Interesting find

[Garo]

Hello. Nice site you people have here. I found this mandolin at a local goodwill and im having a real hard time finding info on it. Just interested in what year it is and other info. I want to refurbish it and actually play it but its in pretty rough shape. It has french writing in it saying, "Ancienne Maison Fondee FN1881". Translates to "Old House Founded FN1881". Have some pictures. Thank you.

http://www.imagecross.com/11/image-hosting-view-40.php?id=4620IMG00362-20100704-1110.jpg
http://www.imagecross.com/11/image-hosting-view-40.php?id=2600IMG00363-20100704-1110.jpg
http://www.imagecross.com/11/image-hosting-view-40.php?id=637IMG00364-20100704-1111.jpg
http://www.imagecross.com/11/image-hosting-view-40.php?id=5058IMG00366-20100704-1111.jpg
http://www.imagecross.com/11/image-hosting-view-40.php?id=2010IMG00368-20100704-1113.jpg

[Jim Garber]

Very easy... why did you leave out the one obvious piece of information... the name brand... Ibanez? yes, it is a Japanese made mandolin. Seems to resemble very closely those made by Suzuki company in Japan. They probably just made for Ibanez and branded it. I have also seen very similar labelled Kent.

[Garo]

woops! lol. yes. its an Ibanez.

[allenhopkins]

The Ibanez collectors' site says the company may have made these in the 1970's. Doesn't seem to be a lot of info about Ibanez bowl-backs. A couple people mentioned buying them for $50-100. Apparently they weren't made for too long. I defer to Jim G's expertise in linking them to Suzukis.

[Bertram Henze]

The G strings seem to have scraped away at the top for quite a while where the bridge is missing... :confused: