Octave Mando nut and bridge spacing

[belbein]

I owe someone an apology. I said that I would send on the string spacing I used on my Octave, after much research and many wild goose hunts. Now that I remembered to bring the documents up to my office, I can't figure out who it was I said I'd send this to.

So, whoever you are, here are the documents ...

1. I used the "String Spacing Guide for Instruments of the Mandolin Family," from Bluestemstrings.com website. It allows you to choose your neck (nut) width, and your bridge width, and gives you very clear markings for strings of .014, .013, .012 and .012--but also string pair centers, so you can adjust for other guages.

2. For string clearances or "action," I used (a) advice from Marty Jacobsen at MandoDeco, (b) mandolin set up info from the "Build a Bluegrass Mandolin" book, and most importantly, (c) info from the Weber website, which lists approximate action clearances at 12th fret for various Mando Family instruments. You can find this last at "soundtoearth.com/faq.php?cat=3." IF that doesn't get you there, look on their site for "Care and Feeding" then "Measurements."

I also want to send a shout-out to the folks at MacNichol Guitars in Salt Lake City and to Weber themselves. I was so desparate to find this info--and had spent so many hours looking for it without finding it--that I sent a desparate plea shot in the dark to MacNichol. They don't know me, there's little chance that I will ever walk into their shop, and yet they tracked down the info for me by contacting Weber. What an incredible testament to the musical community!

[Charliewhite]

I think it was 'porchfiddler' seeking this info...

[belbein]

Thanks.