action recommendations

[DrLeeDetroit]

Hello All,

Great group you've got here. I'm new, both to the mandolin and to the group.

I am learning on what was described as a 100-ish year old A style instrument that seems awfully hard to play. On loan from a friend. It has not been cared for at all, may be warped or otherwise disfigured, etc. I'm saving for my first mandolin and shopping around.

I was wondering if there are any accepted standards (or ranges) with respect to string heights. I've played guitar for a few years, and have seen this debated to death by various authorities. Measured down to the thousandth of an inch, with automotive feeler gauges, etc.

Thanks.

--Lee

P.S. Sorry if this has been covered somewhere. I didn't see it, and I almost never have luck with the search function on message boards...

[jim_n_virginia]

Action depends on what what you are playing and your technique or attack when you play.

I play a lot of bluegrass and I play kinda hard so my action is set a little high. Just eye-ballin it it looks to be about 3/16ths high, maybe a little more at the 12th fret.

Someone who plays single notes and plays Classical music may have the action set really low.

I do my own set ups so generally I lower the action untils it buzzes then I keep raising it in small increments until the buzzing stops when I play the strings hard.

I have found the Brekke bridge to be great for adjusting action because you can adjust under full tension with the supplied small wrench.

In any case whatever you set your string height at when you fret the strings it sould fret easily and not hurt your fingers tips with normal playing.

If you are unsure what you are doing it is always a good idea to take your instrument to a qualified (not a guitar tech at Guitar Center!) Luthier.

good luck!

[Bob DeVellis]

If the instrument is old, the neck joint may have shifted, the neck may be warped, or the top may have sunk somewhat.(Actually, while a sinking top is fairly common on old instruments, it usually results in the action being too low, not too high.) With any of those problems, it's not going to be possible to get the action where you want it. There really isn't a single standard, but I suspect the action on your old, probably neglected, instrument is a far distance from where anyone would want it to be.

To check if the neck is straight, you can foce down the G string at the first and last frets. When it's down like that, it forms a straight line that should be only slightly above the 7th or 8th fret. A business card or two should be able to fit in the gap. A quarter shouldn't. If the gap is big, the neck is warped. If you look at the back of the instrument, where the neck heel attaches to the body, there shoouldn't be a gap. If there is, the neck joint has slipped. Top sinkage can often be seen just by eyeballing across the top. There shouldn't be an indentation where the bridge is.

Although it's appealing to think about learning on an available instrument, even though it has problems, those problems can really inhibit your learning. If the action is too high, you'll have a bear of a time getting notes to sound cleanly and that will be very discouraging. If you can get clean notes, then the action may be tolerable and the instrument may serve you for the time being. If you can't, you should either get the instrument fixed or get something else if you plan to learn mandolin. Whether it's worth getting fixed depends on what it is. Some old instruments are worth the expense and others aren't. If you could post some pictures, or at least a detailed description (labels?), folks here probably can give you more information about it.

[DrLeeDetroit]

Thanks for the suggestions. It is very hard to get clean sounds out of it, especially at certain frets, so I suspect that it is in need of some work. As you say, this may or may not be worth it, and in any event, it isn't my mandolin anyway so I probably shouldn't have work done on it!

I've caught the bug, though, and will be looking to get my own as soon as I can find some room in the budget. Even with this less-than-ideal instrument, I find it a welcome break from the guitar.

--Lee