Last week, before heading to the Wintergrass festival, I had a visit from Neal Curran, who bought an F-5 Mandolin from me 12 years ago. Neal has been playing hard, including with his current band, Sugar Rooster, and the instrument was in serious need of a setup and fret levelling, but it has held up well over these years.
In our post-maintenance jam session, we all agreed that the mandolin sounded clearer and louder. I think Neal was holding back because some strings were on the verge of buzzing. Now he’s ready to go full bore at the festival!