No idea what to make of this one (Hlad)

[Petrus]

1931 Hlad mando-uke. I don't know what it is that weirds me out about this one, though it's clearly a factory built instrument. Maybe it's the tassels? The funky body shape (reminiscent of Hawaiian slide guitar?) The peculiar frets? The Stauffer-esque head? The six string setup (three double courses) which is neither mando nor uke? Help me out here, I'm having an existential crisis!




http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vint...d/271583546794

[JeffD]

The most interesting thing is the switch to some kind of diatonic fretting above the fifth fret, and differently for different strings.

Some kind of Czech or Slovakian instrument maybe?

[Jim Garber]

It is a Taburitza instrument. There were/are whole orchestras of these in varying sizes.

BTW Pittsburgh seems to be a center in the US for these instruments and music. I have a modernized one that looks like a little Telecaster but with normal frets and five strings.

[Steve Ostrander]

You'd get more bang for your buck if it didn't have that scroll

[mrmando]

It's a Croatian tamburitza instrument. Hard to tell whether it's a brac or a prim. Ivan Hlad was a well-known builder.

[Jim Garber]

It's a Croatian tamburitza instrument. Hard to tell whether it's a brac or a prim. Ivan Hlad was a well-known builder.

Hah! Martin! I beat you by just a few minutes. Great book find tho. Thanks for that!

[Petrus]

Someone should inform the seller. Without coming across as snarky of course.

[Bertram Henze]

I like that purfled binding curve around the tailpiece...

[Jim Garber]

Someone should inform the seller. Without coming across as snarky of course.

The seller seems to know something. He/she does mention tamburitza in the title line and the description:

Antique vintage 1931 tamburitza, made in Chicago by noted luthier John Hlad.

[Dobe]

" flamed Brazilian rosewood back, sides" ??
Kinda looks like Maple to me.

[Paul Kotapish]

Lovely instrument. Tamburitza stuff is fantastic, and a lot of it translates seamlessly to the mandolin. And via the Crljenica Brothers, the tamburitza has also been used as substitute for all kinds of ethnic music in movies over the years. Those "balalaikas" in Dr. Zhivago? Tamburitzas. Check out this cool story about the

Here's some virtuoso playing:



Check out this ensemble and their tremolo technique:

[mrmando]

Here's a pretty sweet-lookin' little prim that might go for a song:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nick-Orehovi...item5669705d9e

[mrmando]

And I'm guessing this is a brac, although it's really hard to get a sense of scale on some of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VALENTICH-BR...item486dc814ad

[Petrus]

Here's a pretty sweet-lookin' little prim that might go for a song:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nick-Orehovi...item5669705d9e

It's in my ever-growing watch list!

[Petrus]

And I'm guessing this is a brac, although it's really hard to get a sense of scale on some of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VALENTICH-BR...item486dc814ad

That one looks like a mandolinetto that recently sold for under $200. Uke-shaped mando, 'twas. Almost wish I had bid on it.