S.S.Stewart restored

[giuseppeseverini]

I had to reglue part of the back, then glue the little brace under the fingerboard, glue additional bracing at the sides of rosette, those sides being serously warped.
I had to lower the nice ebony bridge.
Using 0.10, 0.14. 0.22 and 0.30 strings this mandolin has a nice delicate sound. Much sustain.
G.

[brunello97]

Nice work, man. Were you able to get the top to flatten out? Nice color on that seasoned wood. What is the back made of?

I think these Chicago flatback mandolins can sound pretty okay. Our friend, Jake Wildwood, who posts here often is a big fan of these and has repaired/restored many, including a nice Stewart mandolin made by CF Martin. Here's a link to his 'repaired instruments blog'

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/

He's a good fellow. I bet you two would get along well.

You know, I have seen that "additional bracing at the sides of rosette" used on Embergher and Cristofaro mandolins. From the looks of it these braces appeared as original to the instruments. I have added these small braces to a few of my old bowlbacks as extra reinforcement to prevent problems on the top. So far, so good: no apparent changes to the sound quality.

Mick

[giuseppeseverini]

Exactly, they don't affect the sound.
To flatten out the bent parts of top I soak them with water for two or three days using moistened pieces of paper, then I leave the top dry enough to glue the little braces.
The back of this instrument is made of very light mahogany with two braces in it.
It is not a strong instrument at all and it's easy that it bends and warp under strings pressure.
It sounds good because top is old but I expect it could bend again.
I had to lower the bridge really too much to make it work properly, but I don't like low bridges as that (mm.6 ca.)
Thanks for very interesting link.
G.

[brunello97]

Giuseppe, did you try a search for "Stewart" on Jake's blog site? Here is one that he repaired which looks quite like yours:

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspo...-flatback.html

The finish looks to be in rough shape. I wonder what those all-bone bridges sound like. I might give one a try some time.

Mick

[Eddie Sheehy]

That's nice. I have an S.S. Stewart but the neck has a slight bow, two repaired and cleated splits in the back and the mando has been oversprayed. Needs a rejuvenation...

[brunello97]

Is that a rosewood back, Eddie, or faux finish? It looks real, maybe hence the cracks. Different body profile than Jake and Giuseppe's. How bad is the bow? Is it playable? I have a couple spruce/rosewood flatbacks and I enjoy the sound out of them.

Mick

[Eddie Sheehy]

It's Rosewood - under the overspray. It's playable - not a great sound but comparable to a Martin. A neck-planing and new fretboard would bring it to life.

[giuseppeseverini]

I think this instrument is better than mine, that is really too weak.
Label looks the same.

G.