New mandolin, new player, and new to forum

[fishtex]

Hey everybody! Today was an exciting day for me. I bought my first mandolin! It's a lower end Ibanez and I plan to wear it out. A few months ago I wanted to start playing but all I had was a ukulele so I tuned the 4 strings to mandolin tuning (a few steps down) and i've been working on tunes. Having the real thing is much better though!

80313

[Kip Carter]

Fish,
Congratulations!! I have exactly the same mandolin. It is a Model: M511SE-DVS. I know how you feel as I've had that feeling for a week now. Last Friday I bought mine. I too had never played the mandolin. I learned my first song the same day I got it by using one of the free lessons from one of the sponsors here (FreeMandolinVideos.com).

Some things to know about my experience with my 511 as I would guess unless your re-seller did a setup for you that you will find them true of yours as well.


The action was high at the nut and the bridge.
The bridge was too high when you cranked it all the way down, so in order to bring the bridge side down to where it should be shaving of the bridge is in order.
Bridge placemement was way sharp.


I did some initial adjustments but quickly located a local Luthier to do the work professionally for me. He verified my findings and cut the nut down to proper height and adjusted the positioning of the bridge to eliminate the sharp condition at the octave fret (the 12th).

I'm planning on putting some better quality strings on mine and my Luthier will shave the bridge at that time.

I can tell you that the professional setup has made the lil girl 1000 times easier to deal with and she sings beautifully for a starter mandolin. Bark is nice and notes are crisp and clear and can be sustained well.

I think you will be very happy with it once it is setup properly (if it hasn't been already). I know that I can't keep my hands off of mine. I sits in a stand next to my desk and every time I want a little break from the keyboard (work=computer keyboard) I pick it up and play it.

Stay in touch as I haven't seen a 'lot' of Ibenez owners on here and you are the first I have run across that had the exact same model as mine. We can share information.

You will find the Cafe is a tremendous community, with lots of knowledgeable people and a great source of information as well as inspiration.

Enjoy!!
Kip...

[fishtex]

KenCar,

Thanks for all the advice! I am struggling a bit with the amount of pressure needed to play the strings at the first fret. I'm guessing the nut action must be too high. I only have my experience with playing guitar to compare it to and I'm just not sure if it should be as easy to press the strings down on the mandolin as it is on guitar or not.

I'm definitely going to try and find a local luthier in the Dallas, Tx area to set it up for me and do any initial work. The guys at Guitar Center were useless. Hopefully it won't run me an arm and a leg. I'd hate to have to spend another $200-300 after buying the mandolin. I guess I could have found a used one that might have already been set up for that price?

[Kip Carter]

It shouldn't cost a great deal to get it all set.. Good luck stay in touch.
Kip...

[Rob Meldrum]

I am in the final editing stage of an Ebook on how to set up a mandolin. If you want a free pre-release copy, send me an e-mail at rob.meldrum@gmail.com.
Here are my before and after videos: Before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3G3QZOSyPI
and After:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGU7ZjIp-vQ&feature=related

All I ask in return is that you e-mail me any corrections or suggestions you may have. If you like the book and find it useful, please post a compliment on www.mandolincafe.com. : )

If you decide you want someone else to do it, most shops charge between $50 to $100 for a decent set up.

Sincerely,

Rob

[bmac]

The above advice is right on. You must adjust your nut and bridge (and sometimes more) to get a reasonable tone and feel to your instrument.... That means you either do it yourself or pay someone... In either case it is time and/or money well spent. Some instruments are good from the dealer, but mail order or high volume dealers almost never spend time and effort necessary to get them in adjustment. And in most cases they wouldn't know how anyway.

frets.com has excellent information on settup and and nut and bridge adjustment. but it simply won't be comfortable or satisfying to play without a set-up.

[Kip Carter]

If you haven't taken advantage of Rob's ebook above I would highly suggest it. I will be doing the final adjustments to my Ibenez 511 either later this week or this weekend. The difference so far with the setup information has been tremendous enhancement to the play-ability of the 511.
Regards,
Kip...

[JEStanek]

Welcome to the Cafe!

Jamie

[JeffD]

Hey everybody! Today was an exciting day for me. I bought my first mandolin! It's a lower end Ibanez and I plan to wear it out.

!!! I love it. Inspiring enthusiasm. None of this "I got something I almost like in the hopes that I will someday get something I really like." Its all the way, "I got something and I am going to play the potatoes out of it. I'm not thinking about what I might get in the future because there is a mandolin in my hands right now!"


A few months ago I wanted to start playing but all I had was a ukulele so I tuned the 4 strings to mandolin tuning (a few steps down) and i've been working on tunes.

Thats kind of what I did. I borrowed one of my Dad's old tenor banjos, hadn't been played in years. I tuned it up in fifths best I could. Then I got out my 6th grade beginners clarinet book and taught myself to read the music. I was a young'in and my Dad was so impressed with how I struggled with that broken down banjo he went out to a tv repair store and got me my first mandolin, for $80 he got me a pac-rim laminate no-name, which was several steps up from a broken banjo tuned in fifths. I played that thing for five or six years, wore the finish off the fretboard in first position, until one day I screwed up and left it in a car all day in the summer sun.

[Kip Carter]

Wait!! I had unbridled enthusiasm... didn't I? I thought I did...

Any how..that lil Ibenez 511 sings purdy... know mine does at any rate.
Kip....

[Markus]

Welcome to the Cafe and enjoy your new mandolin.

As you poke around here, be sure to check out the mp3 page which has a ton of mandolin music of great variety to listen to over the internet: http://www.mandolincafe.com/mp3/

[fishtex]

I did check out Rob's eBook which is well put together and very informative but I don't feel confident enough in my repair abilities to do the work myself. I took my mandolin to a little shop here in Dallas with a great reputation and they are setting it up for me. Maybe if I find an inexpensive mandolin at a flea market or somewhere I might try Rob's set up guide.

Greg

[Markus]

Good call on the setup.

[Kip Carter]

I did check out Rob's eBook which is well put together and very informative but I don't feel confident enough in my repair abilities to do the work myself. I took my mandolin to a little shop here in Dallas with a great reputation and they are setting it up for me. Maybe if I find an inexpensive mandolin at a flea market or somewhere I might try Rob's set up guide.

Greg

Greg,
If you want something to mess around with and learn you can't beat the $40 Rogue's available from musiciansfriend.com. Rob has used them in his examples and they are a nice sounding inexpensive mandolin and even if you totally destroyed one it wouldn't be a big loss. (but you wont destroy one no matter).

I'm getting two of them her soon. One for my son's birthday and the other for a friends son. I will be setting both up.

I totally understand the jitters on your new Ibenez 511. I was the same way when it came to the nut setting. The bridge, well I'm comfortable messing with that. Worst case I destroy the old one and order one from CA. :))
Enjoy,
Kip

PS: when you get yours back from the local luthier.. I want to hear your reaction to the difference. I know on mine it was amazing!

[Dajules]

Welcome to the Cafe Fish,
I also own an Ibanez 511 That I got about a year ago. Mine also needed a good set up that I did by reading on this great forum. I l loved setting it up because i got to learn how every thing works. Tell us how it comes back from the set up, it should play way easier.

[Kip Carter]

So that makes three of us that I count that have the 511 on the forums. I just posted yesterday that I'm gonna replace the original bridge with a CA shortly. Had mine off yesterday to fix an issue with it not adjusting properly and found it was less than well engineered.

If you haven't gotten a way to pull the sound into the I posted a my review the inexpesive Hosa USB to 1/4 cable on this 'Here' (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?80831-Anyone-tried-one-of-these). Towards the bottom of that thread I have a sound clip using the cable that I bought for $13.25 off ebay.

Tone and play-ability is good though especially when you consider the price.
Kip...