Bone nut material for Backpacker bridge?

[Treetopper]

I have a Martin backpacker mando that needed a new bridge, I had one of those StewMac nuts available, it was approximately the same size so I made a bridge out of it. The sound is V E R Y loud, but tinny, I love messing around with this mando because I cannot do much damage to it. Any suggestions on how I can get the sound a little more mellow?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif?

[John Flynn]

I have had the same problem with a travel mando. I would suggest a rosewood bridge and perhaps one that is wider than the standard. I also highly recommend T-I strings. I am not a fan of them for arch-top mandos, but they are great for mellowing out tinny little flat-tops.