APC MOC310 Octave- Mandola (Case included)

This was a bit of a risky purchase because it was bought solely on the basis of reviews and soundfiles of APC instruments. There is a lot to like about it. The finish is way better than one could reasonably expect at this price point. It is not highly embellished with logos and the like but is classy and refined. It doesn't approach my Fylde mandolin for understated beauty (at four times the price) but it will be admired. The sound is very full as you would expect from rosewood and the instrument is ok for both big sounding chords and single note melodies. It played well straight away and didn't need any adjustment. The action is very reasonable. A very playable intrument. The scale length is manageable albeit a bit of a stretch for my rather small hands and there are shorter ones out there. It is much less of a challenge than my 19 fret tenor banjo, though. All in all, I would say it was outstanding value especially at the price of around £380 inc p&p that I paid. If you are looking for an octave mandola for occasional use then this one seems to me to be a strong contender.There were two surprises: one pleasant, one not. The pleasant surprise was the qualiy of the case which is one of those with styrofoam (I think) shell inside a cloth exterior. You would pay a fair bit for this as a stand-alone item. I expected just a gig bag. This is a very superior case and it fits the instrument perfectly and it is nicely decorated with APC's (rather odd) "half-guitar" logo. This case means the instrument is likely to get to you intact which is, speaking from bitter experience, no small benefit! The unpleasant surprise is that it has NO strap button so how you put a strap on it, I just don't know. It's not obvious from the pictures that no button is provided.This is the issue that makes me give it four stars, not five.I feel it's a bit of a bargain at this price but the lack of a strap button is an undoubted shot in the foot and will bother people who want to play standing up or even those who just want the reassurance when they are seated. Putting that aside, I don't think you are likely to be disappointed. A bit of a bargain, I feel. I'm not the first to suggest that prices might well rise at some point in the future.