New member, new mandolin

[Joeywhat]

Hey everyone, just got myself a mandolin and figured I'd join in for some of the discussion here. I've been a musician for about 23 years now, I've played saxophone since middle school. I also play keyboard (most pop/rock stuff) and I've been trying to learn guitar and accordion. My girlfriend has decided to try and learn banjo, so I figured having another bluegrass instrument in the house wouldn't hurt. So far it's been a lot easier to learn then guitar.

It's a Loar LM-220-VS. Overall I'm impressed with it for the price. Good overall sound, I just need to get it set up correctly. Neck has a little too much relief and it's causing issues after the 5th fret or so. Any tips on getting that set up correctly? I've done it with my guitars, and I'm assuming this will be a very similar process.

[Ranald]

Welcome to the Cafe.

Rob Meldrum's book is what you want. Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy for free (free to all Mandolin Cafe members).

[kurth83]

From a setup perspective mandolin is just a small 8-string archtop guitar. :-)

Welcome and enjoy.

[Joeywhat]

Thanks, I just sent an email to Rob, sounds like a good resource.

Here's a quick pic of it: