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When you start to think about mandolin restoration, there are one or two good places to start. It these are ignored, you can find yourself doing a lot of work, and still having an unplayable mandolin at the end. These are points 1 and 2 in red on the followingtriage chart. Most structural things can be sorted out, but if you have a bent neck (usually the neck/body join) OR no room for a bridge, these are most crucial to having a playable mandolin with a good action.
	Problem	Diagnosis	Level	Help Page
1	Bent neck (most common on bowlbacks)	Decide if its a) the neck, or b) the neck-body join. It will usually be b). Can be serious making instrument unplayable. MUST be rectified. *May require shimming the f/b, or a new f/b, at worst, a neck reset.*	Difficult	Neck Finger-board Fretting
2	Bridge position/height	Where to put the bridge is no problem, fine tuning is a little harder. If you have no room to fit in a bridge with the strings about 2mm above the fret-tops at fret 12, then this can be a BIG problem. *May require a shim under the f/b, top removal, or resetting the neck.*	Easy-Hard	Tuning Bridge-Fitting Neck Fingerboard
*The solution to these two crucial problems above, are dependent upon the seriousness of the problem, and the thickness of the f/b.*
3	Split top	Shrinkage splits are easier to fix. Can be very serious if severe, and combined with 'warpage' from string tension.	Med to Hard	Table
4	Warped top	Usually from string tension. Often visible around sound-hole. Can be very serious if severe and combined with splitting.	Medium to Hard	Table
5	Split back seams	Split seams can often be fixed fairly easily unless accompanied by warping. Split or missing back ribs or pieces is more serious. Much harder when combined with shrinkage.	Easy to Hard	Back
6	Broken/jammed tuners	Can be cleaned, and sometimes repaired provided all pieces are present, and not too worn. Very difficult to replace except with modern equivalents.	Easy to Medium	Furniture
7	Missing inlay	Can be relatively simple to replace, or extremely difficult, depending on location and shape of inlay pieces.	Easy to Hard	Inlay Parts
8	Missing/broken bridge	Bridges are easy to replace from this site, but setting them up well is harder, whilst essential for good performance.	Easy to Medium	New-Bridges
9	Broken neck	Level of difficulty depends on location of break, whether it has been previously repaired, and if it has a veneer. Can be done.	Medium to Hard	Neck
10	Cracked/broken head	Not too problematic if its merely a crack, more difficult with enclosed tuners and/or head veneers, and most difficult if part of the head is missing.	Easy to Medium	Head
11	Damaged finish	Possible to renew, but can be very time consuming. Typically can be either varnish (German) or French Polish (Italian).	Medium	Finish
12	Loose/broken struts	Often detected by a rattle, or flexing of the top. Complex, as this often has other causes which must be addressed as well. Can be done but usually necessitates top removal.	Hard	Structure Struts
13	Missing/worn/uneven frets	Re-levelling or re-fret is possible, but difficult for a non-expert to do well. Modern or period frets can be used. but i do have period replacements ir required.	Medium to Hard	Fretting Parts
14	Missing/damaged nut	Can be replaced easily, difficult to set up well for a non-expert.	Easy to Medium	F/board Parts NutFitting
15	Loose neck/body join	Complex repair that can require top removal in Italian mandolins, but German mandolins generally have access to heel without top removal.	Medium to Hard	Table Neck
16	Broken tail-piece	Easily replaced from the site.	Easy	Furniture
17	Damaged edging	Relatively easy to replace, but damage to finish is often involved and more difficult to repair.	Medium	Inlay
18	Rattles or buzzes	Badly set up nut, bridge, or uneven frets. Sometimes hard to find the cause...	Easy to medium	F/board NutFitting BridgeFitting Fretting
19	Very dirty	Mandolins can be 'cleaned' with a damp cloth, or Meguiar's paint cleaner, but much of the 'dirt' will be absorbed in the varnish/french polish. Beware the tops of Italian bowls, which are normally NOT finished, but bare wood. For cleaning of tuners see furniture.	Easy	Cleaning
20	Shrunken pieces	This can be a problem, and a complicated fix, depending what and where it is.	Medium to Hard	Table Back/Sides
21	Badly spaced frets	Many old mandolins have badly spaced frets. Its hard to remedy this unless the problem is restricted to 1 or 2 frets, so it may mean a new fingerboard.	Hard	F/board Fretting
22	Damaged veneer	It may have been worn, torn, cracked, lifted, or ruined by an old repair. Can be fairly easily replaced on the head, the neck is more problematic.	Medium to Hard	Veneering
23	Broken/missing linings	Without these the structure is very susceptible to damage. Many rapidly made Neapolitans don't have any!! They can be replaced or repaired, but top removal is involved.	Hard	Structure Back/sides
24	Lifting top	On Italian bowls, it is common to see the top separated and lifting at the sides. This can be difficult to fix, and depends on why it has happened. Often accompanied by warping, loose struts and over-stringing.	Medium to Hard	Structure Struts
25	Scale length problems	On some Italian mandolins, you will find scale length problems, the bridge on or behind the cant, or fret 1 cut short to allow the bridge to fit in before the cant. Will usually require moving the fingerboard if that is possible, or a new board.	Hard	F/board Fretting
26	Insect damage	Usually indicated by small holes in the wood. If limited, easy to repair, if extensive may require replacement pieces, and therefore much more problematic.	Easy to hard	(Page to follow)
27	Bridge repair	Sometimes a mandolin has a bridge that has only minimal damage, like a missing divider between 2 strings, a broken wing, or it is just too low. Some of these faults CAN be rectified, thus keeping the instrument as original as possible.	Medium	(Page to follow)