Weird Intonation Issues
Recently picked up a used/like new Eastman Octave Mandolin. I played it for bit before buying it, sounded great--in tune and good sound quality. I did feel the strings were a little "clangy sounding," but I bought new strings and took it to a local luthier for a good setup and change to lighter strings. Once I got it home from the luthier, I was surprised and disappointed that the A strings were noticeably sharp. I'd tune the mandolin, but when playing anything up from the first fret the A strings--and only the A strings-- were badly out of tune. I took it back to my luthier, he listened, and agreed there was an issue--and he concluded that the bridge saddle should be replaced. He very kindly agreed to make me a new one, and explained about how most saddles are made somewhat generically to fit a variety of instruments, string gauges, etc. and he felt that replacing the saddle would solve the issue.
So, he made and installed the new saddle, and I picked it up today. He strummed a couple cords and it sounded great. I get it back home, and a few hours later I take it out of the case to play it--and the A strings are badly out of tune (sharp) AGAIN. All the other strings sets sound just fine, but the A strings are noticeably off.
I'm just really perplexed why it sounded fine when I played it before buying it, why going to a slightly lighter string gauge could cause an intonation problem, and why after getting a custom-made saddle, the problem persists. FYI: The strings that were on it were D'Addario Medium EJ80's (according to previous owner who left the empty string pouch in the case) and the new strings are D'Addario EJ81's.
Any ideas on what could be going on here?
Many thanks.
2002 Bussmann F4
1999 Weber Bridger A
1917 Gibson Alrite D
"There's three kinds of people in this world, those that are good at math and those that aren't."
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