Hello again! It has been a while since I posted and I've not made massive progress with my mandolin. A lot of it is right technique which I need to practice but I am still not getting along well with the fretboard.
(It is a £200 Ozark, nothing special)
To briefly summarise; the action is, from what limited measurements I can make, way off at both the 1st and 12th frets. The nut slots need deepened and the base of the bridge needs a hefty sanding as the rollers are as low as they can go. The shop I got it from, not unfamiliar with mandolins, didn't see the point in making these changes when I went back to them.
A friend of mine from high school (met about 9-10 years ago?) has recently moved close by and agreed to have a look at it for me. He's not got 20 years experience but I know he's not an idiot and has had practice maintaining many different stringed instruments. Hopefully he can sort out the nut for me.
However the point of this post is because I am feeling the call of stupid hubris and curiosity. The frets are bloody shallow and refretting the whole thing sounds like fun...to me. I know it won't be fun; it would be difficult, time consuming, fiddly, and very easy to mess up quickly. But at the same time that's my whole thing, I own 2 accordions purely because I got bored one day and taught myself how to fix them(including tuning metal reeds). Worst comes to it I am happy to go back to the shop, hand them my ruined mandolin and a stack of money and get it done proper.
I like the look of the EVO Gold 43080 in terms of dimensions and aesthetic. I've read up on frets.com and in the few books I own but I came to ask for 1st hand accounts and tips from people who have been where I am. I anticipate a lot of "don't bother" but learning by trial is just one of those things you feel the need to do.
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