Serial: 16752560
Listed 2 days ago
Eastman MDO305A Arch-Top A-Style F-Hole Octave Mandolin w/ Gig Bag, Chord Book, and 2 sets of John Pearse strings.
Professional setup work was done on this instrument by the vendor, The Mandolin Store. These go for $1400 new. Mine hasn't been played much as I bought it right before moving and have been busy since then.
Now that all my instruments are in one place, I am reviewing the ones that I expect to put more time into, as I am now quite old and haven't much time. I ultimately decided last night that I prefer the Irish Bouzouki as I don't feel the Octave Mandolin has enough of the characteristic mandolin sound and that boxy sounds don't work as well for me in the lower register. I sold my mandocello earlier for the same reason. The mandola is actually my favorite member of the mandolin family though.
The John Pearse string set is no longer available so it is good to have two unused sets of those in addition to the ones that are freshly installed on the instrument. You can probably find equivalent gauges from one or two other companies later on down the line.
I am also including a chord book from the series by Tobe A Richards that covers less common instruments.
The octave mandolin is exactly an octave below a standard mandolin, so you can use most of the same fingerings, but due to the longer scale, there may be recommended chord positions that differ a bit.
Specifications:
Bracing: Ladder
Body Length: 15.5”
Lower Bout: 12”
Body Depth: 1.875”
Scale Length: 21”
Frets: 23 Medium
Nut Width: 1.375”
Neck Radius: 12”
Neck Wood: Maple
Fingerboard: Ebony
Body/Back/Sides: Carved Solid Maple
Top: Carved Solid Spruce
Truss Rod: Standard
Neck Join: Dovetail
Stringing: Loop-End
Tuning: GG-dd-aa-e’e’
Strings: John Pearse 2280 Phosphor Bronze-Wound Octave Mandolin
String Gauge: .012”/.012”, .021”w/.021”w, .032”w/.032”w, .045”w/.045”w