Noob question(s)

[MarvinFowler]

I'm an amateur musician with 20 years experience with guitar. I'd been wanting a mandolin for months and after getting the ok from my wife, I bought a Kentucky KM-630 mandolin for my Xmas present. I didn't really know much about mandolins before I bought this (shoulda been on this forum first) and I thought that for the price I paid I would be getting a fine instrument. Well, it's OK but after getting immersed in the mandolin culture, I have my sights set higher. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with what I have for the time being. I've been been banging away at this instrument every day for at least 1 1/2 hours a night since I got it and find it difficult to play. If I don't hit the frets perfectly, the sound is awful, and on some of the notes even if I do it sounds bad. I know it's in tune but it sure has some bad sounds. What advice could anyone give me to improve the quality of sound? Would putting different strings on it help, and if so, what strings would you recommend? I find it very hard to play; I have to press extremely hard on the strings to get a good sound. Is this right, or perhaps, right for this particular instrument? Would upgrading to a more expensive mandolin increase the ease of playing? I must say that although I enjoy playing guitar, I can't get enough of mandolin. I haven't even picked up my guitar since I got this and it's been 7 weeks and I've practiced every day but progress sure is slow! Any suggestions, hints, advice greatly appreciated.

[peterleyenaar]

Marvin, Probably take it to a luthier and have him set it up properly and with good strings, hope this helps.

[sunburst]

Sounds like you need a good set-up.
This gets discussed around here quite a bit. Another thing that gets discussed is whether or not one can do his/her own set-up rather than pay a pro.
You can, in fact, do your own set-up, but you have to learn how and have the tools you need.

Sounds like a little fret work might be involved in your set-up, so you might want to just take it to a good luthier/technician and have it done.

[fatt-dad]

Chances are it's too high at both the nut and the bridge. Often you can help the playability by lowering the bridge (see if it's adjustable - look for the small screws). But lowering at the bridge if the nut is high will not correct the feeling of hard to play. If the nut needs to be lowered, you really should take it to a professional.

Good luck.

f-d

[Martin Jonas]

It's entirely possible that you need a setup, and getting that checked is certainly a good idea. Most shop setups are appalling. If you are experienced with guitar setups, you may be able to do most of this yourself, such as checking the action at the nut, checking if your nut and bridge slots are cleanly cut, making sure the action at the bridge is set as low as you can get without buzzing (you may want to put it higher later on, but I would start with a low action), checking that the frets are level and that you have a sensible neck relief. Checking bridge position is something that you may not be familiar with, but it's fairly straightforward. The thing to approciate is that the original bridge position may be completely off-kilter, so don't be swayed by where it was, put it where it should be (i.e. where the fretted note at the 12th string is exactly one octave above the open string). Frets.com (http://www.frets.com) has most of the technical details. As for strings, many manufacturers use inappropriately thin and cheap strings for initial setup. You will probably want to experiment a bit, but the d'Addario J74 set is a good starting point for your Kentucky and they're pretty cheap.

It's also possible that this is just part of the learning curve. Mandolins have a much higher string tension than guitar, and you have to press two strings at a time. As a result, guitar players often have a hard time getting a clean tone. Also, many guitar players use inappropriately thin picks -- there are a lot of different opinions around here on what's the best pick, but I don't recall anyone ever recommending a pick thinner than 0.88mm and many use much thicker picks. Let only a little bit of the pick protrude beyond your fingers, try to aim for a very loose pick grip and experiment with the way the tone changes as you vary the angle of the pick to the strings and the pick position from close to the bridge to above the 12th fret. Finally, if you know any pickers, let them play your mandolin to see if it's your technique or your mandolin that gives you hassle.

Martin

[MarvinFowler]

Thanks for all the good advice...my problem is I don't have a pro anywhere around that can check my setup. As I bought this mail-order, nothing was set up; I did it all myself. The bridge is adjustable and I have it at the lowest setting. I'm pretty confident that the placement is good on it but the pick advice was right on target; I'm definitely using too thin a pick. From the replies posted I don't see any overtly negative comments on the quality of the mandolin itself so I have to believe it can be made better by a good setup or are my expectations are too high for this mandolin?

[Martin Jonas]

This mandolin is at an awkward price point for an F-style: in retrospect, I think you'd have been better off going for the KM-380s, which is cheaper and is an all-solid wood, all-carved mandolin. #It's just missing that scroll. #I have played the KM-380s, which when properly setup is a nice-sounding instrument, good for learning your way. #I haven't played the KM-630 and so I don't know how detrimental the laminate body is for the tone. #Still, these mid-range Kentuckys should be at the very least reasonable instruments, when properly strung and set up. I don't think it would be a good idea to go off hunting for a better mandolin at this point. Give it half a year or a year and then you should be at a point where you know precisely what you want in a mandolin.

I should also say that I have seen Kentuckys where the lowest setting of the bridge was still way too high, in which case you might need to do some sanding down. #Also, the bridge feet may not be properly fitted to the curvature of the top, as they do not fit them individually at the Kentucky factory. #Getting bridge fit right can have a fairly major effect on tone. #Ideally, there should be no light shining through between bridge feet and top. #There's a good article on frets.com on how to do this. #If you do need to sand the bridge feet to match the curve of the top, that will also bring down the action somewhat.

Martin

[Eric F.]

I would suggest also trying a set of Thomastik-Infeld medium (mittel, they call them) strings. They are very expensive but they seem to improve the tone of less expensive instruments. They also are easy on the fingers and they last for months and months. You will probably lose a little volume but you might find it a worthwhile trade for the extra playability and smoother tone. Kentuckys seem to be hit or miss and much seems to depend on the setup.