bridge placement

[keymandoplyr]

I need the measurement of the bridge placement on an A style mandolin. A music store took it off to change strings and I know its not in proper position as I cant seem to get the intonation right Is one side different ? thanks . http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[arbarnhart]

Try these instructions (http://www.johnsongtr.com/uploads/media/Mandolin_Bridge_Set_Up.pdf). One thing I would add is that the bridge will be pretty close to double the distance from the nut to the 12th fret. The instructions in the link use body features that are generally where the bridge will be and will work for most mandos without much measuring or math.

[DryBones]

How will the height of an adjustable bridge affect intonation? The reason I ask is that I have a mandolin that I have to have the bridge moved forward quite a bit towards the neck to get theintonation correct and I am wondering if by adjusting the bridge up or down I can get the bridge back towards the tailpiece.

[glauber]

How will the height of an adjustable bridge affect intonation?
I can think of two small ways:
(1) as you raise the bridge, you're making the strings a little longer (think the long side of a right triangle).
(2) you're stretching the strings a little more to reach the frets; this should affect the notes up the neck more than the lower notes.

[Paul Hostetter]

I think #2 is the important one. It's about deflection and stretching the string and raising its pitch thereby.

No matter how high the action, the adjustment of the bridge's location is the same, and it's simple: if it plays flat, move the bridge toward the fingerboard until it's right. If it plays sharp, move it back until it sounds right.