Bowlbacks of Note

[brunello97]

Must have been coming apart at every nail. There's an added fine bit of collar at the neck joint as well.

I wonder if the two lines of screws along the back fasten into internal bracing of the bowls?

Did Ceccherini experiment with any interior bowl bracing like we've seen on early Washburns?

One more UC question: does the second 'top' connect to the bowl sides or float free like a large format Virzi?

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Interesting Ceccherini bowlback on the Ebay.UK this am.

Believe it or not, folks, I think this is all original. Marc Silber has a Ceccherini on his site since 2007 with those same screws. I don't believe that it is the same mandolin as the one in the UK.

Here are some pics of Marc's. Despite Marc's assessment that the braces are attached with those little screws I would guess that they are purely decorative.

BTW check out the closeup of that UK one: pretty strange stringing (all wound) -- no wonder it has that big crack in the top:

[brunello97]

That is a different mandolin, for sure, Jim. No top holes north of the bridge. The current one on Ebay.uk looks like a replacement bridge to go along with the goofy stringing. My hunch is that that is a shrinkage crack rather than a string tension problem. Hard to tell from these photos if the neck got thrown out of alignment by that.

I can't really see if Marc Silber's has a brass collar at the neck joint, too. (At 1500 clams, it's likely to sit around for another seven years or more.) Either two mandolins went to the same orthodontist or Ceccherini had an idea about something with these. The craftwork is so well done that with two now in evidence, I'm inclined to think the latter.

Would be great if Martin would see this and weigh in.

Mick

[Eugene]

Wacky.

[Martin Jonas]

I wonder if the two lines of screws along the back fasten into internal bracing of the bowls?

Did Ceccherini experiment with any interior bowl bracing like we've seen on early Washburns?

One more UC question: does the second 'top' connect to the bowl sides or float free like a large format Virzi?

Never seen those screws before, but I agree that they seem ornamental. I prefer the somewhat plainer Ceccherinis with tulipwood binding over those with tortoiseshell binding.

As far as the double-top is concerned, they are free-floating at the edge, like a big Virzi (20 years earlier). They connect to the forward transverse brace behind the soundhole with two small wooden tags, and similarly to the aft brace. Also, there's a second small "soundhole" in the suspended top.

Martin

[derbex]

I do quite like the look of it -seems to have a sort of steampunk thing going on. Shame it is in such a state.

[brunello97]

As far as the double-top is concerned, they are free-floating at the edge, like a big Virzi (20 years earlier). They connect to the forward transverse brace behind the soundhole with two small wooden tags, and similarly to the aft brace. Also, there's a second small "soundhole" in the suspended top.

Martin

Thanks, Martin. Do you know if the suspended top also has a cant in it to follow the profile of the proper top?

I'm putting a new top on a basket case MOR Neapolitan bowl and I thought since I had a bit of spruce around that I might try such an experiment. It would be hard for me to exactly A:B but I've got another similar Italian bowl which might do as a 'constant'.

Is the suspended top the same thickness as the main top or is a bit thinner?

Thanks for any help!

Mick

[Martin Veit]

Weird!

But Eugene may be right. I vote also for a fixation at a later on repair.
No easy way to pilot-drill these holes,
not to speak about the bevel-drill.
It had to be done before the sanding,
so the screwheads can be leveled equal to the wood.

But guys - my dad would have killed me,
if i would have left the screwheads in such a sloppy way.
They had to be all in the same direction, maybe parallel to the grain.

[derbex]

ebay eu Embergher type 1 and another Calace for a mere 4000 euros!

Seem to be a fair amount of bowlbacks up at the moment -quite a nice looking Washburn too.

[Tavy]

There's a new-ish Calace up for quite a reasonable sum on eBay UK.

[brunello97]

There's a new-ish Calace up for quite a reasonable sum on eBay UK.

Gotta say, I like the round sound hole / 'cartoon word balloon' scratch plate. Nobody does asymmetry like Calace.

Any word on how these new Calaces sound? The quality of the detail work?

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Some are pretty decent for the price. Victor K has a No. 24 he bought a few years ago new from the factory. It needed a little set up tho and is his main instrument. It certainly has nice tone prob equal but less expensive than the Eastman bowlbacks. From my last price list (2012) I think it goes for €730.

I have also briefly played an upper-level Classico A but for that price -- about €2600 --was not as impressed.

[Bob Clark]

Gotta say, I like the round sound hole / 'cartoon word balloon' scratch plate. Nobody does asymmetry like Calace.

I'm with Mick on this one. I really like the look. If one of you buys it, I'd like to hear an audio clip.

[Beanzy]

No sound clips I'm sorry to say but I've heard Evdokia Bobotsova's brand-new Calace live and it really sounded excellent in comparison with that played by her Quartet Seasons partner Joanna Dimitrova. How you could define why I'm not even going to hazard a guess, there are too many potential variables. But what I can say it was a really impressive sound, it was the quality and complexity of sound rather than just volume which made it extra special. I can only really say the very newest Calace instruments from last year are well up there and able to deliver a sound that is really full and lively.

Here's a photo of the instrument.

[tkdboyd]

There is a Calace from '74 in the Classifieds, has anyone thought much about that one? It is driving me a bit crazy. In the states so shipping wouldn't be a problem and it is at a very nice price point. If someone would go ahead and buy it, it would really keep me in better graces with my wife and my bank--or is there something bad about 40 year old Calace mandolins that would keep me from purchasing it?

[Jim Garber]

I have a 1974 Calace mandola and it's not as good as condition as that one but it actually sounds really nice. I have it tuned to standard American mandola CGDA but I was thinking of tuning it to European style GDAE.

[Bob Clark]

There is a Calace from '74 in the Classifieds, has anyone thought much about that one? It is driving me a bit crazy. In the states so shipping wouldn't be a problem and it is at a very nice price point. If someone would go ahead and buy it, it would really keep me in better graces with my wife and my bank--or is there something bad about 40 year old Calace mandolins that would keep me from purchasing it?

Yeah, you're not the only one being driven nuts by that one. I will resist, I will resist, I will resist.......

OK, somebody please buy it now. I can resist only just so long.

[Jim Garber]

Here's an Embergher of note... ostensibly (from the seller's description) a No. 7 (really a custom ornate order) from 1926.

Some pics... phew, that top has been thru the mill (possibly literally) -- check out the second and third photo below. I wonder how repairable it really is and whether there is anyone in the universe who would want it at that price (currently $16,000).

[Alex Timmerman]

Hi Jim,

Despite the presence of a genuine Embergher label the mandolin above is likely not made by Luigi Embergher or by the luthiers working in his atelier in Arpino. All the characteristics and the craftsmanship of this instrument point to Francesco Olivieri, a luthier who was also working in Rome at the time the Embergher mandolins were the most wanted and celebrated instruments in Italy and abroad.


Best greetings,

Alex.

[Jim Garber]

I wondered about this one esp with the violin scroll. I am sure there are other details unlike LE's work. Label was prob inserted.

Yet another reason this would never sell for that price.

[brunello97]

Thanks, Jim and Alex. Even I thought this one was a bit sketchioso.

Even so, it makes me wonder how does an instrument like this suffer that kind of damage? Particularly when it is shown along with its case.

I guess if it could happen to King Tut's Mask, it could happen to a Fauxbergher.

Thankfully nobody slathered a bunch of JB Weld onto the neck of the "Oliveri".

We've been watching too many British detective shows on Netflix. Maybe the LE label got put in after the accident in an attempt to make it more sellable. The perp only made things worse with the exorbitant price.

Mick

[Jim Garber]

I did find another Olivieri mandolin which does bear some resemblance to the current eBay one and less than to any Embergher. You can see it on Boetzkes' site.

In case we lose those images over time...

[brunello97]

Jim and Alex, I have a few Francesco Olivieri mandolins in my files (including the one Jim has posted) and the labels on two of them are from Catania--different label styles but both with the same street address.

Was he also working in Rome as well or just in the "Roman style"?

Mick

[derbex]

Rara Mandola Nicole e Raffaele Calace 1888? http://r.ebay.com/gGsvDw

[brunello97]

Rara Mandola Nicole e Raffaele Calace 1888? http://r.ebay.com/gGsvDw

Muy cool, Derbex, thanks for the link. Here are some photos for posterity.

I've seen fancier Calace mandolas but this one is rough and ready. I dig the big pickguard. Some real damage to the bowl but it looks repairable. Hard to say about the neck.

Not cheap but maybe a lowball offer might snag it. Definitely worth getting playable.

Mick