Mandolin Technology: Re-stringing & Bridges

[djcoffey]

For total stringed instrument newbies!!

I succeeded in my first attempt to restring my mandolin, but due to an intonation issue, took it in to the Podium for their luthier Marty to look at.

First of all, Frets.com has a great illustrated re-stringing how to. In addition to that, Marty suggested that the right amount of slack to leave before tuning up is the length between where your string enters the post to the opposite post. On my Weber, that's about 1.5 inches.

Even before I did my own restringing, I had noticed that when I fretted up the neck, notes fretted on the D and A string in particular were noticeably sharp. Marty and I began from the premise that the bridge was out of position (too close to the nut). But when he looked at it further, it turned out that the bridge was not fully upright - i.e. it was slightly tipped towards the nut. He loosened the strings and set it upright. Intonation is MUCH better.

I didn't ask him what might cause the bridge to get tipped. Possibly during restringing, or adjusting the action...?

[mark]

a good tip for restringing instruments is to take a sharp graphite pencil and draw in the slot where the string goes, both on the nut and the bridge. This allows the string to move smoothly through the slots. The tipping of the bridge is typical of strings binding in the slots and pulling the bridge forward as you tune the strings higher.

I bet the mando is louder with the bridge seated firmly too!

[djcoffey]

Ah, that explains something else I've noted - a couple of the tuners seem stiffer than before - that would probably be the strings that are binding in the nut.

So, would I be too much of a baby if I just gave in and bought coated strings every 3 months and let the guys at the Podium restring my mandolin? It is a hazardous activity (OK, so when unstringing, I turned one the wrong way and it broke and zipped across the tip of my nose leaving a small cut - I won't make that mistake again!)

Rationalization: I like to come up with ways to support my neighborhood music store in this age of Internet everything. This is one way. (Another is to buy that cool new little Meisel tuner for $30 after a free adjustment)

[djcoffey]

So another weird discovery.

I had just changed strings this weekend. Decided I needed to do some woodshedding (play tunes with a metronome).

Because the computer is involved, I was in the home office. Hot weekend, so had the ceiling fan turned on medium.

Started to play and noticed the A and E strings sounded ...sour...tried tuning to no avail, so then just listened carefully to the single string all by itself...SOUR! Thought perhaps I had a couple of bad strings.

Then, it occurred to me - what if I turned off the ceiling fan?

Sour strings magically disappeared! I guess the frequency of the fan was just right to strobe the air and create some out of tune overtones (or reveal them, who knows).

[Dub Martin]

Guess I missed this thread when it was new. Marty Reynolds is indeed a very talented and resourceful luthier/tech/repairman. I would feel comfortable taking most any job and stringed instrument to him. I got to meet Marty in June when he came to Vinton for the TTT IdiotJam event. Marty spent most of a Saturday afternoon providing free guitar setups for people who were attending the Jam.



You can even listen to Marty's playing recorded that same evening.

And now you've discovered that you have to watch the bridge angle when you change strings. But you still need to check the intonation (bridge location) periodically. If you change your string height or string weight or even string brand your bridge location may have to be adjusted. It's not hard or dangerous, just be sure the strings a loosened so you can lift the bridge slightly as it moves. This will prevent scratches in the finish.

When you set the intonation, make sure the harmonic at the twelfth fret exactly matches the fretted note. You only need to check the first and eighth strings since everything in between is governed by the geometry of the bridge. And you don't have to have the strings clear up to pitch to check this.

Often, when changing strings on my mandolin, I'll take just one old string off and replace it right away with a new one, then repeat the process for each string. This process keeps the bridge in the same place and I don't have to worry about intonation or leaning.

This reminds me, I probably need to update my string expereience in the other thread.

_

[djcoffey]

Thanks Dub!

Restringing gets easier every time. After Marty helped me out with the bridge issue, I found Gibson's article about mandolin setup, which was also very informative regarding adjusting bridge placement.

So this time, restringing went well, I checked the bridge position, and it was OK, played it for a while that evening. It was just freaky to go into that room with the ceiling fan and suddenly hear those sour notes! Glad I realized that the fan was causing pressure waves in the air that was impacting the sound I was getting off of those two strings.

I look forward to your updates on the string evaluations!

[Dub Martin]

We have that same issue at the shop with fans and air conditioners making strings sound strange or making almost impossible to tune. You just have to get away from the fan and wait until the thermostat turns off the air conditioning.

And your string changing will go quicker with one of these: (click image)




and one of these: (click image)




_

[al1cat]

i recently bought a second hand morgan monroe f style mandolin.the owner claimed it had never been played .apparently shipped over from usa and owner couldnt get to grips with it.the intonation was way out particulary A and D strings.a few of my mando playin freinds had ago at sorting it out to no avail and i was ready for cutting my losses and selling it on but after reading this posting and straightenin up the bridge its playing much better and at last in tune thanks im so happy ive been diddling all day

[mark]

Glad to read that. We aren't the busiest forum on the web but we pride ourselves on solid conversations and good information. Join in anytime.

[funnyceline]

To restring a mandolin you have to be aware that there are two types of tailpieces, the ones where the strings just hook right on, and the ones where you need three hands to do the job. A classic type of tailpiece is designed one of the best. He was Gibson and you can check the link below to see some images.

http://www.frets.com/FRETSpages/Musicia ... ring1.html