Just .002 of an inch

[Br1ck]

I live in coastal California. We go from mid seventies to high eighties in summer to a frigid sixty in winter. That little difference, coupled with the newness of my mandolin led to a not unexpected movement in the neck. I've been playing my mandolin with no tension on the dual truss rod. I believe I had .004 relief at the seventh fret and all was well.

Very gradually things changed. Like tires wearing out, things just creep up on you. My E string became kind of dead. Not a buzz but not clear either. I finally found a lost capo, so I checked my action at the nut, 12th fret and finally the relief. I had around .006 relief.

I tightened the rod so I had a bit less than .005. I'll check it in a day or two, but....

My mandolin, already loud, turned into a cannon. It became clear and resonant all up and down the fretboard. Once again, get some basic measuring tools and Rob Meldrum's eBook and check your clearances from time to time, especially if you start thinking maybe you need an upgrade. Make sure your mandolin is in tippy top shape first. Even if you don't want to do your own work, you'll know when you need a tune up.

[LadysSolo]

Interesting that 0.002 can make that much difference, but I will say that when I am playing and something sounds not quite correct, the tuner doesn't always register it but my ear can hear it isn't right. I suspect it is a similar minimal amount of adjustment. These instruments are very finicky!

[Br1ck]

I have had this small adjustment dramatically effect not only playability but tone, be it a bridge nut or trussrod slightly out of wack. And don't get me started on fret leveling, because the more I know the more I don't know. I'm becoming more adept at tracking the problem down just by blundering into the solution, which is pretty much going back to set up basics.

The subject of setup has been discussed many times, but the frequency one is beat over the head with this reality leads one to become fanatical about it. It has made me firmly believe the best possible upgrade is to get a setup including a fret leveling. This turned my Michael Kelly Festival into something worth playing. I have to stretch to remember what it was like out of the box and feel sorry for all the newbies who buy cheaper mandolins from box stores.

[kurth83]

I've had similar experiences, I've seen a setup bring a dead instrument to life. And kinda funny, I tried the same thing on another instrument, and very little effect. A bad setup can hold an instrument back a lot. It can hold a player back a lot too.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Br1ck - Several years back,i noticed that my Weber action seemed a tad higher than the action on my Lebeda mandolin. As the bridge had bottomed out,i thought that maybe a truss rod adjustment might flatten the neck back by a tiny amount & lower the strings. My local luthier adjusted the TR,but there was barely a 1/4 turn it it. There seemed no difference in the action,but a few days later,the volume & sheer 'punch' of the mandolin increased dramatically. I posted the fact on here at the time, & one other Weber "Fern" owning Cafe member said that the same thing had happened to their mandolin after a tiny TR adjustment. The fingerboard on my Weber is as Bruce Weber sent it out originally - flat !.

I did in fact lower the action by a small amount by sanding the area on top of the bridge base where the thumbwheels sit.

I wish that i'd kept my own Michael Kelly mandolin - my first ever instrument,to see if i could bring out the best in it with a suitable brand/gauge of string & good pick combo.,just as i've done with all 3 of my current mandolins,
Ivan

[Br1ck]

The MK 199.00 all solid wood mandolin has been well documented here. The entire process just reinforced everything I've read about set up. It's not going to squash your desire for better, but a rather dramatic improvement is possible. Those Guitar Center mandolins can be made to play well and sound better. The icing on the tone cake comes from a fret level and recrown.

I'll once again lament that those in need the most are the least likely to benefit.