I have a Garrison octave mandolin that I bought two months ago. The fellow that owned it is an instrument collector and he owns dozens, maybe hundreds of instruments. He took loving care of this one. Even though Garrison has long since been bought out and closed down by Gibson, the OM is mint. There wasn't a scratch on it, or even the case. I think it mostly sat in a humidified room with other instruments.
Anyway, I love it! The one thing it definitely needs though is a better tailpiece. The one it came with is one of those stamped Gibson style two piece tail pieces and the thing is freaking stiff. It's a standard mandolin tailpiece, but the problem is the OM is a flat top. Who makes tailpieces for flat tops OMs? Perhaps I could make do with a one piece clam shell tailpiece, something like the one in the link below from Elderly Instruments. With one of those, whether the body is flat or arched should make no difference, i think.
https://www.elderly.com/scallop-shell-mandolin-tailpiece.htm
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