Hi Spencer,
It sounds like your experience is turning out to be less than enjoyable, but as others are stating, it does sound perfectly normal.
This is not just a The Loar thing. With the exception of a few high-end mandolins (and a lot of those as well), mandolins will range from playable with some issues, to non-playable. Uneven frets, bridge issues, loose end pics, messed up nuts, etc.. are all standard until someone has worked on the mandolin. Last week, I had to replace the nut on a $2000 mandolin because three of the string slots were cut too low (from the factory). I just considered it normal, grabbed a piece of bone and went to work. I expect this stuff to happen.
There is one more important factor in play here. US brands like The Loar, have quality control in place at the US warehouse. They are also doing some setup work (very basic) at the US warehouse before the instrument go to "US" dealers. When companies deal with foreign distributers, warehousing, QC and warranty service are all supposed to be handled by the distributer. This is a standard business practice. The instruments go directly from the factory to the distributor. The Loar quality control is bypassed and the distributor "should" take on this roll. Final setup stills fall on the dealer and would include fret dressing, refitting bridges, etc. Most dealers choose not to do this.
Odds are, the LM-520 mandolins you received thus far were fine and just needed setup. The setups are difficult, time consuming and even most pro luthiers are not able to do a really good job setting up a mandolin. This is just like the bowed instrument world, where you won't expect to find a talented mandolin guy at a general music store. You end up hunting down a violin shop. My best advice is to first look for a luthier, then worry about what mandolin to buy for said luthier to setup. As you are finding out, setup is more important than the quality of the mandolin. Personally, I would stick with the LM-520 and go luthier shopping. I have yet to see a better F-mandolin at the price point. Keep us posted. We are waiting for the happy ending here soon.
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