NOMD - Thomann Hora M1087-P

[Seter]

My octave mandolin finally completed its journey through triple digit heat to get here from Germany, fortunately all in one piece. This is the acoustic/electric version with the fixed bridge instead of the much maligned acoustic only version with the banjo bridge, the acoustic/electric version has much better reviews on Thomann. I did a review video of my Hora bouzouki that people seem to like to watch, so here is a similar video for the octave mandolin:



Let me know if there are any questions I missed. It still needs some tweaking and set up work and my playing also needs a lot of work since this is my first octave mandolin.

[Seter]

I played this at work today for our monthly birthday celebrations that I provide musical accompaniment for, and people's minds were blown by the unique sound of an octave mandolin (some people thought it was lute naturally). I can't imagine what they would think hearing a Forster or Fylde or some such if they were that impressed by a Hora. I am enjoying playing it, though I would like to upgrade to something top notch some day down the road when finances allow. Octave mandolin has a great sound for the styles I like to play and being able to capo and turn into a mandola is definitely another handy feature about octave mandolins. I may get a mandocello too though, and see if I would prefer to spend the big bucks on a nice mandocello or a nice octave mandolin.

[Sheryl McDonald]

@Seter -- are you still just as impressed after 6 months? Has the instrument settled in?

[Seter]

I ended up getting an opportunity to upgrade to a brand new B stock Gold Tone OM with a hard case at a price I couldn't refuse, but I did like the Hora while I had it and I still have the Hora Irish Bouzouki which gets regular use. The guy I sold the Hora to seems to love it. The only difference between their acoustic/electric OM and bouzouki seems to be the scale length. I tune the bouzouki in Greek CFAD tuning though. Soundwise I would say it is on par with the Gold Tone, possibly even better, and it has better electronics than the Gold Tone. The Gold Tone wins in playability, partly due to the better set up and partly due to the slightly shorter scale length. The Gold Tone also has better tuners. I think as long as you're comfortable doing set up yourself or willing to pay to have it done the Hora OM is fine, I would recommend getting the acoustic/electric version though with the better bridge or planning on upgrading the bridge if you get the all acoustic version. Hora seems to spend their money on using solid woods and keeps things like extra bling and set up to a minimum to keep prices low.

[BoxCarJoe]

Same story with the Hora mandola.

With a simple setup and replacing the banjo bridge the instrument sings.
But yes sadly, tuners are poor quality.

I'd like to upgrade to a better instrument also, but the tone is so good I hesitate.