I have to say the re-stringing with fat strings was basically my mistake. When I tuned it A D G C (top down) the strings were so tight I couldn't play it. So I tuned it down until the strings were slack enough to allow me to fret clearly. This mornong I settled on D G C F. This means I play most tunes in C. I could capo to D.

I probably wont stick with this and will some sensible gage strings again and go back to A D G C.

In the meantime I really like the big bassy notes and as I tend to play alone or with a guitarist and sometimes a Bodran player the keys don't matter. I guess it would be nice to have 2 Mandolas and play in a range of pitches and keys.