Re: What exactly constitutes a "setup"?
Most times you buy a chainsaw, it requires proper setup too. Weed eaters and bicycles and barbeques are the same...some assembly required.
My only hangup is the possibility that not every mandolin (depeding on price point, etc) receives the work it needs to shine. I'm pretty sure my local folklore ctr. spends next to no time setting up sub-$2000 mandolins, They are junk as far as they're concerned. Then they go and charge a [premium for the instrument. A mandolin that would sell in the U.S. for hundreds below list price, sells at my local dealer for U.S. list+
For me, $700 isn't just a drop in the bucket. Sometimes, I'm told, it's the cheaper mandolins that can benefit the most from a good setup and can be quite nice. Why any shop owner would send a mandolin out that cannot be played is beyond me.
Some are better than others.
1983 Flatiron 1N - Pancake/Army-Navy
2011 Eastman MD-315 - F-style
Rover RM-50B - A-style
2014 Satin Cherry, Gibson USA 120th Anniversary SGJ14
Godin Guitars' Art & Lutherie "Spruce" 6-string dreadnought. Hand made in Canada.
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