Mandolin setup by Rob Meldrum

[Pete Jenner]

Out to get feeler gauges!

Why? What have feeler gauges ever done to deserve your vengeance?

[Paul Hostetter]

Per Rob's posted instructions from another thread, you send him an email and ask for it at rob.meldrum@gmail.com He is offering it free to Cafe' members.

And maybe you'll get it, and maybe you won't. I asked twice and got nothing both times.

[Evans6502]

I saw the great Youtube that Rob Meldrum did on mandolin set up and contacted him about getting the e-book. He did an incredible job in explaining and illustrating how to modify the bridge/saddle and nut so that the mandolin plays a lot easier and better. Thanks so much for taking the time and making the effort to share what you've learned.
Greg Evans

[Timbofood]

Gee Paul, that's too bad. I got mine faster than I had expected. Bump him again, he will send you one.

[Paul Hostetter]

Someone else sent it to me.

[Rob Meldrum]

Hi Paul,

I just searched my gmail account and I found one email from you on October 12 of last year. I must have missed it - the subject line was "Hey!" so I probably didn't open it up (kind of looks like spam).

For others looking at this thread, please email me at rob.meldrum@gmail.com and put "mandolin set up" in the subject line. On busy days I come home from work and search on those terms to find the requests for the ebook. I average about five requests per day, ten or more on a busy day. PLus all the usual work and social emails to paw through.

By the way, if folks have security permissions required, please flag your mailbox to allow my reply to get through!

It does my heart good to know people are getting/reading/using my ebook.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming...

Rob

[dhbailey]

I just received the ebook from Rob and have to say that this is an incredible gift to the mandolin world. In my professional life I repair woodwind and band instruments and occasionally do minor guitar repairs and I think Rob has done an excellent job explaining just what to do to set up a mandolin right out of the box and to keep it playing well. He has put in a lot of caution reminders and it is obvious that he loves the mandolin and wants us all to love it as much as he does. I had already done some of the intonation things on my new Epiphone since the bridge was clearly in the wrong place when I took it out of the box and tuned it up. His explanations simply confirmed what I had discovered, and they go far beyond what most non-technically minded people would be able to figure out on their own.

Thank you Rob for an excellent guide that should come with all new mandolins!

[patches]

Hi Rob. Many thanks for your generous ebook. All of of us, and especially "us Newbies", are grateful. It allows us to purchase tryout mandolins and get their full potential.

[robertsp]

Thanks for the book Rob. My mandolin sounds and plays already a lot better, without even getting to the scary part.

[erol]

i thank rob medron for sending his e-book' how to set up a mandolin' to me .it is very useful and i just say superb.since i live in turkey it is much difficult to find abook like this one.thanks again rob.
erol

[erol]

I thank rob meldrum for sendİng his e-book 'how toset up a mandolİn' to me. It is very useful and i just say 'superb'.sİnce i live in turkey it is difficult to find a book like this one.thanks again rob.
Erol

[Cecily_Mandoliner]

Rob,
I thank you for the book!
I have purchased all the tools, and just need to take my diamond file to the feeler guages, and I can start messing with the nut. It seems to be the only thing my Rogue Oval Hole needs for improvement.
I appreciated learning about the bridge assembly and intonation! It's nice to have a better understanding of how the mandolin is put together. After reading it, I was able to adjust the bridge properly to get excellent intonation. I also changed the strings to what I have on my other mandolins, and those two adjustments alone made the Rogue sound nice.
Next, I'll tackle the nut, and see if that makes the difference I'm looking for.

[jedigrover]

I'd just like to add my thanks to Rob for his setup guide. I had already done a bit of work on the saddle, but his guide took me the rest of the way to getting my little cheapo Valencia sounding pretty nice (a little weak on the low end, but what can you expect from such an inexpensive instrument). It is much easier to play now that I've worked on the action. Intonation turned out perfect & was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Just take your time.

One bit of advice for folks doing this. You might want to leave the E strings just a little higher than optimal until it "plays in" a bit. Mine have continued to cut themselves further into the soft plastic nut & I got a buzz. I've shimmed the nut & it continues to cut in, so I am about to make my first attempt at shaping and fitting a bone nut. Wish me luck! That ought to take what I can throw at it.

I went with light-gauge Elixir "nanoweb" coated strings and like them quite a lot. Being light strings, this probably has some to do with my lack of bass, but they are enjoyable to play on.

Darin

[Dan of SC]

Rob's ebook sounds great. How do I go about getting one?

[Rob Meldrum]

Want a copy? It's free to all mandolincafe members. Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with mandolin set up in the subject line.

Rob

[David Lewis]

And yet agai, I add my appreciation to rob for a striking work.

(Ps I am looking forward to learning how to make my own strap ahem. ... )

[David Lewis]

And yet agai, I add my appreciation to rob for a striking work. (Ps I am looking forward to learning how to make my own strap ahem. ... )

That would be sterling.

[rdunn]

Thanks again to Rob for this great service. Got my feelers and files on the way and appreciate the thorough treatment of the subject.

[Vince.L]

Hi all, I'm brand new to the mandolin and just got Rob's ebook on the setup. BRILLIANT idea for the nut slot saws, I would have never thought of that in a million years. Did some initial measurements and see I have a lot of work to do. Going to do the setup tomorrow, will let you know how it turns out.
Thanks Rob!

[jim33]

Rob replied to my email in less than 2 hours this morning. It is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Rob

[Saxon Moreno]

Just finished reading Rob's ebook, and what a goldmine of valuable advice it is!I hihighly recommend it. Cheers Rob.

[Clinton Johnson]

Thanks Rob for the great ebook...I used parts of the info for setup on one of my handcrafted F5s this weekend...my feeler gauges are now also nut saws

[bratsche]

Thanks for the useful guide, Rob! I mainly wanted to learn how, after seeing it repeatedly mentioned here, to make the feeler gauges I already bought for measuring nut slot height into saws for actually adjusting that height. This info would have been handy to have last time around, but it's now there for future use!

bratsche

[Chuck Ficca]

Thanks for this very useful guide. I will be using this on my 2 Gibson A models. Thanks, also, for the generous gift you have given to this very special community.

[Hany Hayek]

Rob replied to me overnight (I live in Egypt - Different time zone's )
Thank you so much Rob. Your guide is really useful. It's really generous of you.
You are my savior