Well guys/gals, time to eat my hat...

Earlier I had posted about my Loar lm-600 that I had purchased and absolutely hated. It was thin and tinny and didn’t even compare to my Km-150 even after being setup appropriately. After some deliberation I decided to buy new strings and a bridge even though I didn’t want to invest more into a mando I already didn’t like. Besides, what the heck can another ebony bridge do that mine already can? Today I got my Cumberland acoustic full contact bridge in the mail and set it up myself. Holy cow! I didn’t think for one second that the Cumberland would make hardly a difference but boy it did. It’s loud, it’s got bark, it has depth, it just completely transformed this thing into my new favorite almost immediately. The loars come with an ebony bridge but this just goes to show that not all wood is the same. You can immediately tell a difference looking at the two. The Cumberland is nice, solid, tight grained wood. Not to mention having more surface area width wise and length wise (full contact). The wheels are smooth, the saddle fitment is tight to the posts. I’m a happy camper and now I must submit to the laws of Cumberland by praising them every chance I get because this is something I can very confidently get behind. What a complete 180, I’m still enamored! If you don’t have one, get it. No question.

Good one: Lots of folks said to get rid of it but you persevered.
Nobody ever put a Cumberland on and then said it sounded worse than before, and they can often give spectacular results like you found. Like when you look at the standard Stewmac mandolin bridge, it looks like "it should work fine", but bridges are not all created equal.

Nice! Thanks for sharing your experience. I've been thinking about getting one. I just might!

I had a similar experience with my Eastman, though I didn’t hate the sound prior to the change. The CA bridge definitely resulted in increased volume and improved tone quality.

Enjoy !

Great news ! Enjoy ! By

Glad it worked out for you! Enjoy!!

Awesome! Cool to hear of such a great outcome.

Well at least if you had to eat your words, it was a happy meal! :) Congrats and thanks for the useful info.

I had a very similar experience with my KM-1500. The only difference was I dropped my mandolin off at Steve’s shop in Hendersonville and let him install it.

Everything that Cumberland sells is top notch.

Cheesehead hat, made with real cheese? Attachment 190077