Bowlback mandolin with cracked top

[glauber]

Hello,

a few weeks ago i started a thread in the "looking for information" board. A friend of mine has what to me looks like a very nice bowlback mandolin, with a cracked top. This mandolin is in the Chicago (IL, USA) area.

I need to follow up on a couple of ideas of places to take it, but i thought i'd post it on this board too, and maybe get some more suggestions.

If you have any suggestions of where she can take this instrument, in the Chicago area, they will be much appreciated.

Also, i would like to have an idea of how much it typically costs to fix this kind of crack. I know this is impossible to say without actually having the instrument on hand, but if you can give me a ballpark idea, it would be helpful. Are we looking into $100? $500? Thousands of dollars to repair?

The thread i mentioned above has a lot of pictures. I'll post pictures of the crack below. This flickr photo set has all the pictures that i have, currently.

I don't have experience with bowlbacks, but as i said, it looked like a very nice instrument, to me. Even with rusted strings, it had a loud and bright tone, and the intonation seemed ok. The cant seems to be in good shape and the top is not sunk. I hope to be able to persuade my friend to have it fixed, if i can find a local person and if it's not too expensive.

[glauber]

Here are the pictures i promised. To see more detail, click on the picture; this should bring up the Flickr.com page. Then click on "all sizes" or "see different sizes" and choose the large or the original (largest) size.

Soundboard crack


Binding problems

[Antlurz]

It appears to me the problem originates with the tail block. I'd guess that without removing the top and doing some serious stuff on the tailblock, any crack repair would be just a momentary fix.

Ron

[glauber]

Bad news, then?

[Jim Garber]

Bad news, then?

I have a Vinaccia that had a crack similar to that one, maybe even a bit worse in terms of the warpage near the crack. I brought it to my luthier and he fixed it without taking the top off. You need to be patient with these. I believe that the technique is to humidify it over a period of a week or more and then cleat from the inside. My guy charged me $300 including replacing a triangular piece of pearl on the back of the neck and complete set up to playing condition.

Considering either the sentimental or the intrinsic value of this Brandt and the fact that the owner did not pay any exhorbitant price for it (like zero dollars?), I would say it is worth fixing in that range.

More problematic on these bowlbacks is serious top warpage which can also be fixed and serious neck warpage or the need for a neck reset which can be a problem with the small neck joints. I am not sure what kind of neck joint Brandt used but that could be something quite expensive to do.

Jim

[glauber]

Jim, if it were mine, i'd sure fix it in that range. The thing now is to find a luthier in this area that would take it, then i'll do my best to convince her to fix it. Heck, i'll pitch in for strings and come once a month to keep it in tune.

[Smyers]

Glauber,

I would send it to Mark Kaiser at Fret Repair in Franklin, OH. #The man is a miracle worker... and very reasonable. #I've seen things fixed there that I wouldn't have even known were broken when I was shown the final job, if I hadn't been told. #He is a very good luthier. #Not that he is the only luthier out there, but he is the only one I let touch my instruments any more. #He is only open a couple of days a week, because he is so busy doing repairs, but if you leave a message, he is good about returning calls.

His number is (937) 743-7991.

[Eugene]

I'm in Ohio and always on the lookout for good mandolin repairmen. However, I have real reservations about sending decent quality bowlbacks to people who haven't worked on a number of decent quality bowlbacks...even very good repairmen. Do you know if Mark has, Scott?

Hands down, my favorite for such work is still Tom Crandall at Matt Umanov Guitars. However, if you send it to Umanov's shop, you will find yourself paying Umanov's prices. This shouldn't be too expensive if the top crack isn't any more than it superficially appears to be and isn't hiding anything nefarious.

[glauber]

It would be much better if i could find someone in the Chicago area. I have a feeling that convincing the owner to package this and send it to a faraway place is going to be hard. But i appreciate the suggestions, and will communicate them to her.

[Smyers]

Eugene,

I can't say if Mark has repaird any bowlbacks or not. I know he has built harp guitars, converted a large number of guitars to cutaways and repaired about everything else one would think of. He's the best I have seen. I have seen a number of repair luthiers, but Mark is one of those guys that has that rare knack for anything luthiery that is quite amazing.

[CharlesSanzoneMandolins]

Looks like about a $100-200 repair from the picture. The transverse brace up by the soundhole looks intact judging from where the crack stops. As long as the crack can be realigned without losing too much wood, 3-4 tabs with violin clamps should do it. The X factor is the impact damage down near the tailblock as one fellow said. Good Luck!