I'm just about to trade up from the Tanglewood mandolin I started on to something more decent, and there's an Eastman dealer near me, so I'll probably go for one of those. I play English/Irish folk as part of a trio with fiddle and banjo, and I want to know what's going to cut through better between f-holes/oval soundhole. I'd rather not plug in if I can avoid it.
Secondly, I'm accompanying more than half of the time on guitar, so I did think about going for an Eastman MDO-305 octave mandolin and capoing on the 12th Fret for tunes. Does that work? Or does the heavier guage make it harder to play tunes?
Obviously I'll try before I buy, but it would be good to know others' experience.
Cheers!
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