I used that method as many as 30 years ago to repair mandolins..... I thought it was original with me, but I'm sure it wasn't..... When I did it, I would make the post longer than you did and I would have to use force to stand them up, but I had pair of off set skinny nose pliers that worked beautiful for that job..... Did it several times and it always worked.... Even seemed to improve the sound afterwards....
Thanks your a guru. I have a old a model that my sister gave me years ago. It was just like this . kept the mandolin. thought I might try to find a way to fix it some day. this was helpful .. keep the fix it video's coming
Thanks for the video, I've just bought an electro acoustic Tanglewood TWM F VS E Electro Acoustic F Style Mandolin which has a "Sunk top" and your video will no doubt aid me in its reconstruction! I'm merely an amateur, but I've refitted a violin sound post before now and it's a similar process.
I used the same principle of holding on the top with a sound post, but in my case, one of the "ribs' that cross in an X shape below the top to give it rigidity cracked on the E string side and the top started to cave donw. I've put the sound post right below the cracked part (not touching directly the top, only the structure "rib" (I don't know the actual name of it, sorry hehe). At the beginning, it was fine, but the pressure started to puncture the back of the instrument, so now I'll be putting some wood pad to distribute the force on the back. Soon I come back to say if I screwed all up or if it was great success hehe Beside the fact that I found this video only after doing the repair, thanks for the idea anyway!
I have a kentucky km 140 it was worse than the Washburn and i sanded the front and put wood puddy where it was sunk in and the sound is great didn't hurt it for me just paying 20 on it i don't think i was hurt by fixing it that way
Thanks for the comment. Interesting fix. I would think it might sag further in the future. But maybe not. The advantage of the post fix is that it should be stable and you can't see it from the outside.
What kind of stick is that? Poplar or spruce? I see the bar code on the side at 4:25, and it looks like a dowel I could pick up at my local hardware store. What did you use for this? Thanks!!!
Dear Jerry, I enjoyed a lot all our videos but I found extremely difficult to find your videos in consecutive order. For example I look and search for RSW 018 having in mind that it will be the part 2 of fixing this mandolin but cannot findit. Any tricks ?,,
just go to his main youtube page and you can search 018 and itll come right up. ok now i see your prob. just searched it and 018 is something else. hmm
I have a similar problem on an oval hole mandolin, I was going to try to fix the part near the hole but the bracing from deeper inside is broken completely off and I don't know how to get something that far into it. I was thinking about putting a metal bracket accross the front near the bridge or on both sides of it, it would be ugly but I feel like it might work?
dts5184 I don't think I did an actual video on it but I have touched on it in quite a few different clips. Maybe we'll get to that one of these days. I'm kind of crazy busy at the moment rebuilding my whole website.
I'm never sure how much slack to leave before starting to wind. Too little and there must be a risk of slipping, too much and it takes too long to wind and perhaps the sound suffers somehow. Do you have a rule of thumb? (And greetings from Scotland - love your very useful videos!)
dts5184 yes my rule of thumb is to use the height of 2 fingers (one on top of the other) across the fretboard. Then thread the string over the top of the fingers and pull out most of the slack through the string post hole. Not real tight just slightly snug. Hope that helps.
Interesting video. Of course "they" always say a sound post won't work in a mandolin but what the heck in makes sense here. How did it sound? Did you ever post the part 2 video of the string up?
To be honest it really didn't sound very good. I have put sound posts in other "low end" mandolins that with sagging tops that sounded fine. This one really didn't sound very good. I imagine it probably didn't sound very good even before the problem. Thanks for commenting.
Rosa String Works Thanks for the information. I agree, for sure top sag kills sound. I just took the back off my 1936 Gibson K-1 mandocello and installed an additional transverse brace under the bridge to stop the excessive top sag. I was afraid that it might negatively affect the tone and projection but instead it improved it greatly! Here is the thread on the Mandolin Cafe site on the repair. If I lived near you I could have had you do it! (
+Kop Prophet thanks for the note. I'm not a huge fan of the humidification idea. When you dry wood to build an instrument you dry it down to three to 5% moisture content. In my opinion for the most part instruments don't shrink and dry up they actually swell because of all the humidity in the house. I've tried humidifying instruments under lots of conditions and I've never seen a result that really mattered. I know other people do or at least claim to all the time on RUclips but it has never work for me. Thanks for watching. Happy New Year.
Hi Jerry, Thanks for posting this helpful video. I've got a Rogue mandolin - less than a year old, but has some serious top sinking issues. I keep extending the height of the bridge, but the insides of the f-holes just keep getting lower and my G and D strings buzz when fretted. I looked inside with a dental mirror and it turns out that there are no tone bars under the top. Musician's Friend will replace it, but shipping costs for me to return it from Canada will cost more than a new Rogue, so I think I'm going to try the tone bar solution. A contributor on the mandolin cafe forum suggested it to me a couple weeks ago -and then I came across your video here. I've already set the instrument up quite nicely with help from one of your videos and a very helpful e-book by Rob Meldrum ruclips.net/video/iuHCX7JT-d8/видео.html. The mandolin sounds lovely when I can get the strings up high enough. I expect to lose some sound quality with the posts, but it will hopefully be playable and good enough for me to continue learning on until I get good enough to warrant an upgrade. I have a question about the positioning of the posts. You placed yours a little bit behind where the bridge sits. When you have a moment to respond, I was wondering why behind - and not directly under.
I used that method as many as 30 years ago to repair mandolins..... I thought it was original with me, but I'm sure it wasn't..... When I did it, I would make the post longer than you did and I would have to use force to stand them up, but I had pair of off set skinny nose pliers that worked beautiful for that job..... Did it several times and it always worked.... Even seemed to improve the sound afterwards....
i know I'm kinda randomly asking but do anybody know of a good place to watch new movies online ?
@Leland Misael Flixportal :D
@Idris Devon Thanks, signed up and it seems like a nice service =) I appreciate it!!
Thanks your a guru. I have a old a model that my sister gave me years ago. It was just like this . kept the mandolin. thought I might try to find a way to fix it some day. this was helpful .. keep the fix it video's coming
Thanks for the video, I've just bought an electro acoustic Tanglewood TWM F VS E Electro Acoustic F Style Mandolin which has a "Sunk top" and your video will no doubt aid me in its reconstruction! I'm merely an amateur, but I've refitted a violin sound post before now and it's a similar process.
Mike thanks for watching. Glad it may help.
I used the same principle of holding on the top with a sound post, but in my case, one of the "ribs' that cross in an X shape below the top to give it rigidity cracked on the E string side and the top started to cave donw. I've put the sound post right below the cracked part (not touching directly the top, only the structure "rib" (I don't know the actual name of it, sorry hehe).
At the beginning, it was fine, but the pressure started to puncture the back of the instrument, so now I'll be putting some wood pad to distribute the force on the back. Soon I come back to say if I screwed all up or if it was great success hehe
Beside the fact that I found this video only after doing the repair, thanks for the idea anyway!
I have a kentucky km 140 it was worse than the Washburn and i sanded the front and put wood puddy where it was sunk in and the sound is great didn't hurt it for me just paying 20 on it i don't think i was hurt by fixing it that way
Thanks for the comment. Interesting fix. I would think it might sag further in the future. But maybe not. The advantage of the post fix is that it should be stable and you can't see it from the outside.
Yeah your the first to post about this problem wish this video was up when i got my kentucky
What kind of stick is that? Poplar or spruce? I see the bar code on the side at 4:25, and it looks like a dowel I could pick up at my local hardware store. What did you use for this? Thanks!!!
I only use Spruce and violins. But on a hack like this anything is better than nothing.
You da man, @@RosaStringWorks
Dear Jerry, I enjoyed a lot all our videos but I found extremely difficult to find your videos in consecutive order. For example
I look and search for RSW 018 having in mind that it will be the part 2 of fixing this mandolin but cannot findit. Any tricks ?,,
Some of the earlier videos were not numbered with the same number.
Maybe you could add a link to Part II in the description ?
just go to his main youtube page and you can search 018 and itll come right up. ok now i see your prob. just searched it and 018 is something else. hmm
I have a similar problem on an oval hole mandolin, I was going to try to fix the part near the hole but the bracing from deeper inside is broken completely off and I don't know how to get something that far into it. I was thinking about putting a metal bracket accross the front near the bridge or on both sides of it, it would be ugly but I feel like it might work?
matt forty if it's not an expensive instrument, just cut the back off of it, fix the braces and glue the back back on. Good luck
my whole issue is the back is all warped too. really don't think id get it back together if i took it apart.
Did you ever do the video you mentioned on how to string a mandolin?
dts5184 I don't think I did an actual video on it but I have touched on it in quite a few different clips. Maybe we'll get to that one of these days. I'm kind of crazy busy at the moment rebuilding my whole website.
I'm never sure how much slack to leave before starting to wind. Too little and there must be a risk of slipping, too much and it takes too long to wind and perhaps the sound suffers somehow. Do you have a rule of thumb? (And greetings from Scotland - love your very useful videos!)
dts5184 yes my rule of thumb is to use the height of 2 fingers (one on top of the other) across the fretboard. Then thread the string over the top of the fingers and pull out most of the slack through the string post hole. Not real tight just slightly snug. Hope that helps.
Thanks!
Interesting video. Of course "they" always say a sound post won't work in a mandolin but what the heck in makes sense here. How did it sound? Did you ever post the part 2 video of the string up?
To be honest it really didn't sound very good. I have put sound posts in other "low end" mandolins that with sagging tops that sounded fine. This one really didn't sound very good. I imagine it probably didn't sound very good even before the problem. Thanks for commenting.
Rosa String Works
Thanks for the information. I agree, for sure top sag kills sound. I just took the back off my 1936 Gibson K-1 mandocello and installed an additional transverse brace under the bridge to stop the excessive top sag. I was afraid that it might negatively affect the tone and projection but instead it improved it greatly! Here is the thread on the Mandolin Cafe site on the repair. If I lived near you I could have had you do it! (
These sell for as little as 40 bucks. This is like taking a hamster to the vet. :-)
jack002tuber that is true. But just like pets people get attached to instruments for many reasons. And, unfortunately it is all some can afford.
It's dried out. Humidify it for a few days and the top will rise.
+Kop Prophet thanks for the note. I'm not a huge fan of the humidification idea. When you dry wood to build an instrument you dry it down to three to 5% moisture content. In my opinion for the most part instruments don't shrink and dry up they actually swell because of all the humidity in the house. I've tried humidifying instruments under lots of conditions and I've never seen a result that really mattered. I know other people do or at least claim to all the time on RUclips but it has never work for me. Thanks for watching. Happy New Year.
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for posting this helpful video.
I've got a Rogue mandolin - less than a year old, but has some serious top sinking issues. I keep extending the height of the bridge, but the insides of the f-holes just keep getting lower and my G and D strings buzz when fretted. I looked inside with a dental mirror and it turns out that there are no tone bars under the top. Musician's Friend will replace it, but shipping costs for me to return it from Canada will cost more than a new Rogue, so I think I'm going to try the tone bar solution. A contributor on the mandolin cafe forum suggested it to me a couple weeks ago -and then I came across your video here. I've already set the instrument up quite nicely with help from one of your videos and a very helpful e-book by Rob Meldrum
ruclips.net/video/iuHCX7JT-d8/видео.html.
The mandolin sounds lovely when I can get the strings up high enough. I expect to lose some sound quality with the posts, but it will hopefully be playable and good enough for me to continue learning on until I get good enough to warrant an upgrade.
I have a question about the positioning of the posts. You placed yours a little bit behind where the bridge sits. When you have a moment to respond, I was wondering why behind - and not directly under.