Geesh! What a let-down! Two pages of real interesting "bridge-banter" and they guy tells you that your stock Chinese bridge is fine! Not so! I put two of our CA bridges on "The Loar" mandolins yesterday, an LM-400 and an LM-700. Very dramatic improvement in tone, volume, and intonation accuracy. They sound so good that I'm in no hurry to send them back to their customers! I'm in the middle of putting a new bridge (along with a James Tailpiece and Grover tuners) on an LM-600-BK today. I'm fairly certain all of these factors will improve on this mandolin too. (Plus, that black paint job is pretty cool too!).
Not to fault your repair guy (I checked out their website, and they seem like sharp guys there) but there is absolutely no comparison between one of our bridges (or Roger's, for that matter) and the stock bridge that comes on "The Loar" mandolins. It really is their weak link. Most people with any level of knowledge about these particular mandolins should know this, I would think.
So, tell you what, I'm ready to help educate these guys. What if I send you one of our Cumberland Acoustic bridges, at no cost to you, and you go have these guys install it on your mandolin? My only requirement would be that they play the instrument themselves (or have someone there play it if they don't play mandolin) both before and after the bridge is replaced. I would also ask that they test the intonation, both before and after the CA bridge is installed. If they are paying attention, I am hoping that I will have a new customer in their repair department. If not, I am confident that you will come back and give an honest (and hopefully glowing) review of how our bridge influenced the performance of your mandolin.
I'm serious about this offer, by the way. If nothing else, it will impart a far more dramatic end to this thread! If you want to take me up on it, you can call me at 877-857-4896, or e-mail me at
cumbacoustic@aol.com.
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