Hello,
I play a Washburn M118sw (all solid F style) that is a 2nd. Bought it about two years ago and have been really very happy with it. This weekend I did the 3rd string change since purchase and thought to lower the saddle a little (via the thumbwheels) as the action was just a tad high. Ran the wheels all the way down (not that far a travel). Turned out a little low but there was no buzzing so I decided to play her that way for a day or two and then decide later about a return to the previous height.
Picked the instrument up yesterday and the buzzing was terrible, so I figured it was time to take the saddle height back up a bit at a time to see if I could find a happy medium. Sighted the neck before I started and was not pleased. It APPEARS that the neck has suddenly taken on a huge twist and with the thumbwheels set approximatley at equal height, the E pair is way higher than any other and the G(s) are still noisy.
It seems to me in retrospect that I may have noticed previously that the thumbwheels were at slightly different heights. I had sighted the neck before and never seen anything amiss. My quandry is how to discern if a) in the space of a weeks time the neck developed a major defect (is that even possible?), or b) if perhaps there was a problem from the get go, but because the setup was adjusted by the seller the twist already exsisted but had been compensated for by the saddle being at different heights at each end and I just did not notice.
She used to play really sweet, and now it's like I am wearing gloves (and the tone sucks!). Live in NYC, but most repair shops don't know mandolins specifically, are too busy with their important customers, or are just plain too expensive for my means. Any advice, suggestions, or stories with related experiences would be very much appreciated. Thank you. Fare well, h
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