Just starting

[Jozeca]

Hey all,

I got a mandolin in the mail yesterday (yay!). It's a "New York Pro" - nothing very exciting or expensive, but it's acoustic/electric so I'm happy with it.

I have a few questions though. I play violin and my fingers are really not calloused at all. I know it will take a bit for me to develop callouses, but I don't know if the strings should be this far from the finger board. Then again, maybe I'm just trying to push too hard, forgetting that this instrument actually has frets...

Anyway, it appears that the bridge is adjustable (There are two little silver round things on either side). Is there anythign I should do about it?

Also, the "A" on the G string is a bit sharp. A different mandolin I played also had this problem. There's nothing I can do about it, is there? I'm not too extremely worried about it, it's just my silly ear that bugs me sometimes...

One more thing. Does anyone know where I can find printable chord forms just for the basic major and minor chords (some 7s and stuff would be okay, but I'm looking for basics)? I'd like to have all of them and be able to take them with me.

Thank you! I'm sure I'll think of more questions...

[Jacob]

Printable mandolin chords (http://tremolo.no/english/misc/chords/mandolinindex.htm) and in a pdf download. (http://www.xs4all.nl/~hspeek/bouzouki/gdae/gdae.pdf)

[Jozeca]

Thanks, Jacob - I copied and pasted those to make a chart for myself.

Thanks!

[Blind_Cowboy]

The New York Pro is a chinese mandolin. It goes by several names, Bestler, Johnson, NYP, etc.. I've seen about 5 or 6 names on the same instrument. I've got a Bestler, and did a little homework.

As for the set up. The nut is cut high, and the bridge needs to be shaved. Not the feet of the bridge, but the riser saddle. The string grooves on the nut benefit from a light rubbing with a ultra fine grit paper. This will help with any string popping you may be experiencing. I had a problem with the 10th fret on the 'G' side of the board. I just dressed and leveled the frets and all is well. There are several articles on reseting the nut. For starters, hold down the 'G' between the 2 & 3 frets and look at the distance between the string and the first fret. You should set the nut height so that the string is close, but not touching, the 1st fret. I like mine as close as possible, but low setups invite buzzzz. And, if you haven't replaced the strings, I would suggest you do that imediately. The ones that came with is are junk. Best suggestion, go buy two new sets of strings, and take it to get a good setup. The tech will set it up and put the strings on for you. This will be the best thing you could do for yourself. Plus, that poor mando hasn't been loved or pampered since it was created. No care or consideration. Cut, slap, glue, next. So, any care and pampering you give it will come back to you 10 fold. Think about it. Buy a rich girl a diamond necklace, and she puts it in with the other jewelry, and you get a hug. If your lucky, a kiss. Buy a poor girl a diamond necklace, and you just won the lottery.

(Please forgive any status/sexist references. I think of all my instruments as different people. Some are poor men, one or two are a rich mistress.)

Blind Cowboy...

[grsnovi]

Unlike a violin where your fingering determines the note played, fretted instruments have fixed points where notes are made. The note made is determined by the length of the string remaining from the fret to the bridge. In order for ALL fretted notes to sound good you have to accept some compromise however there are also adjustments that can be made.

As mentioned above, the first step should be new strings and while putting them on, it sounds like you'll want somebody (yourself possibly) to look at and deepen the string slots on the nut. Typically this is done with a special set of files - available in graduated thicknesses for the various width slots.

Once your nut is taken care of and you have new strings, your A string may be fine, however it might not.

This is when you adjust your bridge height. Lower it so that playing is comfortable but your strings don't buzz.

Then, by moving the bridge forwards or backwards (toward the nut or tail) on either side you can usually get the intonation good on all of the strings. Typically the bridge will be on an angle: further from the nut at the bass side and closer on the treble side. The theoretical location of the bridge is measured to be 2x of the distance from the nut to the 12th fret (this is then slightly longer on the bass strings - by about 0.031" or so).

To check your intonation, tune your instrument. Then hit the string harmonic at the 12th fret (if this is your first stringed instrument, hitting a harmonic involves lightly touching the string directly over the fret and getting it to ring clear without actually pressing the string down to the fret). OK, hit the harmonic, then fret the string at the 12th fret.

The note you hear should be the same.

If the fretted note is FLAT, your bridge needs to move slightly towards the nut (conversely, if the fretted note is sharp, the bridge needs to move towards the tail).

Do this on your low G string first then on your high E.

As I said, the bridge will typically NOT be straight.

Now, IF your intonation is still way off - to the point where notes played up/down the frets are really bad while the open notes are good, you can have a compensated bridge saddle cut that will fix it.

In the long run, remember that the instrument you have is not a $10,000 investment, so it is possible that it is going to need some tweaking. Eventually, you may chose to live with some amount of poor intonation for some period of time and then decide to get a better instrument.

You may also want to see the thread started yesterday (in this same section) entitled: Tuning new mandolin

[Dru Lee Parsec]

Jozeca, What part of the world are you in? If you're anywhere near San Diego we can bring it to my shop and set it up right proper ;)

[Jozeca]

Jozeca, What part of the world are you in? If you're anywhere near San Diego we can bring it to my shop and set it up right proper ;)
*Sigh*
Oh, I so wish I could. However, I'm in Minnesota. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Honesly, we have NO WHERE anywhere close where I'm able to take it. There's two music stores in town - one could probably do it, but he's now known for really ripping people off ... :/

I dunno, I'll keep all the above advice in mind- I just don't feel like hassling with it. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

What thickness of picks should I use? Is it held just like a guitar pick? Do I rest my wrist anywhere on the instrument if I'm doing a tremelo? While we're on the subject, got any ideas of how I can learn to do a tremelo?

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Thanks everyone!

[August Watters]

The difference between your instrument the way it is now, and the way it could be with a proper setup, is night and day -- believe me, you don't want to overlook this. I'll guarantee your mandolin did not come with a proper setup; none of those Pac Rim mandos do -- and the New York Pro mandolin I played last weekend was worse than most.

Don't get me wrong, your mandolin can be set up to play just fine -- it just needs some attention from someone who knows what they're doing and has experience. Try to find a private luthier, if you don't have a reputable store nearby. Even if you have to send your mandolin by priority mail to one of the good repairmen who frequent this list, it will be well worth your investment.

Good luck!

[Jozeca]

The difference between your instrument the way it is now, and the way it could be with a proper setup, is night and day -- believe me, you don't want to overlook this. I'll guarantee your mandolin did not come with a proper setup; none of those Pac Rim mandos do -- and the New York Pro mandolin I played last weekend was worse than most.

Don't get me wrong, your mandolin can be set up to play just fine -- it just needs some attention from someone who knows what they're doing and has experience. Try to find a private luthier, if you don't have a reputable store nearby. Even if you have to send your mandolin by priority mail to one of the good repairmen who frequent this list, it will be well worth your investment.

Good luck!
Hmm, thanks for the advice.

Does anyone have any idea of how much setup like this would cost me?

Thanks.

[Ranger]

Jozeca, welcome to the board. are you in the arrowhead country of MN? i spent a summer there up in Togo, north of Bemidji. met some of the greatest folks up there that summer. certainly not alot of services available there, particularly musical. good luck...
Ranger

[Gail Hester]

Jozeca, welcome! I agree with everyone about the setup of the instrument. I recently purchased a Bestler mandolin as a gift for a beginner and it was unplayable as received. After I re-slotted and re-shaped the nut, leveled and crowned the frets, re-slotted the bridge and re-fitting the bridge to the mandolin top, it was very playable and sounded good. You don’t need an expensive instrument to start with but it does need to be playable. Also, put on a quality set of light gage strings.

[jeffyork]

A good setup usually runs from $40-$70; it depends on the luthier and how much work needs to be done.

It makes ALL the difference in playability. It is truly amazing what a luthier can do for an inexpensive instrument.

[craig]

you may want to contact the MBOTMA (http://www.minnesotabluegrass.org/contact.html). #i'm sure they could recommend someone near you! there's a couple links to shops in MN on there web-site, too.

good luck!!

craig

p.s. congrats on the new purchase! pick til' your fingers bleed!!