Update:

Lower burr carrier replaced and it looks good! I can get a grind fine enough to choke my Oscar, hooray!

The was also no movement or give when I tugged NSEW and up/down on the motorshaft.

Everything seems normal (thank you all so much!), except for a slight but insistent squeal as I approach espresso grind. When I get to the "start here" arrow, a squealing noise appears. It stays there until I get 3 numbers (quarter turn) past the "start here" point when I actually start to hear the burrs chirp and make contact.
If I back up, the squeal goes away! It's very odd.

Lastly, is it normal on a Mazzer that the usable espresso grind setting is in such a small area? I think the usable range must be contained within less than one number.

I used a major for a number of years, loved the grinder very much. Would buy another.

The usable range for espresso, is quite small. You make very very minute adjustments on a flat burr grinder. Large conicals require a little more movement of the adjustment collar.

IIRC, for a given roast level, anywhere from like 16g to 22gr, might be only 3 or 4 notches. I used to use a couple colored sharpies to color in the depressed notches, and leave the raised notches as they were, so I could easily remember where a setting for a coffee was. There was only like, maybe 6 depressed notches colored in, and that covered a wide range of coffees used and doses used.

Hehe, is this your thread from when you discovered the Major, Jman?

Thanks for the info, that's reassuring. I can't wait to really get into it this weekend! Your reaction has got me excited!

That's an interesting idea. I was thinking of printing one of these out, what do you think?

By the way, what do you think about the squealing noise?

Wow, talk about a blast from the past.

Ill still stand behind what I said about the Major making a significantly huge difference in my shot quality over my PeDe hand grinder, though reading that post now, Im gonna guess I was enjoying a very heavy caffiene high. I definitely sound excited!

Printing out one of those gauges is a fine idea. You might find it helpful.

The squealing noise. Hard to say. It actually could be what I think is sometimes built up coffee on the burrs, and as you start to bring them closer, you get that noise, and then as soon as you back off a smidge and go forward, its gone again.. Im not 100% sure.

Being in Paris, I don't have a clue what you have available to you but I will tell how I used a little redneck engineering (a southern expression) to correct the burr alignment on a used grinder I bought one time. I have a lathe and was able to make the piece I needed myself. First thing, I took the burrs outs. Then I machined a piece from an aluminum billet that was the same size as the slot in the lower carrier that burr sits in with a recessed center so it would fit over the nut/bolt holding the lower carrier on the shaft and fit all the way down on the lower carrier. The top of it was machined to the exact size of the top burr and holes were drilled in it so it could be mounted as if it was the top burr with the top burr screws. This piece was precision machined so it was the same thickness are the way around so what you have is a perfectly flat piece of aluminum that will mount in place of the top burr and fits perfectly into the recess the bottom burr mounts in. Using a strong adhesive, I glue 800 grit wet/dry sand paper to this piece. Then, with the motor running I slowly adjusted the carrier down until it touch the bottom carrier and using little pressure I raised and lowered it onto the bottom carrier to lap it. I would do this a few times, screw the top carrier out and check the bottom, until I could tell it was getting it lapped all the way around. Once I finished lapping the bottom, I checked it with a dial indicator and precision dial and it was only a couple of microns off. Basically, almost perfect. After a few pounds of ground coffee thru it to season the new set of burrs, it ground excellent espresso, and still does several years later.

You can take your burrs out, and take them to a machine shop and see what they would charge to make you a piece like I made to lap the bottom carrier.