New-to-me Mandolin

A couple weeks ago I picked up a used mandolin. I am working on a demo for an album of folksy, rock-n-rolly, bluesy songs I have been writing over the past few months. Seeing the ad for this cheap mandolin got me wondering what it could teach me about these WIP songs. It was in decent enough shape, so I went ahead and bought it, but it was definitely in need of some TLC.

This mandolin is a very cheap beginner model that is probably hanging on the wall in your local music shop right now. A friend of mine had this exact model when we were in high school, which was probably the only time I really messed with a mandolin consistently before now. Coming from guitar, it was hard to get a feel for it then. The double-course strings in combination with the small scale and narrow fretboard made it hard to physically handle---more so than a 12-string guitar or an ukulele (which is similar in size). This is, apparently, the typical mandolin drive-by experience of guitarists, including the previous owner of this one. He said he just couldn't get into it, and ultimately neglected it for years. I think the reason a lot of would-be mandolin players give up on it is not because of the instrument's characteristics; its size, dual-course strings, etc. I think it has more to do with the instrument not being properly setup, which is especially the case for lower-end beginner models.

Many mandolins have floating bridges, which means that rather than being glued or bolted to the body like most guitars, it is simply held in place by the tension of the strings. Its position is variable and prone to misplacement by the unwitting neophyte attempting a seemingly routine string change. The bridge might also get shifted while the strings are temporarily detuned during shipping. If the bridge is not in the right place the intonation will be incorrect, and no matter how perfectly you tune it, it will be impossible to play in tune! Imagine the frustration of trying to learn to play an impossible-to-play instrument! If you have ever tried learning any string instrument, chances are you have dealt with intonation problems at some point. Knowing how to properly setup your instrument is an important part of the ongoing learning process, and it's really not as difficult as you might think.

There are many factors that affect intonation. In my experience, intonation is functionally a balancing act between all these factors---achieved when they each take each other into account. But a properly set bridge is the foundation of a well-intonated instrument. In the case of my mandolin with a floating bridge, setting the bridge required first figuring out the scale length. I measured along the strings from the nut to the 12th fret and multiplied that distance by two to determine where to place the bridge. Luckily, the saddle on this mandolin is compensated, meaning that it is beveled in such a way that the length of each string is made slightly longer or shorter to "compensate" for the physical variables particular to each of them; such as gauge, stiffness, etc. It does what the individually moveable saddles of electric guitars do, basically. This makes it easier to get a decently intonated setup, but I still had to make a few minor adjustments. This was the hardest part of the process, because you don't really want to move the bridge while the strings are tuned because it will scratch the body. So after checking for differences in pitch between the fretted and harmonic of the 12th fret of each string, I would have to detune them all to move the bridge forward or backward until I got it just right. But once the bridge was properly set, it made a 600% improvement to the mandolin's playability.

The other thing that turns a lot of would-be mandolin players off is high action. It is hard to play an instrument with high action, which is especially true of mandolins with their high string tension and narrow fretboards. If the action is too high, it will also affect the intonation because the angle from the saddle to the fret will be so great that the string will contact the fret a few millimeters from where it should, consequently producing the wrong pitch. On my mandolin, and probably on a lot of entry-level mandolins in general, the neck relief is quite sharp right at the nut, so it is really hard to hold down the strings at the first fret, and the pitches are slightly off in that area. Unfortunately, my mandolin does not have an adjustable truss rod, so I can't really do anything about the neck relief right now. The bridge has nifty thumbwheels for lowering the action there, which made it a little more comfortable to play, but lowering the action at the nut will require some filing. I don't have proper files at the moment, so I have to just deal with it for now. With crude tools, a minor nut filing can turn into a nut replacement job really quick, so I'm putting it off for the time being.

With just these minor adjustments, plus a new set of strings and a little lemon oil rubbed into the rosewood fretboard, the mandolin plays sooooo much better. It is far from perfect, but it is enough to have some fun.

I am not really a mandolin player. I have played stringed instruments enough that I can get around on it, but I feel like I am still getting acquainted. The most awkward thing about playing a mandolin is using a pick. I haven't really used a pick with a guitar in well over a decade probably. It is a nice change, though. There are some sounds you just can't get with your fingertips.

Mandolins are tuned the same as violins; perfect fifths all the way across (G-D-A-E). It's easy to follow your ear playing in this tuning. It kind of reminds me of riding a road bike: if you are mounted, you feel like you have to be moving. When I hold a mandolin I feel like I am being swept up into plucky, chiming melodies. Originally my intention was to see how a mandolin would fit into the mix on some of the other songs I'm working on, but it is already writing songs of its own!

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