I just got my first mandolin in the mail, an Ibanez M510 (A-Style) bought at a moderate discount due to a supposed factory blemish (which I haven't even been able to find). Based on discussion I found of these and the seller's picture which still showed foam under the bridge, I was expecting to have to set it up completely myself and replace rusty strings, etc.
When it came, though, it was tuned quite low but it seems some setup was done before it left the shop. Strings look in decent shape yet too. Intonation on the middle strings is great, a tad flat on the E string octave — but the G string is a little bonkers!
With the open strings tuned up, a basic 0-0-2-3 G chord sounds alright… but when I play a D chord on 2-0-0-2 it's really gross.
According to the Cleartune app on my phone, the G course is about 15 cents flat at the twelfth fret. That's not great, but as used in that chord those same G strings are actually over 10 cents *sharp* at the second fret. This is an easy chord, and I'm fairly certain I'm not bending it. (Any less pressure and it mutes/buzzes — new to mandolin but been playing guitar/bass/uke much longer.)
What would cause this inconsistent intonation? It's gradually less sharp until about the 5th fret, and then starts going flat up to the 12th. Action is not crazy high especially back at the second fret, but looks like there's room to lower it if need be. The bridge is a compensated one, bit longer for the G and A than for the D and E. I've noticed it's not perfectly perpendicular to the strings either, a bit slanted so that the G course gets more length than the A. What should my next steps be?
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