Gold Tone OM-800+ Octave Mandolin (Mahogany)

I bought this octave mandolin after a fair bit of research into it and similar instruments, following the death of my old Stradolin model mandolin. The pricetag was worrying but the result is very worthwhile! It has a very rich sound - lush, deep tones that match the range of a guitar (which is helpful for the accompaniment-style role that I use it for in a group) yet with the familiarity of the mandolin's string tuning system.It has been an adjustment for the fingers, learning the wider frets compared to a regular mandolin, but because the instrument is well-built and clean and new it's been much easier to learn that I feared.For a dedicated amateur like myself, I would endorse the the gold tone octave mandolin as a great option for a mandolinist looking for a more bass-line sort of role in an ensemble. And if I can ever learn how to sing & play at the same time, it'll complement a male vocal range beautifully too.

I pretty much knew this was the octave mando I wanted since it seems to be the best combination of affordability and good sound, but I was really skeptical at first about ordering an instrument online. The nice thing is that it comes with a great case and they ship it in that case. Right out of the box I had to just tune it up, and then there was some buzzing on some frets... but I realized I just had to turn the knobs on the bridge to raise it more and then it played beautifully. I have had it for exactly one month today and have already gigged with it a bunch of times and it's gone wonderfully. Compared to a normal mando, you will notice how loud the natural sound of this instrument is. And, very unlike a normal mando, this OM has sustain that goes on for years. And finally if your into incorporating harmonics, the harmonics on this thing are super loud and pretty.Get a strap for it... it can slide off of your lap sometimes.

I had high expectations and this Gold Tone OM 800+ delivered everything I wanted and more. The mandolin is gorgeous. All the details are are perfect and the workmanship is impressive throughout. More important, the tonal quality is impressive. It sounds amazing - rich resonance and sustain. I am very happy I went with the Gold Tone.

I love the beautiful appearance of the Gold Tone OM-800+ octave mandolin. It is very well made and its sound is excellent. Couldn't be happier with it. I am neglecting my regular mandolin badly now.

Back and forth to Fretworks to figure out a way to keep the inside nut from falling off and the pick up/ end pin from coming completely disconnected.

I had been slowly concluding that I wanted to branch from my standard mandolins to an octave. Since I already own a mando banjo from Gold Tone, I was aware that the quality was high. I did my research and felt like this was the one. It is very solid construction and every part of it is well made. The sustain on this blows me away from a standard mandolin. Please know, it does require you to adapt your fingering. On a standard mandolin frets 1 & 2 are for your first finger, 2 & 3 for your second, etc. You will not be able to stretch to all your four finger chords with this... I tinkered with bouzouki stringing (GDAD) because I read it is easier on the stretches, but settled on standard GDAE. It is not well documented, but this octave mandolin comes with a passive pickup built in it...which was a big plus for me, because I would have had to install one eventually. At first I was worried that I would not adapt easily to the changes, but have found my way around and am REALLY enjoying it. Very pleased.

The Gold Tone OM 800 is a fantastic instrument, but I don't recommend you buy it from Gear Tree. I sent back the one I ordered here. There were blank spots in the decal around the sound hole and spots where the binding was not cut properly. It was clearly a "B" instrument and should have been sold at a deeply discounted price. In fact the day after I shipped it back I got an email from Gold Tone in which they were offering instruments with even less flaws for significantly lower than retail prices. When my money was returned I ordered the OM 800 from Musician's Friend for the same price and it had no flaws.

Beautiful instrument, great tone, no real setup required, solid case, nice action, passive pickup ok for practice but need to really tweak at the amp for performance.

Se trata de material fragil, ademas la compra online podria generar sorpresas, no obstante, el servicio ha sido perfecto, llega segun la estimacion de tiempo prevista y en perfectas condiciones. Buen instrumento de su categoria. Lleva incluida pickup y estuche robusto

This instrument was so bad it was returned,almost unplayable and badly finished and at a tad under£1.000 that is not on,so to cut a long story short, don’t go anywhere near this instead go for the vangoa less than £100 and mine was perfect all round even playable straight out of the box