Odd problem with treble pairs
I had a one-man shop make a mandolin for me this fall. The mandolin has good bass, but the treble pairs are weaker than on my MD315. On closer inspection, the two strings of the A pair seem out of tune with each other as I play up the neck. The E strings are the same way, but not as jarring. (I've changed strings a few times with same results.)
I knew there were some nut and fret issues, so I had Mass Street music do a Plek job and make a new nut. That helped some issues, but didn't fix the subject problem.
Could the bridge be the problem? (This luthier makes his own bridges and I can imagine that I see some potential issues (but could be my imagination, lol).) I would have hoped that Mass Street would have noticed any issues with the bridge. The bridge would be involved with ALL notes, open or fretted, so not sure why it would be different as I play up the neck. Just running out of components that might be the problem.
Suggestions?
(As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about other factors. This mandolin does have taller frets than on my MD315 - could that be a factor? Maybe as I'm playing up the neck, the small distance between frets might have me pushing down in a different way with the two strings in the string pair being pushed down by different parts of the fingertip and the taller frets allowing the strings to be pushed down farther and to different degrees?)
Last edited by Doug Brock; Jan-23-2020 at 9:36am.
Doug Brock
2018 Kimble 2 point (#259), Eastman MD315, Eastman MDA315, some guitars, banjos, and fiddles
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