I bought a nice old Kay mandolin last week to replace a different mandolin that died a grizzly death when I klutzed it down the stairs (and I’m aware “I fell down the stairs” is a notorious non-truth, but go with me here). The new mando is great except one little thing: the low G-strings don’t intonate properly. As you go up the string, the notes get progressively sharper until at about the 9th fret, its nearly a full semi-tone sour.
The place I bought it from has a return policy that expires Friday but I really like the thing and want to see if I can fix it. Is there anything I can do? Move the bridge closer? Further away? Throw it down the stairs?
Assuming the instrument is otherwise sound, You need to tilt the G-string side of the bridge down, away from the nut, so the sounding length of the fretted string is longer. If this is an f-hole mando, the points in the middle of the holes give an indication of where the bridge should lie. Also, are there thumbscrews to raise and lower the bridge? If the action is too high on that side, you could be bending the note sharp just by pressing down on it.
Thanks for the advice. The neck’s straight (at least to my eyes) and I tried your fixes. While moving the bridge away from the nut did help the G-string, it didn’t quite make it right. I think you might be onto something with the high action though—I also note that the 2 G strings are slightly further apart from each other than the other 3 sets, something that might be affecting the fretting when fingering chords. There’s no screws on the bridge either. Think it might be time to take her into the store and see if they can fix it or, if not, give me my hard earned nickels back.
If you don’t have thumbscrews on the bridge, you’re f-ed. You either need to get a new bridge cut from a blank (probably $10 at any luthier) or get a better bridge. ($15-25)
Honestly, Kay doesn’t make very high quality instruments - if you want a decent starter mando I’d recommend a Michael Kelly.
I’ll try a proper bridge first. And, yes, I realize my Kay is not the pinnacle of awesomeness, but I did really like the tone, so I’m trying to make the thing workable. This may be impossible, of course, but I’ll exhaust these avenues before aborting.
Since we’re here, picker do you know of any companies that still make quality bowlback (or potato bug, as they’re sometimes called) mandos? I adore those tone but it seems like a crapshoot when shopping for them: about 1 out of 20 is any good. The rest have warped due to poor care or simple aging.
Wordman: Going alright. Touring commencing sometime in the fall, while now I’m fighting through bureaucracy of setting up the album, slumming in temp/construction/corporate scavenger hunt world, and generally biding my time. A weird month, indeed, but with good things in the on-deck circle. Thanks for the “hello”
Wordman: Going alright. Touring commencing sometime in the fall, while now I’m fighting through bureaucracy of setting up the album, slumming in temp/construction/corporate scavenger hunt world, and generally biding my time. A weird month, indeed, but with good things in the on-deck circle. Thanks for the “hello”
If you’re looking for a bowl back or anything esoteric, the first place I’d recommend is Folk of the Wood. Mickey is a great guy and a wizard with acoustic instruments. Can’t recommend them enough.
If you’re in the upper midwest or the mid-atlantic, I can recommend some luthiers as well, but they’re certainly not on the lower end of things.
btw, pm me, I’d love to talk shop about touring and whatnot…