My first ( real try ) at learning to play... Bought an Octave.

[Urban_Monk]

So I did buy a Loar 310 a while back but had to return it because of some issues. Never bought another one... but recently decided to go at it again. I headed to the shop for an Eastman 315, but left with this Eastman Octave... the sound was beautiful and had crazy sustain, just couldn't walk away from it.
I figure the wider fretboard would be easier to finger without accidentally buzzing strings.

Look forward to making her sing... eventually!

Any tips for this vs a regular mandolin? No idea what I am doing.

[kurth83]

Pretty! Congratulations! Never had an octave, they are quite different to play because the frets are twice as far apart. I went looking and there is music for them, plenty of material to have fun.

FYI I 'solved' the narrowness of Eastman necks by cutting a new nut, changed the string spacing to have more space between the courses by making the courses themselves narrower, made a huge difference in playability.

[Urban_Monk]

Thanks! Can I not play regular Mandolin tab with it?

[kurth83]

Not likely your fingers can spread twice as far for normal fingerings.

It's a whole 'nother instrument in that respect.

Maybe let some folks that have played octaves chime in.

[Seter]

You can play normal mandolin tabs on it, but you may find yourself using a more guitar style fingering than a mandolin, with one finger per fret rather than one finger per two frets. Some things you will find may actually be easier on octave mandolin, like certain chords and double stops that can get a bit crowded on mandolin.

[TheMandoKit]

Thanks! Can I not play regular Mandolin tab with it?

Of course you can. The scale is longer than a mandolin (I think the Eastman is 21" versus 13 7/8" or so for a mandolin), but it's certainly not double a mando, or even as long as a guitar. You will need to adjust your technique, but it's not too tough.

I like the octave sound for chord strumming to accompany singing, or for chordal melody.

Have fun.

[OneChordTrick]

Thanks! Can I not play regular Mandolin tab with it?

Yes, but as others have said it needs a different technique. Your hand will need to be more mobile as some of the stretches will not be possible without moving your hands.

Enjoy!

[kurth83]

I confess this thread has given me MAS for an octave mandolin...

[TheMandoKit]

I confess this thread has given me MAS for an octave mandolin...

So, we have been successful!