Montana Lutherie

Got an interesting and comprehensive question on the 20" scale octaves, that I thought I'd post the answer to here: We've been building quite a few shorter scale Octaves and I believe the biggest reason is people think they are easier to play. Our standard scales (like you have) are Bruce's preferred for sound/tone, and the shorter does get a bit mushier (but not too badly). We use the same strings on the shorter scale right now, but the best would be a slightly heavier gauge to help that 'looseness' somewhat. The saddle on the octaves and mandocello bridges aren't set quite straight across horizontally and the curve kind of blends this in a bit, while being pretty (that's hard to describe in typing- hope it makes sense).