setup work of folkmusician.com vs themandolinstore.com

[john09121]

I ordered an Eastman mandolin for folkmusician and his supplier is taking way longer than expected to get the mandos shipped out to him. It's been several weeks and I'm still not sure when I'll get my instrument. Hasn't even shipped to folkmusician yet.

I've heard so many great things about the setup work done by folkmusician so I'd really like to keep my order with them. But I'd also like to get my mandolin soon. themandolinstore.com has my mandolin in stock. Does anyone have any experience with their setup work? how does it compare to folkmusician?

[John Adrihan]

I've bought two mandolins from folkmusician and one from the mandolinstore. Set up from Robert is excellent and he dresses the frets. The mandolin store seems to be more interested in getting the mandolin out the door and does not address any fret issues, they say that if they are bad enough they send the mandolin back. The mandolin that I bought from them went back once because the set up was not good enough. When I recieved it again it seemed all they did was raise the action. I brought it to a local Luthier and $100 later it is perfect. Maybe that is why they don't put the time into it. That kind of work cuts into margins.

[rmpleasant]

Robert at Folkmusician did a wonderful job on my the loar 520 a while back. Extremely happy with it. Hes great with the communication. If you havenet already, consider having him fit a Cumberland bridge while he has it in his hands. My vote is to be patient and stay with him. You wont regret it.

[nickster60]

Robert is great guy and does really good work. Give him a call I am sure if there is a solution he will find it.

[nycblues]

Robert is great guy and does really good work. Give him a call I am sure if there is a solution he will find it.

Robert's setups are not just cursory setups. He really works the whole instrument and the frets. Working the frets makes a big difference. It's a full professional setup in my opinion. Whatever extra time it may take is well worth it. He is a great guy and will spend a lot of time with you.

If time is really an issue, I would consider Steve Perry. His set ups are also as good as they get.

[Stephen Perry]

Eastman is rather backlogged. I've only just been able to get the MD504/505 models I ordered a good while ago. Still awaiting many other models.

If you desire some individual to specifically do your setup, then waiting is a good idea. If you wish a good professional setup, a range of suppliers do that.

[Bernie Daniel]

I have never bought from the Folk Musician organization but I have bought several mandolins from the Mandolin Store over the and I highly recommend the store and the owner, Dennis Vance. I am sure that Robert and the his organization are fine as well but in contrast to the opinion noted above you can find pages and pages of very favorable comments on the Mandolin Cafe about the outstanding business ethics and fine service of the Mandolin Store.

[allenhopkins]

Let's focus on what the OP's actually asking: he has an Eastman on order with folkmusician, but as Steven P points out, Eastman's a bit backlogged. The same model's in stock at the Mandolin Store, so (a) should he cancel his folkmusician order and buy it from Dennis, and if so (b) is Dennis's set-up as good as Robert's?

Can't comment on the set-ups, since I've purchased from neither, but I would give Robert every chance to fulfill the original order. Ask him to contact Eastman or his distributor and get as firm a date as he can for delivery; if the info he gets isn't satisfactory, then consider switching. Waiting an extra month for a mandolin you may own for 20 years, is hardly fatal, and penalizing a reputable dealer for a problem that's out of his control seems a bit unfair. Both dealers have excellent Cafe reputations and deserve support, but I'd do what I could to "dance with the one that brung ya," before going to a second dealer.

[Jill McAuley]

Just wanting to chime in on the quality of the set-ups from the folks at The Mandolin Store - I bought my (now gone, and still regret it!) Weber Custom Gallatin F from them and the set up on it was top drawer - playability, action, intonation all excellent. I'd buy from them again in a heartbeat!

Cheers,
Jill

[Mike Scott]

My cheapo Kentucky was purchased from TMS. Set up was spot on. I also visited their web site and it said they dress the frets as necessary so maybe sometime in the past they didn't do that as stated in an earlier reply to this thread, but now it appears they do. I have also purchased from Steve Perry. Great, great set up from him as well. Folkmusician has a likewise great rep for set ups here. As to whether you (the OP) should switch, that's a personal decision only you can make. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[mandolin tony]

Hi,ask Robert how long I had to wait for my Kentucky 805.it was well worth the wait,my name is Tony Lombardo & I also think Robert is Great & also a real nice guy to deal with no matter what you buy he does why more than he has to on some of these mandolin.just remember is is a one man shop no help.

[montana]

I bought a used Weber from the mandolin store and I'm happy with the sound. When you get high up the neck it buzzes so I thought I'd raise the bridge a bit. A friend said I should just adjust the truss rod and it tells how on the Weber Internet site. I didn't want to do it myself so I brought it to a repair shop. The Repairman said the truss rod won't move and gave me a few reasons why this might happen. Now luckily I'm only a couple hundred miles from the Weber factory and they said to bring it down and they would look at it.
The whole point of this is the Mandolin Store should have checked this when/if they did a setup so I don't know if I would recommend them when purchasing a mandolin.

[michaelpthompson]

A legitimate bonafide order is virtually a contract between you and the seller. Unless you have an actual gripe, it doesn't seem ethical to me that you would cancel the order and buy one from somebody else. Plus, it's no certain thing that you'd actually get it faster from the other place. Both sellers have a great reputation; a moderate wait will not do you any actual harm. Cool your jets and honor your original agreement. I know it's hard to wait, but you can do it.

[TheMandoShop]

I bought a used Weber from the mandolin store and I'm happy with the sound. When you get high up the neck it buzzes so I thought I'd raise the bridge a bit.

Unfortunately both new and used mandolins can come with frets that are not level resulting in fret buzz. Raising the action to overcome fret buzz comes at the expense of playability. It does take time and skill to adress this issue with a fret dressing and not all shops are willing or able to do that. Only some mandolins have this problem so it's easy to understand why there are mixed reveiws. As Steve suggested, if you desire some individual to specifically do your setup, then waiting is a good idea. If you wish a good professional setup, a range of suppliers do that.

[montana]

Unfortunately both new and used mandolins can come with frets that are not level resulting in fret buzz. Raising the action to overcome fret buzz comes at the expense of playability. It does take time and skill to adress this issue with a fret dressing and not all shops are willing or able to do that. Only some mandolins have this problem so it's easy to understand why there are mixed reveiws. As Steve suggested, if you desire some individual to specifically do your setup, then waiting is a good idea. If you wish a good professional setup, a range of suppliers do that.

When I took the mando to the repair shop he did dress the frets. The issue was the truss rod

[mandolin tony]

again Robert is the go to guy to get it right the Frist time. he is the only one there no help,the mandolin comes in he opens the box,you place your order he sets it up & puts it in a box & ships it to you.go with the little guy to get it right the frist time when every order counts.

[Steve Ostrander]

I've bought several mandolins from TMS and they have all been set up nicely. Excellent customer service and good, friendly people.

Can't comment on Folk Musician 'cuz I've never bought from Robert.

[tander]

Unfortunately both new and used mandolins can come with frets that are not level resulting in fret buzz. Raising the action to overcome fret buzz comes at the expense of playability. It does take time and skill to adress this issue with a fret dressing and not all shops are willing or able to do that. Only some mandolins have this problem so it's easy to understand why there are mixed reveiws. As Steve suggested, if you desire some individual to specifically do your setup, then waiting is a good idea. If you wish a good professional setup, a range of suppliers do that.

This is where you want to buy your mandolin if possible. Kyle won't blow his own horn so I will blow it for him. Bought a Eastman 515 off eBay and the set up was terrible. Sent it to Kyle and when it came came if played great, couldn't be any better besides shinning it up to look like a new mandolin. If I want a new one or a set up, I am giving my money to Kyle. Just a very satisfied customer.

[Stephen Perry]

I really think you'll find a good setup person in or owning many of the small shops out there. I don't see much point in promoting one over another on the basis of one or two pieces of work. The reputable stores will have a reputation for putting out well set up instruments.

Instruments set up well will have a certain variation. It's not an exact science. Too often in this music field an individual player will have a binary rating on work or instruments. Good or bad. While a certain number of instruments would likely fall into bad for everyone, I doubt the ranking of this better than that would be identical for all players. Thus X better than Y questions sort of bother me. My answer on any particular pair of instruments set up by different people might be along the lines of "A seems better for hard driving players, while B is set and voiced for a more lyrical sound." Or something like that.

Without some detailed parameters, I don't find the "X better than Y" aspect particularly useful.

[TheMandoShop]

This is where you want to buy your mandolin if possible. Kyle won't blow his own horn so I will blow it for him. Bought a Eastman 515 off eBay and the set up was terrible. Sent it to Kyle and when it came came if played great, couldn't be any better besides shinning it up to look like a new mandolin. If I want a new one or a set up, I am giving my money to Kyle. Just a very satisfied customer.

I appreciate the compliment. Thank you.

[Rdawsoniii]

I bought a mandolin for my daughter from Folk Musician. Robert is great...very friendly and promptly responded to my emails. The mando set up was excellent.

I'm thinking of buying one for myself and will not hesitate to make my purchase from Folk Musician.

As a (bad) banjo player I know the value of a stringed instrument's set up. That is why I won't let anyone but Kyle Smith work on my banjo.

[michaelpthompson]

I really think you'll find a good setup person in or owning many of the small shops out there. I don't see much point in promoting one over another on the basis of one or two pieces of work. The reputable stores will have a reputation for putting out well set up instruments.

That's a good bit of the point isn't it? Keep seeing people make comments like "Well, so and so does a really good setup." So what? The OP said he had ordered a mandolin from folkmusician.com. Wanted to know if he'd get as good a setup if he jumped ship on that order and got it from The Mandolin Store instead. Pretty much everybody who's dealt with Mandolin Store said yes. Doesn't really matter about anybody else, does it?

Real question I have is whether he'd get the mandolin quicker or not, or whether quicker is worth canceling the order. Mandolin Store might list it as in stock, but having it ready to ship could be another matter. Folk Musician may receive them at any time. Lots of variables. Hard to predict. Personally, I'd stay with the horse I rode in on, unless it turns up lame. But that's me.

[Stephen Perry]

It's a difficult question, really. Have any of us seen enough setups from the two contenders at the same time to detect any consistent difference in setup? Let alone setup quality? Possibly not.

[Folkmusician.com]

I try to stay out of threads where I am the topic, so people feel more comfortable, umm... talking about Folkmusician. hehe

In this case, the Eastman shipment did make it in. I received 4 md504 mandolin and the OP's mandolin is on its way to him now.

Throughout this, John was more than patient. I would have completely understood had he went elsewhere for the mandolin. This particular shipment took a few weeks to receive. Being in contact with Eastman, I knew the mandolins were in the California warehouse, but I had no idea when they would ship them out.

This past year or so has been difficult.... not for a lack of orders, but surprisingly, a lack of mandolins! A few mandolins I am setting up now were ordered last December. At one point I had around 30 customers waiting on a single model. Orders have continued to increase, but the mandolin supply has not.

While I am typing away here...

I am the face, or in this case, voice and text of Folkmusician. Even customers I talk to often, do not realize that there is a back end to Folkmusician. Tony being a great example. I know Tony pretty well, and "thought" he knew that we were a two person team. I pretty much have my hands on everything to do with the business, but Folkmusician is a husband/wife endeavor. We have had employees in the past. Currently, it is just the two of us. Surprisingly, the two of us manage to be among the top volume dealers for most of the brands we sell. Between long hours, and being highly efficient, I figure we have about the same output as most businesses with four employees. The better half of Folkmusician that no one hears about is "Mimi". She handles the accounting, purchasing, receiving, photography, graphic design, picking, packing, shipping and a host of other jobs including a portion of prepping instruments. Most of my day is spent setting up instruments, with the remainder of time going to answering the phone and emails. Some of our work overlaps, and for the most part we are each able to handle the majority of the business, with the exception of me being somewhat lost with the accounting, and her experience with setup not being as extensive as mine. Though I would rate her setup skills as above average and steadily improving. Mimi was practically born in to music. Her father is known as "the" fingerstyle guitarist in town. Her two brothers excelled at music, and she has been in bands off and on since Jr. high. All in all, our skill sets have complimented one another very well and allowed us to not only stay in business for 12 years, but to see slow, but steady growth. It is not easy, nor financially rewarding, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

I appreciate all the kind words of support and thank everyone that has purchased a mandolin from us. Without you, we would have to have real jobs and not get to play with instruments all day.

[dcoventry]

Let me make the really annoying NFI disclaimer...it annoys me no end when I see it, but I realize it's purpose.

So, here goes:

I had lusted after a The Loar LM700 for months. They were scarce. I emailed and spoke to Robert about REALLY wanting to be able to at least choose between 2 in an attempt to get the best mando possible. He worked with me on what very well might have been deemed an unreasonable request as he was selling every LM700 he was getting.

I drove 700 miles round trip(plus one speeding ticket on the way there!), to have him show me, in person and set up, 2 LM600's, 3 LM700's and a slew of Kentucky's. He woke up early to get the work done and still welcomed me warmly into his workplace. In ANY circumstance, the man is professional to a fault. In hindsight, I can't believe he put up with my sh$t. My ignoance was not his bliss.

Anywho, every instrument no matter the price was set up just right. PLUS, he had many Cumberland Bridge A/B comparisons. Ah, yeah, the CA bridges are worth the money, stop arguing.

So, there we are. My opinion. Folkmusician does what they do extremely well in my experience. And thank you.