Hey everyone,

I've been playing DADGAD guitar for a while and have recently gotten bitten with the idea of trying out an octave mando or bouzouki to change up the sound in my band. Has anyone tried out the Trinity or Fender zouks and/or octave mandolins? It might be a while before I'm ready to buy, but I decided I should start looking anyhow.

thanks,

Jeff

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I've tried a Trinity 'zouk. It was okay, but there was something about the sound character that didn't grab me...I think it lacked the ring and sustain that I have a preference for. Still, it was a decent gizmo. I understand that they're good value for the money, but I haven't checked out any prices. You might want to consider a Foley!

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"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I have a Trinity. It's OK but I'd like to trade up for a McDonald, Fylde or Stuart. (I have an awesome McDonald hard body electric wired like a Strat but I wouldn't recommend taking one of these to a session.

I've played a Trinity a few times. It's okay, but I don't like the flat fretboard. Once you get use to one with the frets slightly curved, like a guitar, you won't go back.

That's a good point, but much has to do with what you're trying to accomplish. Certainly if you're doing more melodic and single-string playing, a radial-faced fretboard is a big plus. I had a Moon cittern (Scottish made) with such a fretboard, and liked that feature very well. Still, when I settled on a Foley, I knew that I would be getting a flat fretboard face on it. I was a little uneasy about that, but it turned out just fine since with my way of playing, which includes course glissandos, the flat face makes things a bit easier for me to control. YMMV.

It's a good idea to check with makers to see if they offer options.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

The trinity is an ok place to start, though, if you've never played the oct-mando or zouk.
Don't bother with a Fender unless you would like an instrument that you can pick around the campfire...
I recently bought a cheaper mando to take camping with me so i don't have to worry about damage to my Rose. I went to several local music stores that stocked cheaper mandos (by cheaper, I mean around $300 or so, your mileage may vary) and tried a Fender, an Ovation (real Ovation, not their Applause line), a Washburn, a Fernandez, an Ibanez, and a Samick. I eventually settled on the Ibanez for several reasons; the Ibanez was the only one made out of carved wood, the Fender and the Washburn sounded like toys until you got into the $600+ range, the Washburn had very poor highs, though the lows were ok, the Ovation felt very solid but there was something about the tone I didn't like (at least not for $389.99; it was the second most expensive in my choice lineup), the Samick...(where do I begin..) First off, dont get me wrong; in the past Samick has made some truly poor instruments at a very good price, and they've been working hard to improve their quality in recent years (and some of their more expensive lines are truly nice), but the mandos I encountered by Samick were outrageous (no offence to anyone who happens to own one)! The cheapest one available was a laminate with no truss rod in the neck, plastic bridge and tinny cheap tailpiece...it sounded ok, certainly better than one or two I had tried, but they bloody wanted almost $500 for this thing!!!! And that was Samick's "Economy" model!!!!EEeeek!!!:o I wouldn't have given them $100 for it!
So, if you want a cheaper one...play around a bit and see what you like before you buy, (and remember that high prices dont always mean higher quality) and if you want one now, buy local, if you can stand to wait, order one.
Here's a link to some great builders
http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/builders/searchdb.cgi?uid=default&view_records=1&keyword=States and some godd dealershttp://www.mandolincafe.com/links.html#dealers
also, hang around at http://www.mandolincafe.com. There are a great deal of hobbyist luthiers that wouldn't mind building you a very high quality instrument for a decent price if you're thinking of spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000-$1500.

other links you might find helpful...
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.speek/bouzouki/
http://www.wisdomofthewood.com

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let me point out a very important pattern in the posts. The use of the letters O and K. If these wletters are used to describe an instrument you might want to think about it awfully hard before digging in. I had one and I liked it just fine until I played anyone else zouk and then it was just O.K.

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