butcherer of Songs Rob Zamites's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Octave mandolin chords will be the same as your standard tuned mandolin, fingering wise. I'd recommend the late John McGann's book:

    Mel Bay A Guide to Octave Mandolin & Bouzouki

    It's a fantastic book. Enjoy your new OM!
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    Registered User Mandobart's Avatar
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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Fred - Always great to hear more OM players in WA! You'll enjoy it a lot! Let me know if you need any info on Eastern WA mando happenings. Don't sell the F4, you'll regret it.

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandobart View Post
    Fred - Always great to hear more OM players in WA! You'll enjoy it a lot! Let me know if you need any info on Eastern WA mando happenings. Don't sell the F4, you'll regret it.
    Mandobart- we aren't planning on being around much longer. Moving back permanently to the UK this Spring....I hope. Back to the lovely sunny calm weather of Yorkshire.

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    Default Re: Best budget Octave Mandolin?

    I haven't bought even mandolin strings for years, I still have a bunch stocked up......but I had been using Thomastik lights (I think). Looking at the price for octave mandola Thomastik strings......am I still in the same dimension as I used to be? The price on those strings is......gulp......stroke inducing.

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