Mandocello bargain Arrived

[Andrew DeMarco]

So, I thought I'd start a new thread because the old one seems to be giving good luthiers good publicity = I'm not gonna interrupt.

But :disbelief: the bargain priced gallatin mandocello arrived. To be totally honest I cannot see ANY problems with it. It has good intonation past the 12th fret.... scroll is beautiful, bridge is fine, tailpiece is beautiful.... no dents, scratches, belt rash, pick marks....

This thing looks unused.

The only thing I can say is the strings look old as heck....

So.... I have a webcam in this computer. But I don't have a program that can take webcam shots.

So as soon as someone suggests a program I can post pics.

It has quite a loud sound, a little tight sounding, if that makes any sense... hmmmm...

I'm gonna go play it!!!!!!1:mandosmiley:

[Marcus CA]

Congratulations! It sounds like you hit the megajackpot on this one.

What is the serial number on it? The first digit will tell you what year it was made in.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Actually the first digit preceded by the last digit is the year... Definitely a winner no matter how old it is...

[Marcus CA]

It's a rare occasion, but I'm going to trump you on this one, Eddie. Here is the info from Weber's website:

Q: Can you explain how to read a serial number in a Weber instrument?

A: The first number is the year, the last two digits are the month, and the numbers in between represent the chronological number of that particular instrument. We separate our instruments into F, A, and flat categories, and within the flat category we further separate mandolins, mandolas, octave mandolins and mandocellos. So, for example, an Absaroka with a serial number of 289706 would mean it was the 897th A model, built in June of 2002.

[Andrew DeMarco]

It's a 2003 instrument. I guess that means it was built in the Belgrade shop.

Can anyone share any anecdotal information or tid bits about how this crop of instruments would differ from one leaving the shop today?

I love this thing.

[Eddie Sheehy]

It's a rare occasion, but I'm going to trump you on this one, Eddie. Here is the info from Weber's website:

Q: Can you explain how to read a serial number in a Weber instrument?

A: The first number is the year, the last two digits are the month, and the numbers in between represent the chronological number of that particular instrument. We separate our instruments into F, A, and flat categories, and within the flat category we further separate mandolins, mandolas, octave mandolins and mandocellos. So, for example, an Absaroka with a serial number of 289706 would mean it was the 897th A model, built in June of 2002.

Thanks for the info. I was basing mine on the pic below. I guess if the last digit wasn't a zero then it would have been plain. My F5L Gibson (made by Bruce) was 5882089 and was a 95. The pic below is my Weber Big Sky OM...

[Kyle Baker]

Someones gotta say it... bring on the pics!!

[EdSherry]

Congratulations, Andrew! [And darn you for beating me to it ;-) ]

As was indicated in the other thread, some of the "Scratch 'n Dent" specials on MF are in very good shape, with no apparent damage -- as yours appears to be. In such instances, their "blow it out" policy often leads to someone (i.e., you) getting a great deal.

[steve V. johnson]

Wow, that is just wonderful. Congratulations!

Did you look all around inside it?

What will you use to restring it, do you know?

A tight-sounding F octave sounds like a fun project. Whoo.

So cool.

stv

[Keith Erickson]

Congratualations Andrew!!!!

It's sounds like you've got yourself a winner. Keep us posted!!! :)~o)

[Andrew DeMarco]

Here's a pic.

Also, it came with this green tweed (?) (it's really fuzzy plushy stuff) TKL case.

[Keith Erickson]

Boy that's one beautful mandocello Andrew!!!! Very Cool Indeed!!!! :cool:

[steve V. johnson]

It's a LEFTY ?!?!?

Or did you reverse the photos?

Wow... I had no inkling it was a lefty... If it was posted I missed it completely. duhhh...

stv

[Andrew DeMarco]

No it's not a lefty! Holy! That would stink! I'm no lefty!

Naa the photo was taken with a web cam which I suppose flips the picture. Didn't even think of that as I'm not a photo guy.

[steve V. johnson]

... whew ....


:cool:


stv

[David Westwick]

No it's not a lefty! Holy! That would stink! I'm no lefty!

Naa the photo was taken with a web cam which I suppose flips the picture. Didn't even think of that as I'm not a photo guy.

Congratulations on your new arrival! It's a beauty. If the instrument had been a lefty, that would have been a good reason for the fire sale price. I can't imaging that there are too many left handed mandocello players out there

Did you use PhotoBooth on a Mac by any chance? For some reason it does the L/R flip, so that output looks like a mirror image -- I recorded myself playing Victor K's Diferencias on my cello using PhotoBooth, only to discover that the whole video was flipped (AARG, I didn't play it half badly either). There is a menu item that will un-flip a photo (but alas, not a video).

.