Saw a Marco Polo bowl back mandolin in an estate sale. Can anyone tell me anything about them? It looked very old but seemed to be in good overall shape. Thanks for any info you can provide!
JEStanek
Jun-05-2010, 7:30pm
If it's like this one (http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-marco-polo-mandolin-n-r-ukulele-8) I wouldn't spend much on it. It wasn't listed in Mugwumps so I can't tell you anything about it. The one I linked too certainly doesn't appear as good as the $200 very playable old L&H American Conservatory bowl I got to have an inexpensive bowl. Old bowls, esp inexpensive ones, can be a #### shoot. I was fortunate enough to get mine via trading a Stradolin JR that was a project (that I would never do).
Have you played it? Is the action OK? Do the tuners hold? If I were on the lookout for a bowl now, I would likely place an ad in the classifieds, or maybe look up Jake Wildwood (http://jakewildwood.com/antebellum/) who rehabilitates old bowls (and others) pretty darn well.
Jamie
Jim Garber
Jun-05-2010, 9:53pm
That looks very similar to Suzuki mandolins which are decent but not amazing.