Mystery family heirloom

[maddog]

upon learning I played,A friend recently brought over a bowlback mandolin which had been his fathers. It had been purchased second hand approx 50 years ago. Although it hadn`t been played for quite a while it still had a sweet mellow sound and no readily apparent major structural defects.
unfortunately there were no labels or markings except for what may be initials engraved on the tailpiece.
any light you can shed on the origins of this mandolin would be greatly appreciated.

[maddog]

2nd photo

[Jim Broyles]

Those tuners are what puzzles me. It looks like they put two sets of treble side 4 in lines on there.

[maddog]

3rd photo

[Jim Garber]

The tuners do look a little odd. Other than that, I would say a product of Lyon & Healy, perhaps the lower end brand of Lakeside. I don't have anything that exactly matches this in my catalog copies, but the pickguard and headstock shapes resemble those.

Jim

[Paul Hostetter]

I agree with Jim as to the maker: low-end Lyon and Healy. The tuners are obviously not correct or original at all. Otherwise it looks pretty good.

[brunello97]

Maddog,

FWIW, I concur with Paul and Jim's GreatLakesRim providence, though much of what I've gained in my ability to id these has been through them. It does appear in quite solid condition and should be enjoyable to play. The top looks quite nice for a budget model. Must be confusing to keep in tune....

This link is to an old GoogleBookScan of a factory tour of L+H :


http://books.google.com/books?v....s_brr=1 (http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN08018040&id=RpA3NajAh1QC&pg=PA355&dq=mandolin&as_brr=1)

I'm remiss at remembering who initially posted it, but it has made the rounds here and should be of interest to new Chicago mandolin aficianados.

I'll offer the standard caveat here, though. If those are new strings (could they be 50 years old?) make sure they are light gauge or ultra light. (09-32 E-G). Heavier strings tuned at pitch can deform these old bowlback necks. If this one has made it through its first 100 years in this good shape, it would be great to keep it playable for the next 100.

Mick

[maddog]

thanks one and all. I`ll pass on the info. mark.