Can you identify this mandolin?

[remellick]

Any information possible from is appreciated. I do not own it yet so I cannot post any photos. But will try to describe it and I know this is a wild stretch but perhaps something will sound familiar to someone.

The photo I have seen is very poor quality. What I can see is an a-style mandolin possibly with any finish removed because it looks to be made of dark wood. It is strung but the suspension saddle is obviously out of proper position but it is strung and also has the metal bridge (where strings attach?) In place coming from the bottom (typically strap nut end.) It seems to have a rather deep body that is obviously an acoustic model with an oval sound hole which may be mildly elongated vertically.
On the fretboard I cannot tell if its fret dots are painted or inlaid and something strange looking about the fretboard is something white around where first couple frets would be. Last but not least... I see what looks like a batwing headstock but no name.

Anything?.. anyone?

Thanks in advance!

[mrmando]

You're not making any sense. If you've seen a photo, why can't you post the photo? You do not need to own a mandolin in order to post photos of it.

[remellick]

Honestly.. I just don't know how

[MikeEdgerton]

Do you have an image of the instrument on your computer?

[mrmando]

Here's some help:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/fa...l&titlesonly=1

[remellick]

Yes I have the one photo on my phone here.

[remellick]

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/msg/6006642583.html

[mrmando]

Well, the shadow of the Venetian blind doesn't help.

That looks like a homemade job by an amateur builder. Worth $19.95 if not the $20 the seller is asking.

[MikeEdgerton]

That is what we call folk art. Somebody built that that knew a little about wood working and probably not a whole lot about lutherie. On the other hand, if that is a Waverly Cloud tailpiece it's worth about three times what the mandolin is worth. I can't tell from the photo.

For historical purposes:

[remellick]

I know the picture is terrible.. if it wasnt for that batwing like headstock I wouldn't have thought twice. And WHAT is that white fret or frets at the top? Strange... but waiting for more photos and I'll pay close attentiin to the tailpiece.. just in case

[catmandu2]

And WHAT is that white fret or frets at the top? Strange...

Possibly of the same material as the bridge? (Looks like dog bone)

That has some highly figured striping

[allenhopkins]

...if it wasnt for that batwing like headstock I wouldn't have thought twice...

Don't think twice -- it's all wrong. (As Dylan might have written...)

[brunello97]

Well, the shadow of the Venetian blind doesn't help.

Are you sure those are shadows? Looks like the faux finish "barbecue grill" stripes Harmony used for years.

Mick

[MikeEdgerton]

My first thought was that they were painted on.

[George R. Lane]

Buy it and change out the tailpiece for a cheap $7.00 one and sell the cloud. Hang it on a wall and buy dinner with the cloud proceeds.

[mrmando]

Hang it on a wall and buy dinner with the cloud proceeds.

Better yet, buy some steaks and grill them over the burning mandolin. The lines on the steaks will remind you of the photo.

[catmandu2]

...if it wasnt for that...headstock..

Fwiw, headstocks like that - if what i see is what you see; hard to tell - often appear on varieties of instruments from S & C. America - I've thought it intended as a strap hanger. ...But now that I look at it again, it looks like it aint no part of nuthin, perhaps a failed scroll?

Okay, lets get back to roasting it. Weenies!

[NEH57]

I'll give you the $20 for the 'cloud' if you take a punt on it ! I am seriously in the market for one !.......not wanting to ambush the thread, but the 'Small ads' world of the Mando is a head spinning place for those of us on a near '0' budget with an equivalent knowledge.....last night in the Uk for the 'price of a packet of fags' a ( supposedly ) "Rauen" Mandolin was listed. It looked pretty 'ordinary' in the one 'poor' picture....but I did a bit of research on Denny Rauen, and if it is his work, may have been a bit of a gem....of it's type.
It disappeared PDQ and my query to the seller didn't elicit a response.
The body looked not unlike that one !

[Mark Gunter]

for the 'price of a packet of fags'

I remember the first time I heard a similar expression from a British colleague, I had no idea what he was talking about

[NEH57]

Oh dear....I've lapsed into "across the Pond" 50's esque conversational inappropr'iety again I suspect

[Mark Gunter]

The internet has shrunken the world, American-isms and British colloquialisms are getting pretty mixed and generally understood, but I still haven't heard any Americans referring to cigarettes as fags yet.

[remellick]

I think while preparing for our first night of liberty in Portsmouth, England (1987) was the first time I heard the term used. Americans tried the term out for awhile in the 1920's I understand but otherwise it's not often used in reference to cigarettes as much as it is a derogatory nickname for those attracted to their same sex.
But now this takes us waaaaay off topic!

[mrmando]

The internet has shrunken the world, American-isms and British colloquialisms are getting pretty mixed and generally understood, but I still haven't heard any Americans referring to cigarettes as fags yet.

Here's one American doing so, at 1:40:

[Mike Stewart]

The internet has shrunken the world

Long before the Internet showed up, Mr. Jagger was introducing us to the British use of the word in (IIRC) Satisfaction. Monty Python would later fill in the rest for us.

[dhergert]

I had to look it up.