Octave mandolin or bouzouki for singer songwriter. Recommendation

[drewgrass]

I’m playing out a bit solo guitar vocals. I played mandolin for over a decade and hard for five years. I sold my varnished fern earlier this year, for a high end dread. I don’t have any mandolin family instruments. I wrote a couple dozen songs on mandolin and would like to start playing them again. But with something that fills the room a little better. I’ve never had either.

I will probably play both on recordings but mostly solo. what blends best with guitar I’ve read they overlap a bit which is fine. Also is there a difference with the chop/percussive elements between the two. Budget is $2500 thanks to all

[Russ Donahue]

I'd suggest bouzouki. For a good example of its fit with guitar, take a look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc2Zyz-JNdQ

And, the bouzouki provides a nice bed if you want to accompany yourself with it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPI_tHNjS78

[JH Murray]

The beauty of the octave is of course it has the familiar tuning of your mandolin. So many of the open chords you already know easily transfer. And if you put a capo at the fifth fret you have mandola tuning. Not much of a chop on an octave, they are more known for their sustain, as is the bouzouki.