Should i be worried?

Hello,
I bought this mandolin earlier this year.
It plays really well and sounds good. My worries are more long term.
I have some concerns around flattening out / distortion of the top, it was like this when I got it and does not seem to have gotten any worse but i have not really had it that long!
This picture shows it set up as it came...
Attachment 165720
Hmm...
Anyway I was not going to dwell on the 'dont worry the bridge is fine like that' conversation i had and straightened it as best as it could be..as i say its the flattening of the arch that could be an issue, I have tried to picture it here.
I know probably some come out carved that way but any advice appreciated.
Attachment 165721Attachment 165722

Have a luthier check the instrument to insure the braces are tight.

I've seen worse - how old is the instrument - looks a bit like an Eastman?

Aye its an Eastman. About 1yr old.
The bracing seems OK and it actually looks like it has tone bars...could be wrong though!

Maybe the pic is distorted a bit, but the break angle seems extreme.

The bridge looks poorly made with those posts. Simpliest would be flipping the base (and refit to top) so the posts tilt against tailpiece and checking if they are not loose in the base.
The arch is hard to tell from such phone camera closeups that distort everything badly. Curently the bridge doesn't look too high judging by the exposed part of posts and being winter when tops typically sag a millimeter or so due to lower overall humidity in our homes.
Do you happen to remember how tall was the bridge when new, how much of the posts was exposed? Did you have to raise the action in the past? One or two millimeters of settling in the first year or so is normal, especially on ovals, but if it continues I would worry.

The bridge is not good but flipping the base is something I will do next string change.
The mandolin came with the bridge jacked up quite high, I prefer a lower action so i lowered it slightly and have not touched it since.
We were playing last night and I did think the E/A strings were feeling lower and I might need to give it half a turn just to raise them a bit. Nothing serious though, as you say, could be the weather.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Oliver R

The bridge is not good but flipping the base is something I will do next string change.

---

Don't forget you will need to fit it to top when you flip it as it is very unlikely the top arch is perfectly symmetrical.