A little bit scared.

[catsittingstill]

 So my octave mandolin, Pearl, has been developing a bit of a buzz.  It started as a bit of an edge on the high notes, that I could avoid by playing a bit more quietly and placing my fingers a bit more carefully.  But when I came back from visiting my family it was pretty noticeable.  And then on Friday night, the top string stopped playing the correct pitch above the third fret.  No matter which fret I hit up there, the strings played the same "note" and it was the wrong "note" and it didn't ring properly, hence the quotes.

I had never taken either of the mandolins to a shop for repair, but it was plainly time.  It was borderline whether I could play my concert with her that way, and I'd promised to loan her to Allegra and didn't want to have to say "oh by the way the top string doesn't play."  I did some hasty googling, called around a bit Saturday morning and drove in to Knoxville to drop Pearl off at Rush Music.  The repair tech (who was either very impressed with her quality or a simply marvelous liar diplomat) seemed to think it would be a relatively easy fix, but I didn't hear back from her Saturday.  The shop is closed today but I think I'll give them a call Monday and see what is up.  They promised to be done by Thursday morning at the latest, but it's suboptimal not to have her for practicing.   Fortunately all the chordshapes are the same between the mandolin and the octave mandolin, so I can do a lot of the practicing on Lark but still, I'd prefer to use the real thing.

I'm a little bit nervous about this and could use someone to hold my hand and tell me everything will be alright.

Comments

[amycat]

Ouch... Hope things are better soon.

Maybe the delay's due to something totally unrelated to issues with the mandolin, like the awful weather back there? Perhaps the repair-person couldn't get in to work due to problems on the roads?

Admittedly, that still leaves you with the problem of delayed repairs, but IMO it's probably a less-scary thought than that there's a Huge Horrible Problem with your prized mando...

[catsittingstill]

I dropped it off Saturday morning, and the tech also works the checkout desk, so it's not very surprising she didn't have time to deal with it Saturday--she said she was going to need to sit down with it for an un-interrupted stretch.

And of course Sunday the shop was closed.

And the tech called me about 11 am Monday, so I would have to call that reasonably prompt. Just not as fast as I was hoping for, is all.

Since the time-promise was to have it back to me, barring unforeseen developments, by Thursday morning, I really can't complain.

[randwolf]

Sympathies and best wishes for Pearl's speedy recovery.

[catsittingstill]

Thank you.

[thnidu]

If it didn't seem somewhere between blasphemous and just wrong I'd be saying m'sheberach (prayer for healing). But what the heck, a less formal prayer will do just as well, and unlike many (of my co-)religionists, I think of the Eternal One as being no less understanding and empathic than my friends.

[catsittingstill]

Thank you for your kind wishes. It makes me happy to know you wish Pearl well.

Don't worry

[the_magician]

It's a very standard repair, and there are a couple of ways of fixing it.

You'll be reunited with your baby in time ...

Re: Don't worry

[catsittingstill]

Perhaps a little less standard--though I think gluing a brace back in is still a fairly common and well-understood thing.

[batyatoon]

*hugs* It will be okay.

[catsittingstill]

Thank you.