Re: Any tips for restringing or replacing strings
Pasha - If you haven't changed strings on your mandolin in 3 years,you need a ''make over''. I'd remove all the strings, clean up the body,fingerboard & frets & then re-string it. The clean-up part is something that i do on my own mandolins twice a year & it's very simple.
You need some low tack masking tape,or some sort of sticky paper that's not very sticky.
1) Place a small piece of tape at each end of the bridge & mark the front & back edges on it to help reposition it after reomoving it.
2) Remove all the strings & the bridge. You can mark the front or back face of the bridge if you like,but the wider slots in it will be on the G & D side.
3) Clean the mandolin body with a moist clean cloth & polish it with a soft duster. A non-silicone wax polish can be used very sparingly afterwards IF you want to do that.
4) Clean the fingerboard & clean away any built up of 'gunge' along the frets. Polish the frets with a Silver polishing cloth & buff up with the duster. Apply a very light coating of oil to the fingerboard & clean it all off immediately. Any natural oil will do. I've used olive oil & almond oil in the past. It just gives the wood a bit of colour back if it's gone a bit 'sad' looking.
5) Re-string the mandolin. I do it this way :- Put the 2 'D' strings on first. You can keep the end loops on the tailpiece by using a small piece of Blue-tack placed over them. After fitting the 2 strings,while they're still loose,put the bridge back on using the paper markers to re-position it. Get it central side to side,& hold it upright with one hand while you bring each string up to enough tension to hold it in place. They don't have to be fully tensioned. Check that the bridge is upright & not leaning in any way.
6) Put all the other strings on,checking that the bridge is still upright.
7) OK - now you can tune up. Tune one pair of strings only to a note that your tuner recognises -again,they don't have to be fully tuned up. Check the note 'open' & then check the octave at the 12th fret. If you need to,move the bridge towards the fingerboard if the note at the 12th fret is flat,or towards the tailpiece if the note at the 12th fret is sharp. You need the 'open' note & 12th fret note to be the same - but an octave apart of course.
When that's done,tune up all the strings to pitch,again checking to make sure that the bridge doesn't lean forward this time,as the strings pull on it. If it does start to lean forward,set it upright again. After tuning up all the strings,check the notes at the 12th fret against the 'open' notes & they should be within a very close tolerance if not 'perfectly' accurate. Any differences should certainly not be audible.
After tuning up my mandolin to a tuner,i usually check each pair of strings to the pair above it ie.fret the G strings at the 7th fret & check the D strings / fret the D strings at the 7th & check the A strings etc. I usually find that they're all almost spot on,except the E strings which are almost always a tad flat compared to the A strings. I just tune them up to the A strings. My tuner shows that they're a few 'cents' sharp,but my ears tell me they're in tune.
I usually wipe the strings over with a cloth to clean off any of the black residue left on the un-wound strings - usually the carbon lubricant used in the wire drawing process to lubricate the dies.
You're now set to go, but check your tuning after a while as the mandolin will go out of tune as the strings settle in,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
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