A friend of mine was just given an old Washburn tater bug mandolin, a style 225. The word is it belonged to a family member and was built around 1905. On the paper tag inside it has NO. A-6818. Anyone have info on these?
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A friend of mine was just given an old Washburn tater bug mandolin, a style 225. The word is it belonged to a family member and was built around 1905. On the paper tag inside it has NO. A-6818. Anyone have info on these?
Sounds like you have lots of info. What else do you need to know?
Jim
I have name, rank, and serial number. I want stories of these things.
Info no; advice yes.
Don't use BG strings. Martin extra light or GHS Classical are as heavy as you should go without warping the neck and top.
You like stories about bowlbacks, you should check into the classical threads, where that is the primary instrument style. Perhaps you'll catch BAS.
Washburn was one of the prime brands made by Lyon & Healy. Other than that, you have the model number and the personal background. 225 is a midrange model, I believe. I don't have my catalogs at hand.
Is it playable?
Jim
The mando is playable. I had to perform surgery on a couple of the tuner gears but it tunes up and plays. Unfortunately, I play left handed and I strung it up northpaw. Sounds quite nice (for a tater). It's really quite beautiful with very nice workmanship. We'll see how well it stays in tune and whether my friend will learn to play it.
I have a Washburn 225 model that required a little work to make playable again. I like it quite a lot. The woods are very nice-well chosen spruce top and pretty rosewood bowl. It plays well (now) and sounds quite nice, particularly in the mid-range, to my tin-ish ear.
All in all, it is very playable and a nice instrument. I strongly second BobA's direction on strings. Ultra-lights only, for sure.
Enjoy playing it.
Mick