How do I care for my instrument American Conservatory Mandolin?

[Jacqke]

Ok, so I though I would try a bowlback mandolin. I found an American Conservatory Mandolin on ebay, one that had shown obvious signs of repair by someone far more competent than I (fixed cracked soundboard and new tuner with old holes filled in, no cracks or separations of pieces coming apart).

It plays beautifully! Much nicer action than my Chinese made Morgan Monroe and much better tones (so that's what sonorous means).

But it is also no plywood mandolin. I want to conserve it now that I have it. What would you suggest for care of something older than my grandfather?

This thing has strings on it that a receipt leads me to believe are J62 D'Addario strings 80/20 bronze. Is it safe to leave it strung? I notice that the left side of the soundboard, right at the pick guard and to its left is a little lower than the right. Is that likely to be where string pressure collapses a soundboard?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[multidon]

If it were my instrument I would string it with extra lights. Something like GHS A 240.

[sunburst]

Definitely light to extra light strings. Mostly, avoid extremes of temperature and humidity, and play it regularly. (If you play it regularly, you will look it over regularly, and if something starts to go wrong you can attend to it immediately.)

[Jacqke]

I was unaware of the extra light strings. Thank you. As far as humidity goes, is a case humidifier a good idea?

[sunburst]

...is a case humidifier a good idea?

It can be, but it puts the responsibility on you. You need to understand the effects of relative humidity on wood and the instrument and you need to monitor the humidity and maintain it as nearly as you can between 40% and 50%. A properly maintained case humidifier can be good in the winter months, or if you live in a dry climate more of the time, but it can over-humidify if it is not needed. It's best to control the humidity in your home, but that can be impractical for some people, so a case humidifier can be a good tool, and so can a case dehumidifier (properly maintained desiccant package).

[Folkmusician.com]

I recently repaired a bowlback and ended up combining various bulk strings to make a set that was light enough. I couldn't find any factory sets that were appropriate. I don't recall exactly what I used now. I think I started with 9-32 and settled on 8-? The mandolin was lightly built and still sounded good with the "extra light" strings.

[JeffD]

I have a similar mandolin - I use the GHS ultra lights, the A240s mentioned above. I keep it in its case, a strong fiberglass bowlback case, when its not being played, and I play it a good bit.

Can you post a picture of the sinkage?

[Jim Garber]

The GHS A240 are what I recommend initially. My favorite bowlback strings are Dogal Calace RW92b (dolce). You can buy them in the US from Bernunzio. They do cost considerably more than the GHS but sound better and last longer.

[Kieran]

Dogal's flatwound strings have worked well for us when restringing bowlbacks,specially the R47 set which are chrome flatwound.The bronze flatwound set V30 are are bit sweeter but less cut.
http://dogalstrings.it/Strings_Class...rings_Classico
Their equivalent mandola and mandocello sets are also very nice for instruments requiring less tension.

Apart from all this (and not really related to anything here) they are the only company we've found who are making fractional viola sets,as a trend exists-at least here-for teachers in junior school orchestras to convert a few small violins into violas to fill out that section.

Kieran

http://www.moloneymusic.com

[Jim Garber]

I personally prefer the roundwound Dogal Calace sets (as indicated above). I like the brighter sound than that produced by flatwounds. Of course, that is a matter of taste.

[JeffD]

Other than ultra light strings and keeping it the case when not in use, I don't do any special care. I play my bowls hard and they are up to it.