Mandolin Set Up Ebook and Mandolin Users

[BullGator]

Rob -

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for the great e-book on the proper setup of a Mandolin. I followed your guide to get my Loar LM600 dialed in with a Cumberland Acoustics bridge, and the results are fantastic. There was such a difference in playability and tone, the action before was very difficult to play, but following your guidelines it plays like a dream.

I cannot thank you enough for your contributions! Such a great e-book, very easy to follow and produced great results for me! Thanks again!

[bg4]

Thanks the book, it is appreciated! I have a used Eastman MD605 that I'm going to attempt to setup on my own following your book.

[Donal H]

I don't think I managed to say a thanks for the ebook. I just pulled it out the other day and re-read it because this thread filtered to the top again. What a great resource.

[hendrix2]

Dear Rob,

Many thanks for the ebook! It is exactly what I was looking for!

I am sure my mandolins will become better instruments ones I have followed your instructions.

[NicZuppardi]

Big thanks to Rob for sending me his ebook, such a great resource!

[RustyMadd]

I don't know if I said it before or not, but just in case I didn't I wanted to thank you Rob for sharing this valuable information with the likes of a nobody like me. I am semi-retired with no pensions or SS and an income of under 10K per annum. So your instincts about the incomes of many requesters and their purchasing predicaments is spot on. From the bottom of my heart to yours, THANK YOU SIR!
May you be richly and continually blessed.

[John Bertotti]

Yes, he just emailed me a couple of links and his ebook as well. Looks great! Ironically enough I don't need a set up currently on a mandolin but the knowledge is priceless. I do a lot of guitar set ups so I will definitely be able to use this information as well. Thanks, Rob it is much appreciated!

[Randy Mallory]

Same here! I am really appreciative to Rob and now I am ready to do some set-up on my Loar LM-600.

[Iain Allen]

Hi.
I'm a newbie to mandolin although I play other instruments.
I received Roberts ebook a couple of days ago and I'm sure that it will be invaluable when I get round to setting up my mandolin.
I've had a quick read through and its certainly well written easy to understand there's lots of info on how to make adjustments.
Looking forward to improving my set up.
Many thanks to Robert for taking the time to write and freely share his experience and knowledge.

Iain

[hgrimmett]

Just wanted to say thanks to Rob for the GREAT ebook! He also included a couple of helpful links in his email to me. Muchly appreciated!

[anon-rickf]

I did post on youtube but maybe forgot about posting here. This was my post:
Rick Frank
"Thanks for the great video and ebook as well! This information has already helped me to perform a "rescue operation" on a neglected shopping mall mandolin that has since gone to a loving home and is making happy music."

Thanks again.

[Greg P. Stone]

Thanks, Rob, some great practical advice. After getting the feeler gauges and going through the process I determined that the mandolin I bought used had been setup properly for medium strings. As a beginner I have been using lights. The intonation is a little off but I'll wait until I change to mediums and check again before adjusting the bridge. I feel much more confident about adjusting the bridge position now.

I wish we could have a thread to fill in the things not mentioned in the e-book. The setup is tailored to a particular sized set of strings but the people using this resource are often experimenting with different sizes so I'd be interested in a setup strategy which takes this into account. I was surprised that there was nothing about adjusting the truss rod. I presume this comes up less often with mandolins than it does with guitars.

Finally, at the very end, there are some personal preferences expressed. I would warn beginners that this section should not be accorded the same authority as the rest of the e-book. One thing I didn't have to learn coming from guitar is how to hold the pick. My method, holding the pick perpendicular to the thumb in a loose grip was confirmed over and over by the who's who of teachers in video after video as optimum. Rob advocates holding the pick very tightly at a different angle. So, I worry that beginners reading this otherwise very valuable resource will assume that his pick technique is also authoritative.

[Bunnyf]

Thank you Rob! I got a used ‘09 American Breedlove A last year and it was already nicely set-up, so I tucked your ebook away for future reference. Well, I changed my D’ad med to TI flatwound lights and one D string had quite a buzz. They were expensive strings and I really wanted to give them a good try, so I knew I had to problem solve this. I broke out your book and was able to pin down the issue. Thanks again!

[Jebadave]

Thanks so much for the ebook Rob! What an incredible resource. Can’t wait to read it.

[LMF]

First, I want to thank Rob for responding to my request for the ebook and also providing video clips of his before and after setup results. My first mandolin was a Rogue just like the one in his video and his ebook. Fortunately mine didn’t sound nearly as bad as his out of the box or I might have given up from the get go! My experience was that the instrument sounded very thin but was fun. After a few months of mucking around I bought an Eastman 305, probably the next step up in the least expensive quality improvement category. I now have a serious problem - two custom mandolins from Collings and Lou Stiver. Still, I can appreciate Rob’s work. It actually makes me want to purchase a Rogue again to see how my view of it has changed, especially after setting it up properly this time.

Rob’s book is very comprehensive and way more than I’d ever be willing to take on with one of my more expensive instruments. It’s still nice to know tricks to get the bridge height and position correct, and I think a lot of people overlook simple issues like nut being too high, or slots too deep, or anything like that making a perfectly good instrument unpleasant to play.

It’s a great read. Thanks again, Rob. I learned a lot and others will and have as well.

LMF

[Cisco]

Thanks a ton for the ebook. What a deal! Great info and response was immediate.
I appreciate it Rob.

[jurbi]

Received my ebook from Rob this week and have already applied some for the things I learned to my Rogue. Thank you, Rob.

[Roger Wayne]

Rob,

Thanks for the ebook, and links. Very helpful and appreciated! Great work.

[Paul Hanvey]

Received the e-book a few days ago and I want to thank you Rob for making this so easily available, and for free! For someone new the world of Mandolin this is a very good reference source to understand the working of the instrument. Got any quick fixes for my hands??

[psantiago]

I hope it's not bad form to bump a thread that's a few months old. Mea culpa if so.

I just wanted to give Rob a quick thanks for the book! It's definitely opened the possibility for me to start playing mandolin without as big of an investment, before I'm sure if it's "my" instrument so to speak. It also seems like quite a bit of the information is useful for any stringed instrument.

Thanks again!

[Br1ck]

Welcome. This thread can be bumped once a week as far as I’m concerned. I keep the book on my desk top handy as a reference.

[Thuja]

Just got a chance to look at the book, it looks amazing! So excited to start working through it.

[nlopez]

First post!
Rob,
The book is amazing! Thank you so much for the great information and your kindness and generosity!

[atlpats]

Rob,
Thank you very much for the ebook, looking forward to reading it over.

[tremolo jones]

Rob,
Thanks sooooo much for the great book and for contributing to this community!