Great Job! I found the exact same problem with my old Gretsch 5122 floating bridge and did the exact same thing and sanded the rosewood base to the body contour. Made a huge difference. I also added a Compton stainless on top too and the sustain goes on forever. One thing I would suggest: put a thin piece of tape on the body under the spot where you are doing the sanding to protect the finish on the body.
A set of StringJoy Naturals strings would help that metallic tone issue. I put a set of medium/heavy 11.5/41 gauge on mine and it roars wood tone. Rich and full.
Great work, as always Jerry! I’ve got an Eastman 315 mandolin, and I found the same thing with the sound being round and woody, but super tinny overtones; so I did what I’ve seen you do, made the bridge fit nicer to the top, and put GHS silk and bronze on and it sounds so much better! Whole different beast 😁
Another good one from the vault. The after gave more bass to the high strings and gave it a better tone, IMO. It sounded "tinny" in spots the first go round, to me.
The thickest plain string is always the hardest to keep in tune on any steel string instrument. This even applies to electric guitars and pedal steels. Besides having well shaped nut slots I've been keeping them lubricated. A simple sharp pencil can help a lot.
Sounds great to me. I suffer from great hearing loss from working for more than five decades. I need the tone it has to register. My music friends say I change my strings too often. I just do what works best for the sound I need .
Absolutely sounds better afterwards! I have a mid range Kentucky that had a great overall tone but some playability issues. After a pro setup it reay came alive.
It sounded better at the end, listening on Mobile. The before had a tin sound and weird buzzes. After had more of the lower range coming out (likely from the strings) but that weird buzz was gone. I have a cheap Amazon mandolin, so you probably won't receive one from me 😂 But if i start taking it seriously, I may ship one to you for a setup
@@double00spy It also stopped those “wolf” tones when playing hard. It’s a very bright mando, so I calmed it down with the leather. Very thin and just touches the metal a bit at front.
I did the same for my mandola, and it helped a little with the low C string, but a strange buzzing persists whenever anything harmonic with G is played loudly. Mainly the open G string of course. Damping the strings above the nut seems to do something, but doesn't get rid of the metallic buzz totally. On certain days depending on the weather it isn't there, but most days it is...
I have an Eastman 515. I think the reason they sound 'bright', trebly, thin etc. is because body is too thin. There isn't enough wood, room for the sound to bounce around inside. I tried to remedy this somewhat by fitting a Brekke bridge which has no metal parts. This ingenious bridge is all wood and can be tuned under full tension. I think it did make a difference in removing some of the trebly sound that travels through the metal posts on the standard Eastman bridge. But the Eastman is still not a patch on something like Northfields, not will it ever be until the Eastman factory makes the body an inch deeper. Not a lot of extra wood, but it could make Eastman's compete with Weber, Northfield, Gibson etc. The Brekke bridge is standard on Weber mandos.
Great work & video was very educational. That is a beautiful mandolin. I love the color of it. I don't think I've ever seen an instrument with that color on it. Do you know what color that is?
Could the fact you were closer to the microphone in the 'before' sound clip account for the brightness of sound, whilst in the 'after' clip the brightness had more chance to dissipate within the room space before hitting the mic.? Just a thought.
(WARNING know-nothing beginner) Just bought my first ever mandolin after playing wind instruments for many years. I was going for an Eastman MD305, as the best entry level that doesn't sound like garbage. But, pretty much unobtainable right now. So this week I treated myself to an MD404, for the wonderful softening of the sound from that oval hole and so excited to get at it next week. I do worry about that bright jangly sound and feared I would be playing an octave mandolin to bring it down a bit. Q. Does the oval hole always have the same effect ? Does it always soften the sound.
Difficult to pick it up, but, yes, there was a different in tonal quality after. The string change and bridge drop likely gave it the most help. When a nut is put on a factory production run instrument, they aren't as careful with fit as they should be, which is likely where the concern came from. Your customer may have tried to rectify that problem (it seemed to have a DIY look to it). Overall, I'd be comfortable playing it with what you did - it seemed to have a little more natural tone in it which I'm sure he appreciated. Can the same be done for a guitar that just doesn't seem to have the 'warmth' from the wood?
@@zapa1pnt So I heard and was surprised that they are jamming too. I have a friend that has an Eastman that does the same jamming with the standard tuners. I had a look at it and it appeared to jam at the same one point in the rotation of the post, then free up again as you turned it further. Because its geared, it took a few turns to get it past the sticking point. My guess was that the tuning post had bent, possibly from winding the strings too high on the post, and were binding against the ferrules at one point. But that was just a guess as I couldn't figure out any other reason. I can't think of any other possible reason. Anyway, I took them off and put a light touch of lithium grease on each of the posts down near the keys and that helped a little, but its not really a solution. Maybe I'll get hold of a dial gauge and check the posts properly. Recent top end Eastmans now seem to come with Gotoh tuners.
@@joebloggs4369: HHHmmmm, maybe the hole in the headstocks are not spaced exactly right or drill at a bit of an angle. Either one would cause a straight post to bind a little. I doubt, one could wind the strings tight enough, to bend the post, without collapsing the mandolin.
@@zapa1pnt Great idea. Thanks. I've got an Eastman mandola that binds/sticks, right from the beginning. I'll take it apart and see if it could be binding as it sets in the hole. Maybe a little grease on that side of things.
I got a Kalamazoo 20's. It was left in garage for 70 years and it busted to pieces. I wish I woul have watched your channel it would have been playing I tried and I finally got neck to hold in body buy building back up the dove tail but now my fretboard is being pain to get straight. Any suggestions would help me.
I’ve been looking for a tapered gauge similar to the one you use checking string height with no luck. Can I ask what the item is called and possibly where you picked it up. Nice job lad from Canada 🎉
I have a question.I have been looking for a small ammount of ebony or rosewood to make a coin box about a foot long 3 in high 2.1/4 wide inside width 2.1/2 outside width 12 in long with lid trying to find. Hobby lobby no good . 2 lumberyards no good. Any ideas? Didnt know how else to contact you.Prayers brother.
One Question, Sir: Why didn't you turn the Bridgeposts upside down so you are able to turn them through the saddle from the Top and not through the Bottom?
nuts only made a diffrence by open strings i have a 70s les paul with a brass nut its really low diffrence. if its a sturdy and hard material and its not buzzing all good😂
wrong ., in metal working that is NOT called deburring its called chamfering.and its not the B string on guitar its the G string thats more common to go out of tune.
The A string is the one we have a problem with because it's the ONLY string we have a Tuning Fork for... 😂🤣😂🤣 Half your audience won't even know what a tuning fork is...
Why don't you drop that nonsense bridge with the threaded metal poles that grab the most crucial frequencies. ? Gibson invented it for service purpose and never abandoned it. It causes tuning problems because the upper part of bridge tends to rock back and forth when played hard. Just make a couple of one piece good resonant wood bridges for wet and dry season and it will take less time for exchange them than wheel adjustment. You can't adjust height wit this poles anyway untill you loosen the strings completely especially if you want to lift the saddle part.
