http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Har...0AAOSw32lYztft
Strange bulky headstock. Presumably made for or by someone who's name began with A!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Har...0AAOSw32lYztft
Strange bulky headstock. Presumably made for or by someone who's name began with A!
I am a luthier specialising in historical and world stringed instruments. You can see more info at my website.
I think it's builders initial or maybe they plan on making 26 and giving each a letter
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
I'm going to guess that it was played with a steel slide like a lap steel guitar.
I thought that said 1897. 1987 is probably right.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
There are round holes, and there are f holes, and now it seems . . .
"The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
--Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."
Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos
Looks like the builders name was Jocelyn Abahandt or Abahantt. The last word is probably the city or town where he/she lived, but I can't make anything of it. Could it be French or French-Canadian? Anyway, that's probably where the "A" comes from.
Living’ in the Mitten
The ultimate A-model?
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Good mandolin for busking — it has a built-in coin slot!
If you've seen the sound holes on a Vivitone, you know that these aren't actually so weird.
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
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HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
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- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
Scroll saw block letter of builders initial glued over the soundhole is way easier to produce than a trademarked inlay on the headstock!
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
I doubt that it sounds like anything with a 1/4" pine flattop and a hunk of a bridge. And that square neck is a real oddity. And take a look at the fretboard — I am not even sure that the frets are in the right place and crazy how the neck bulges out at the top of the fretboard.
BTW I think the "A" is actually part of the fretboard, not added at all. It even has the last fret on it:
My theory is that the maker saw a photo of a mandolin and decided to make one with no musical knowledge. BTW it looks like the town she is from is Colebrook. I know of a Colebrook in New Hampshire but it is more likely that it is in the UK.
Even stranger: it is being sold by the British Red Cross.
Jim
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19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
The way the strings run over those saddle slots they must be buzzing like a swarm of bees. The sturdiness of the instrument tells me it was built for players on a bigger planet with much higher gravity.
Bottom line: it's a Klingon sitar.
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
I'm pretty sure the name is Jocelyn Aberhardt. Probably an English woman who married a German. Colebrook is a village in Devon, UK, near Cullompton. It looks as if the mandolin has been made of wood reclaimed from old furniture. Pine top (probably from the back of a cupboard), oak sides, mahogany back. Probably Mrs. Aberhardt has recently died and her belongings donated to the Red Cross, to be sold on.
Anyone buying this to play is probably going to be disappointed, but there is a certain charm about its oddness. Someone has bid on it, anyway.
That's the Non-Tip version. You just stand it on its end and it stays there.
Actually it looks like the designer maybe did have that in mind, because there appears to be a bit of relief at the tailpiece/hook area, so the instrument would sit flat on the floor on the outer parts.
Might be handy for setting it next to your chair/desk/sofa etc, no instrument stand required.
Hey! It has a full NON-contact bridge!
Don
2016 Weber Custom Bitterroot F
2011 Weber Bitterroot A
1974 Martin Style A
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