Mandolin Set Up Ebook and Mandolin Users

[Rob Meldrum]

For those of you that jumped to the end of this thread, I am still giving away the ebook. It's my small way of giving back to the music world that has brought me so much pleasure. :-)

Over the past nine years I have given away over 10,000 copies of the book! How cool is that? If you want a copy, just email me at rob.meldrum@gmail.com and put Mandolin Setup in the subject line. If you feel like writing me a note I enjoy reading them, but there is no requirement for that.

If you can do something nice for someone else this week, that would be more than enough payment...

Rob

[brogh]

Hello Rob,

Thanks for doing this !

I just joined and sent out the request mail, looking forward to read the pdf as i want to get the most out of my instrument.

Have a nice day !

[Arkle]

Hi Rob

Have to admit I'm one of those guilty for not saying thanks (till now) for your excellent e-book ,even though you replied to me the next day.

My excuse is that I took some time on deciding on a beginner's mandolin and don't want to see e-bay again for a long, long time. You are entirely correct in the point you made about the passion of some of the users on this site . When I spotted an instrument I thought would be okay, I searched name and model on this site to see what others thought. Some of the comments nearly put me off bothering with a mandolin entirely. However , I stuck with it and eventually got one and I'm happy with it.

Anyway, a belated thanks and a confirmation that an instrument in the 200 (GBP) bracket can sound sweet,
thanks to your excellent e-book.

Slainte. May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.

[Grizzy]

Hello Rob, Thank you so much for the e book! I just bought my first mandolin in May, and my second one in July. I have been afflicted with GAS, which is still quite active, PAS , picks.. , and am well on my way to MAS. My first 2 mandolins were imports, so I am certain I will not be satisfied until I own a good American made instrument. The pandemic isolation, and a desire to learn a new instrument brought me to this wonderful website, and many others I might add. It has also taken me back to my roots, as my paternal Grandparents played guitar and mandolin in the teens and twenties, and my maternal Grandma used to host weekend get togethers in her home on Prince Edward Island where they played traditional Scotch Irish music. Anyway, thank you sir for the book, it is very much appreciated. You have single handedly put a stop to my lurker status.

[John Soper]

Hey Rob - thank you for sending the book promptly today after I requested it this morning. I managed to use the information to counter the effects of relatively high humidity and a failed AC unit in North Carolina this evening. Primo!

[trodgers]

Another thumbs up for "The Book." Solid information and great tips for getting the job done right.
Thank you Rob for providing this handy guide for the mandolin community!

[stbarnett]

Rob, thanks so much for the quick reply and sending me the book. I've been playing mandolin for about six years and have a very nice Northfield... which is NOT what I'm going to be experimenting on. However, I also have a couple of low-end mandos that I use for things like keeping at my cabin and carrying on trips on my motorcycle. I'm really looking forward to working on these and seeing if I can get them more playable.
Nothing will turn an instrument that costs a couple of hundred dollars into one that costs a couple of thousand, but I expect they will be much more playable after the work.
Thanks again for your generosity.

[Sheila Lagrand]

I'm grateful--really, really grateful, for your book, Rob. Thank you for writing and for making it available. I, too, would have happily paid for a copy, and will happily pay should there be a subsequent edition to underwrite.

I began playing the violin when I was 7 or 8 and played actively for 12 or 14 years, and for the last 3 of those years, I played the mandolin, too. Many decades have passed since those days, and I never really learned much about setting up an instrument. That's what teachers were for!
Except now I'm 61 and my teachers are the wonderful people who have provided information online or in books.

So, again, thank you so much for providing me with a way to learn something I need to know about my mandolin. I appreciate your efforts and your generosity.

[Charlie21.fr]

Hi there,
My first post here on the forum is dedicated to Rob, to thank him for his book This is really great and nice of you to share big help and good advices on what we often struggle with: how to set properly a mandolin!
I received a week ago my new mandolin, a Blevins mandolin that already sounds very nice, with power and projection and with a warm tone. I'm very pleased with it and also thank Eddie for his beautiful work that is beyond my expectation. The setup is already good to start with and I may refine it step by step when I see something to adapt to my playing, not much to change.

Again, thank you Rob, and thank you Eddie!
charlie

[tooday]

I wanted to give a shout out to Rob Meldrum for a great book! This is an excellent (must have) book for someone wanting to do a quality setup on a lower priced mandolin. I like that it is practical for the average person and doesn't get into things requiring too much skill or specialized tools (such as fret leveling).

[NDO]

Thank you Rob! I’m especially impressed with the way the book shows you how to make/buy the tools needed for the setup. I wish I’d gotten my hands on this four months ago...it would have made my mandolin learning experience so far even more enjoyable, especially for those listening

[Gunnar]

Thanks so much for the book!! My brother's mandolin plays so well now, and I'm excited to set mine up when I get back to it!
Unfortunately, I was just tuning up to pitch after setting it up, and the 2nd string tuner stripped off. It now requires two pairs of pliers to tune. Ugh. But the action is low!

[oldsoldier181]

I just stumbled across this and sent an email. As a new player, I really appreciate this!!!

[charliedawg]

Rob, thanks for the book. It helped me immensely to navigate through setup as someone who had some knowledge gaps on this subject. Appreciate your contribution to the mandolin community.

[SOMorris]

Rob sent me the ebook a few years ago. I used it to set up a $100 mandolin, which ended up sounding great. Besides that, I learned a LOT. Thanks again, Rob!

[djptek]

Hi Rob, thanks very much for the guide on setup - all great advice, I'd strongly recommend this to anyone whose Mandolin is in need of setup, fixing the intonation is indispensible

Best

[Wlad]

Thank you very much Rob for sending me your book. I am new to the mandolin world and to the forum. Inherited an old banjo mandolin, set it up and now it sounds much better. Now in the process of learning to play. Greetings from Argentina

[madmag]

Rob, thank you very much for sending me your e-book so quickly. An incredible piece of work. Playing the mando is like "feeding" it; we also have to know how to "care" for it. For a newbie like me, it is an invaluable resource.

[Sheila Lagrand]

Hi everyone,

I have been giving away the free setup ebook for nearly four years now, and I thought you'd be interested in some observations I have. First off, if you want my free ebook on how to set up a mandolin, just email me at rob.meldrum@gmail.com and put Mandolin Setup in the subject line. . . .

Thank you, Rob (or may I call you Commodore ?) for this wonderful resource. Reading your book has significantly reduced my terror level. I can now barely see myself--but still, SEE myself--making adjustments and tweaks to my Eastman MD 305 and the MDO 305 that is to be delivered to me tomorrow.

Although I bought them both from Cafe sponsors, so they arrived/should arrive well set up.

[Peter Kurtze]

Thanks, Rob, it's a great resource and your generosity is outstanding!

[maxr]

Thanks for the mando setup book Rob, that's really useful.

[Lufbery]

Rob, I asked for your book and got it promptly. I read it cover to cover, and then (as you indicate in the book), took it to a somewhat local luthier recommended to me by a friend. What I found valuable in the book was that I could talk intelligently with the lutheir before and after he did the work.

Thank you.

[Blindermaus]

Thanks! Just got the book at an excited to get going.

[Hammerless]

Rob - Thanks so much for the quick response! From just scanning down through the pages I can see that this will be a great help in the future. Thanks again.