Yes, congratulations, more music is always a good decision!
I bought an octave mandolin, an Ashbury about two months ago. I’m sixty years old but quite young for my age (they say). I played mandolin quite badly (I thought it was a small guitar) and guitar for years before that. With the Octave I found the finger work was heavy going, but then I do push a bit. Now, certainly my left hand has stretched out a lot, so I’m happy about that. Very slight left fore arm tendonitis but I can afford to relax more now, so it’ll be ok.
Remember I’m biased (love can do that) but I’d say get an octave, the most expensive one you can possibly afford! That’s it, I’ve said it.
Two main reasons:
1 They have great sustain so if you get tired you can play songs with double stops (2 note chords) and sing. You can learn to slide the double stops too, which in a way is less labour intensive on your fingers. That takes a lot of the work out of it, and if you’ve played guitar and your rhythm is ok, then you’re good to go!
2 You can capo the octave all the way up to the seventh fret which is about where the mandolin scale starts. You can actually set the capo for the size of your hands.
Most important is to remember that the mandolin is a melodic instrument. It’s quite different from the guitar. If I were you I’d give it at least 2 or 3 months to see how an octave goes, and if you’re having difficulty with tuning in fifths then why not tune it GDAD or as a guitar. (I can hear a gasp of indignation from some of our members,
but whatever it takes).
I have the action down to less than 1.7 mm at the 12 fret on the 4th fret. That’s quite low, it affects intonation etc, but it’s easier to play, so...
Good luck, and welcome!
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