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Nice Stradolin. It's definitely a Strad. The originals stopped being made in the late 50s or so, and the name was sold. A lot of really cheap imports from the late 60s and 70s were branded...

Very nice mandolin. I have owned four Strad-O-Lins. They tend to be lightly built and responsive. Being as they have no truss rod, I would not recommend J74s, which have a .040 G string. My...

I enjoyed the Thursday night Bluegrass jam at Jack of the Wood (www.jackofthewood.com) when I was there two months ago. Some very good players at a nice bar with no smoking. Brought my 13-year-old...

Put an additional strip of leather between the strings just above the nut.

Judging by the slotted headstock, I would guess it's European, probably German. Hofner, Framus, Hoyer? Appears to be a birch top.

A great rhythm player makes for a strong bluegrass band. Listen to Tony Rice, Jimmy Martin, Del McCoury, Lester Flatt. Can't think of many great bands that don't have really good rhythm guitarists....

I use the same pick on both, a Clayten Ultem 1.2 with slightly rounded and beveled point.

I wouldn't worry about taking either one camping. My two Strads are my preferred camping and travel mandolins. That said, the bottom picture shows a Stradolin Jr. which has a laminated top, and is...

Have you tried replacing the bridge? A good ebony, Loar-style bridge, such as made by Steve Smith, can enhance the bottom end of a mandolin. If you are serious about shaving the tone bars, Randy...

The mandolin looks like an A-40 to me, possibly from the 1950s. I am guessing that the Master Model label and stencilled "The Gibson" on the headstock were added by a previous owner. The bridge...

Regal made a log of instruments in this style.

"This mandolin was professionally rebounded." No wonder it has a hairline fracture!

A-40.

If this builder's son made a mandolin, it would be a "Gibbsson", or perhaps "The Gibbsson". :disbelief:

Have you tried the Twelfth Fret? http://www.12fret.com/content/category/accessories/

A lot of pro guitar players who occasionally double on mandolin tend to play less expensive mandos. They get an instrument that will do the job without depriving their kids of a college education.

I have used both light and medium gauge strings on Strads and prefer lights. The lightweight construction of Strads doesn't require medium gauge strings, and I think the instruments sound livelier...

I believe that the Vega Pettine Special model is highly regarded in classical mandolin orchestra circles. If you are selling it, I would do a little research and figure out how to advertise it to...

I think the stick-on "holes" are an early version of the Tonegard, with the idea of keeping the back of the instrument from directly touching the player's stomach. The owner obviously wanted to...

I've got a Presto case that came with my Duff. Very strong case and lots of room for accessories. Only problem I have had with it is that the little springs have broken in three of the four clasps....

Your grandpa's mandolin is in very nice shape! I would recommend that you visit Venice, and have a photo taken of you playing grandpa's instrument in a gondola. I don't think they have any canals...

That's a beautiful instrument. Here's a link to a thread on Interdonati on the UMGF (Martin guitar forum). http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/topic/127042/Philip-Interdonati-000

Try it both ways. I definitely could hear a difference when I removed the small pickguard on my Duff F5. In my opinion, removing the pickguard let the high notes sustain longer, and they had a...

Six years is a mighty long time to wait for a custom build, although I do know someone who waited that long for his Nugget to be built and delivered. Hope you enjoy your beautiful new mando for many...

I would have been really excited if they had used "X-ray technology" to make an exact copy of a Strad-O-Lin! These days anybody can make an exact copy of a Stradivarius.