OK folks, after lurking here for a while I just purchased a very inexpensive blemished "store return" Recording King A-shape mandolin from an Ebay seller. It only had a couple of tiny marks near one of the sound holes. Other than that, it looks new.
I tuned it up, and immediately both E strings snapped, but I intended to replace them with D'addario EJ74 strings anyway so I wasn't upset. After applying some fretboard oil, and installing the new strings I checked the action, and of course it was bad. Too much neck relief, action too high, and while fussing with it, the strap peg fell out. Also it had a bad fret buzz when fingering the G&D strings at the 10th fret. Using the short side of my string height gauge I found that the 11th fret was too high. The string height at the nut was also too high. In short, it had never been setup.
I reset the fret by laying a wooden popsicle stick on it and with solid support under the neck, tapped it lightly with a small 8oz hammer which eliminated the fret buzz.
Using the truss rod I adjusted the neck relief down to .005 inch, reduced the string height at the nut, and set the string height at the 12th fret to .050 inch bass & .040 inch treble, while making sure the intonation was spot on. Lastly I wrapped a piece of blue painters tape around the strap peg and tapped it into place.
It helped that I have set up a number of guitars and ukuleles for myself in the past, so I wasn't afraid to jump into this project. For a total investment of about $140.00 including tax, shipping, and new strings, I now own a mandolin that looks great, and is very easy to play. It's also really loud.
It's easy to see why this was a store return, probably from an internet seller that didn't take the time to do a proper setup prior to shipping. While it all worked out for me, this should be a cautionary tale for buyers not having the skills and tools to work on their own instruments. It's pure chance a typical low price imported instrument will play well when it arrives unless purchased from a dealer who will do the required work for you.
In conclusion the Recording King A-style mandolin can be an awesome instrument if you get a good one. I'm a happy camper.
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