My Dad's Mandolin

[jerryk]

This was in my closet for many years. It belonged to my father and wound up with me when he passed in 1983. I believe he bought it in the 70's. He had played in an amateur mandolin orchestra when he was young ( which would have been in the late 20's or early 30's ).

I don't know who made it or where it was from. It has no brandname anywhere. It is an A style with a zero fret. The gig bag was the cheapest imaginable. Ebay searches lead me to believe it might be a Hohner ( or imported by them ). I have seen pictures of Hohner mandolins with zero frets.

I have replaced the nut ( which had broken at the E string ), replaced the strings, adjusted the bridge and set about learning to play. The strings are a little odd - they
are smaller diameter than anything available today. The closest I could get was a set of "light" strings made for bowlback instruments.

My fingers hurt on my left hand. I now have an odd little callus on my left little finger .

These are old pictures. It's a bit prettier now, because I got a "guitar waxing kit" and cleaned and waxed it when I replaced the strings.

[jerryk]

I bethought myself of musical instruments when we wound up with a pair of newborn twins about a year ago. The children must have music! My first thought was Autoharp - press the button, strum the chord, what could be easier? But then I remembered my dad's mandolin, which had the advantage of already being in the house.

[JeffD]

Looks to be in good shape. It will get you on your way. I am not sure about the strings. I would think it would handle medium strings without a problem, assuming no "hidden" structural issues. My first thought is the ultra light strings will not give you the tone and volume you want.

But strings are relatively inexpensive, and you can try stuff out and change it if you don't like it.

[bart mcneil]

It is a very inexpensive instrument made in the orient,. Its missing paper label and no other identifying brand name on the instrument suggests that it was sold under many different brand names and a paper label was pasted inside. There have been several recent threads dealing with this instrument. You will see this same instrument just about every day on eBay seldom selling for more than $50 if I recall.

Hurting fingers on left hand are normal, but usually these instruments were not set up at all (adjusted) after production in a factory This normally makes playing these far more painful (and out of tune) than necessary. Go to frets.com and study setting up a stringed instrument. It is possible to do it yourself and almost certainly it needs a good set up. This is really important on any stringed instrument. This instrument when set up will be fine for a beginner but if you take to mando you will eventually want to upgrade for better tone and play-ability.

Light or medium strings are just fine as are bowl back strings (ultra-light). Whatever strings you are using pain is normal at this point but set up is paramount.

Welcome to the group.

[Bill Snyder]

What about the label on the back of the headstock? Is that a sticker listing the country of origin?

[Jim Garber]

I think it is one of those Korean-made mandolins that flooded the US market in the 1970s-1980s. These are one of Mike E.'s and mine favorites. Decent player if set up all right.

[MikeEdgerton]

It's one of these.

[Cal]

Reminds me of my Dad's Martin Sigma mandolin from either the late 70s or early 80s. It has a thick body like yours.

Cal

[DavidKOS]

I think it is one of those Korean-made mandolins that flooded the US market in the 1970s-1980s. These are one of Mike E.'s and mine favorites. Decent player if set up all right.

old thread....


Jim, were you serious about "one of Mike E.'s and mine favorites. Decent player if set up all right."?

[Jim Garber]

More than mildly sarcastic... Tho years ago I was friends with a guy who played the bejazzus out of one of those. Of course it is the player more often than the mandolin. I know another guy whose main instrument is a cheap Ovation but he is an excellent player.

[DavidKOS]

More than mildly sarcastic... Tho years ago I was friends with a guy who played the bejazzus out of one of those. Of course it is the player more often than the mandolin. I know another guy whose main instrument is a cheap Ovation but he is an excellent player.

I thought so - after reading you guys' comments I was wondering!

[JeffD]

I started with one of those, under the Terada name. I thought it was Tenada the way the label script is.

It did everything I needed doing at the time, and for several years. Five years actually.

I owe it all to that thing self destructing in a hot car one summer. If not for that I might never have considered getting anything better, and might therefor never have made so much room in my life for mandolin.