Went in for strings - left with a Tenor guitar!

[colorado_al]

I love my local shop, HB Woodsongs here in Boulder. I stop in from time to time to see what they have and to buy picks and strings and other supplies.
Today I went in to buy some strings and some guitar polish. I've been keeping my eye out for a new octave mandolin since my son has co-opted my Blueridge BR-40TCE that I converted to an octave mandolin. Woodsongs carries Eastman and they had the MDO305 octave in stock for $700. I played it for a while, but it lacked the volume and clarity that my (or now my son's) Blueridge has.

As I was paying for the strings and things, I saw a Blueridge BR-40T hanging behind the desk. That is the same as the BR-40TCE, but without the cutaway and pickup.
I played it and it sounded good and was nice and comfortable just like the BR-40TCE. Then I noticed it had a K&K pickup installed and the card said it came with a hard case. They wanted $350 for the whole kit. I almost threw my credit card at the sales guy.
The case alone is over $100 and the K&K pickup is also $100 + install!

So now I need to decide if I'm going to convert it to an OM. I think I'll probably play it for a while as a tenor in CGDA and probably convert it to an octave mandolin in a few weeks. The only costs are some tuning machines and strings and a few hours of my time at this point.

Anyhow, browsing online for instruments is always nice. Bumping into a great instrument at a great price in the local store is way better!

[multidon]

Hey Al, convert it to OM if you must, but first, why not try changing it to Irish tuning? All you have to do is use octave mandolin strings, tune it to GDAE, and its like an OM without the double courses. No drilling extra holes in the headstock, and no fooling around with the bridge and nut, other than possibly needing to widen the slots a bit to accommodate the heavier gauges. I did that to a tenor guitar once, and what a joy it was to play! I didn’t miss doubled courses at all. Just an idea.

[Phil Goodson]

Hey Al, convert it to OM if you must, but first, why not try changing it to Irish tuning? All you have to do is use octave mandolin strings, tune it to GDAE, and its like an OM without the double courses. No drilling extra holes in the headstock, and no fooling around with the bridge and nut, other than possibly needing to widen the slots a bit to accommodate the heavier gauges. I did that to a tenor guitar once, and what a joy it was to play! I didn’t miss doubled courses at all. Just an idea.

Did that with a Martin 5-15T. Worked great.

[Bob Clark]

Hi Al,

Good for you. Great to support the local store and in this case, it paid off for you in a big way. Seems like a nice instrument at a real steal of a price!

[Louise NM]

Hate when that happens, Al! Sounds like you got one heck of a good deal, though. One time I bought a new set of viola strings—and the instrument they were attached to. It just happens sometimes.

[allenhopkins]

So, you went in "for strings," and came out with "four strings."

Makes sense to me.

[colorado_al]

I think I will try it GDAE with only 4 strings and see how it goes.
Thanks!