Hi, I'm new to this genre, a very amateur musician--played guitar and hammered dulcimer many years ago. I want to buy an eight-string teardrop octave mandola, 20" scale (for Renaissance and Celtic folk music)--not too pricey but not a piece of junk, either. The one that appeals the most that I found online is the Ashbury Rathlin for $415 through Hobgoblin Music. But being a bargain hunter, I kept searching, and found a guy on Etsy who makes them for $345, but he uses only either a 10" or a 14" body, versus the standard 12.5-13.5" body. He uses Old World Florida bald cypress. As a somewhat petite woman, I think 14" might be too big for me. I'm wondering if the sound of the smaller body of the 10" would be noticeably different from the standard 12.5", or would it negatively affect the sound, and in what way?
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