Mandola tear-drop style 31" Length, Natural wood finish

First I just need to warn ya'll, if you do not know how to setup an instrument then you will need to pay a professional to have this setup.Second, this is scaled weird. The scale length is 19.25, about 4 inches longer than mandola strings setup for. After a little trial and error, I came up with three options. 1. Octave mandolin strings will work with not too much slack, but you will have to tune it GDAE. 2. Tenor guitar strings sound great and are closest to factory set. But you need two sets and you'll have to pop the ball out the end to use the loop. These allow for CGDA tuning. 3. Tenor banjo strings, which have a bright twangy sound, and like option 2, you'll need to use two sets, but at least they're already loop ends. These also allow for CGDA.But all in all, this is fun little instrument if properly setup!

Got this yesterday. If you have shopped for mandolas/octave mandos then you know they're not cheap, so the $79 price should temper expectations. My intention all along was to set this up as an octave mandolin, which is a good thing as I don't think it works as a mandola. Within 5 minutes of unboxing I broke a high A string trying to get it up to mandola tuning. With D'Addario EJ80 octave mando strings it makes a fun little instrument. Here's what I found: (a) it's a good way to learn about setting up your own instrument, as the action is way too high and intonation needed work. I sanded the underside of the bridge a bit because it didn't match the curve of the top, and had to cut the slots in the nut to accept the larger strings and to lower the action, which was too high even with mandola strings. I also installed a cheap pickup, which was the easiest part of the job. I'd recommend not installing the jack through the tailpiece but through the body instead. Easy peasy.After a couple hours work I had a playable but still not perfect octave mandolin. There still seems to be some kind of issue with playing in tune on a couple of courses even after intonating it. Not sure if it just needs more work or a problem with the instrument.Also, the neck is not in line with the body. They "solved" this at the factory by installing the tailpiece about 1/4 to one side so the strings are centered on the fretboard! That's some creative luthierie right there. But as long as all of the playing parts line up I can't see where that is anything more than a weird cosmetic issue.Bottom line: it is what it is. I got to practice learning to set up an instrument without risking a valuable one. It's playable for practice at least--the jury is out on whether it can be played in public. It is actually quite comfortable to play and has already convinced me that a "real" octave mando is probably in my future one of these days. If you like to tinker and want to see if an OM is for you, this would be a way to find out without investing the hundreds of dollars that a good OM would cost.

When I got the instrument, I tuned it and half of the strings popped. Either they were cheap strings or the weather was really bad on the way over. I play other string instruments, so I'm pretty confident it wasn't because of anything I did.When I tried to play a scale, I realized the first fret was out of tune. I might fix this by using a capo or something...I don't recommend this as a musical instrument to anyone, it would be a waste of money.

I had to spend $100 to get this usable. When I first got it, it would not stay in tune, so I took it in to find out why. The headstock was crooked, the string were sub-par, and the bridge had inadequate groves for the strings. Oh, and a strap nut need to be installed.

Hes really liking it so far. Good starter version for one new to the mandolin instrument group. Quite pretty

Not the absolute best instrument I have ever received.I play several different instruments and this one is rather cheap considering the price and the fact it comes with no accessories. I need to do some work on it really.The strings often pop out of place on the bridge, the strings are cheap also. But it looks nice and the sound rings in it like a champ!

Happy with instrument. Need to modify string height at fret #1. Desire to find hard shell case for this instrument!Would like a more deluxe instrument . Will play this a while and make decision to an upgrade instrument.

A complete piece of junk that you should not buy. The first one arrived with the neck broken off the body of the instrument. After returning that one and replacing it, the second cannot be played in tune because the frets are misplaced. The strings frequently pop out of the bridge. Don’t buy this.