Saxon Moreno
Dec-19-2013, 2:47pm
Hi all, Having just read Rob Meldrum's excellent eBook on DIY setting up, and also having just ordered a compensated bridge for my mandola from Dave Hynds, I have a couple of questions:
Rob goes into detail about nut set-up in his book, but how does having a zero fret, as my mandola does, affect things like how the strings should sit in the nut grooves? Is the nut set-up less crucial with a zero fret?
Now the tensioner question: my 'dola is a flat top and so, to get a nice low action, I'm going to want my saddle height pretty low. This is going to mean that the angle of the strings from saddle to tailpiece is going to be very shallow. (The distance from bridge t tailpiece is about 5 3/8"). I know nothing about tensioners, but I saw from a photo of a restored mandola on Dave's website (http://www.mandolinluthier.com/mandolins_for_sale_5.htm) that he has fitted a tensioner "to improve the string angle at the bridge". What difference does the string angle from the bridge make? Why would one fit a tensioner in order to "improve" this angle?
I realise fitting a tensioner is a bit of an operation, and I'm unlikely to do this, but I'd like to know why one would. my 'dola is a Troubadour Gervaise, and I'm trying to get as good a sound as possible from this very handsome budget instrument.
Richard
Rob goes into detail about nut set-up in his book, but how does having a zero fret, as my mandola does, affect things like how the strings should sit in the nut grooves? Is the nut set-up less crucial with a zero fret?
Now the tensioner question: my 'dola is a flat top and so, to get a nice low action, I'm going to want my saddle height pretty low. This is going to mean that the angle of the strings from saddle to tailpiece is going to be very shallow. (The distance from bridge t tailpiece is about 5 3/8"). I know nothing about tensioners, but I saw from a photo of a restored mandola on Dave's website (http://www.mandolinluthier.com/mandolins_for_sale_5.htm) that he has fitted a tensioner "to improve the string angle at the bridge". What difference does the string angle from the bridge make? Why would one fit a tensioner in order to "improve" this angle?
I realise fitting a tensioner is a bit of an operation, and I'm unlikely to do this, but I'd like to know why one would. my 'dola is a Troubadour Gervaise, and I'm trying to get as good a sound as possible from this very handsome budget instrument.
Richard