Us made morrell mandolins

[ksdaddy]

I bought a rough Morrell mandolin on ebay (cheap). It's made in TN, presumably in Bristol, s/n 288. I called Morrell Music and the guy who answered the phone said he'd ask around and email me (which hasn't happened yet). I'm just curious as to when it was made and how many were made. I'm guessing 80s, as that's when I first saw the US made Morrell lap steels. It's the only US made Morrell mandolin I've seen so maybe there wasn't a huge quantity made. Maybe for good reason, who knows? It's still in transit so I can't give much of a description other than it's very basic army-navy flatiron style but with f-holes. I know it's not worth anything, I'd just like to know a little more about it if anyone knows.....? Thanks in advance.

[Danny Clark]

i am thinking some of the were made by Ratliff mandolins for Morrell.

[sachmo]

I believe ratliff and his crew at that time made them by the truckfull, Morrell commisioned ratliff's shop to make 'em without headstock names and morrell put them on himself.

They were cheeeepies and they quit selling them 'cause morrell had a hundred or so laying around his store. I guess he couldn't get rid of em.

Thats all I know

[acousticphd]

I picking buddy of mine in middle TN also has a Morrell, and told me it was made by Ratliff. It is a good sounding mandolin, but doesn't look like it has held up super well; it has a dipping top, some neck bowing, and other problems.

[ksdaddy]

It came in on Saturday. A quick email from Audey Ratliff confirmed that they built them. The neck is twisted worse than a 70s Gibson guitar (and I don't throw that comparison out without some thought!) but oddly it plays okay. The top was sunk in severely, so I removed the back, forced the top back into a close and marginally acceptable degree of flatness, and added a couple thin pieces of maple alongside the existing top braces. I then put the back on, touched up the edges, filed the fret ends and....

Well...

not a whole lot of tone or volume there.

I may have killed what little bit of tone/volume there was by adding the braces, but it was either that or it might be the equivalent of putting new windows and doors into a 1959 8x40 mobile home.... where do you start and where do you STOP?

Don't get me wrong, I don't regret scoring it for the princely sum of $27, but it's more of a curiosity than anything else. The method used in construction is unique, in that the neck and top/back braces all appear to be churned out of one piece of wood. It looks as though the neck was one long piece that might remind you of a solid body Martin Backpacker.... if you can dig it. The "body" of that Backpacker was then strategically sliced up in a bandsaw, forming the top and back braces. It clearly didn't work, but it raises the question of what might happen if the dimensions were altered, giving a little taller top braces? Pardon my excitement, but it's something I sure haven't seen and it almost reminds me of what would happen if Fred Flintstone tried to build a Garrison.

But I get excited about things like that....



Yes, I'll get the jabs about "why even bother?"... I guess I root for the underdog sometimes.