Hi all
My youngest son and I took a socially distanced trip to Eagle Music in Yorkshire on Saturday, to try out some octave mandolins. He’s had my Octave on loan for a while, and decided that he wanted one for himself.
We both tried out 3 instruments - the Eastman MDO 305, the Gold Tone 800 and the Trinity College 325.
We really wanted like the Eastman, as I had a 505 for a few years, and he’s got a killer MD 305, but we weren’t impressed. It was really well made, and beautifully set up, but it was massively lacking that low-end thump, deep voice and overall sustain that’s so typical in an Octave mandolin. Not sure if it’s because of the carved top and f-holes, or due to the thin body, but it just didn’t do it for either of us.
The Gold Tone wasn’t great either - very thuddy, as though the strings were dead (which they weren’t), and just no warmth or resonance. It felt like a heavy, overbuilt instrument, with a really thick top, so it was very quickly destined for the “discard” pile.
Then we tried a Trinity College TM 325. What a difference - like night and day! Massive, rich tone, tons of sustain, and the 20 inch scale length makes the stretches a bit easier too. All solid woods (spruce over maple), with really nice “snowflake” style fret position markers, and a hard case.
It was well set up anyway, but they gave it a final tweak and “fine tune” for us. A very nice instrument for the price, so we took it away. He’s delighted because he’s got a really nice Octave to add to his instrument collection, and I’m happy because I’ve got my own Octave back.
Mine’s a Countryman (I think it’s an old Hohner brand, that’s also re-badged as an Ashbury model). The Trinity College is a lot better to our ears.
Cheers
John
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