Ok, I know this is a banjo hangout, but I'd be willing to be that some of you pickers out there play mandolin too, and as I'm not a mando hangout member I thought I'd float this here. If you want to turf me, so be it.
I have an Asian mandolin, an F style Samick. Love it, but there is a slight intonation problem and I have wondered if it has to do with the bridge saddle compensation being inaccurate. Yes, I have diddled with placement. There's tons of el cheapo Asian mandos out there and they vary in price from $150.00 to 3 grand or more ... mine was purchased for about $850.00 in a case. So I have to believe that the bridge is a mass produced effort, that may or may not be 'perfect'. Can any of you cross pickers (banjo/mando) tell me if you've had a similar problem, and if there's a fix that's reasonable? I'm thinking that any replacement bridge in the markeplace would be pretty much the same, not?