I came close to purchasing a used MD-404 today, but backed out of the deal because of concern over neck straightness. The neck had excess relief overall, especially on the bass side. We took the mando to the store tech, who attempted to adjust the neck with a correct wrench, but ran out of thread before straightness was achieved. He was afraid to tighten any further. I walked away reluctantly, because the mando was in otherwise pristine shape and sounded great to boot.
I am afraid this is not an isolated problem with these mandolins. I had an MD-504 with an identical issue, and as a store tech worked on a MD-615 and a MD-515. I actually stripped the brass nut when I applied excessive pressure on the 515.
I need some ideas from other repair persons on how to address this truss rod issue. I've clamped a bar to the fretboard to apply back pressure when adjusting. I've added small washers to expose more thread on the rod. I've even replaced the brass nut with a stainless steel one to achieve more pressure, but I know that brass is used for a reason. I've even pulled the frets and sanded the fretboard and refretted.
Any idea?. I'd still like that MD-404 if I could straighten that neck.
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