Found old Mandolin in shop

[roseanne]

Hi, new to the forum and first timeposting but been browsn for a while..

I found this mandolin in some wee junk shop not far from my home. Ive never owned one and dont know anything about them but it looked in need of some love and it was quietly pretty so I bought it for a few pounds.
It was missing its strings and some of the decorative panels were half missing however when I opened the case after getting home, the missing bits were all in the case along with some old music books. I carefully put he little inlays back in and the strings back on.
Ive looked on the site for some info on the maker and have found a bit out but I wanted really to know how to start bringing the old thing back to life....and if it might play if I did...

Dont care about the cost or anything, if it never plays it will stay on the bookshelf cos its so pretty ...

[Jim Garber]

roseanne: you are quite lucky to come upon this mandolin and it sounds like you may have gotten a good deal on it as well. Ceccherinis are very nice instruments. make sure that you use fairly light gauge strings on it -- they were built very delicately. It looks like it is in very good shape despite what you said about parts missing. Does your have a secondary internal soundboard?-- most do. You should be able to see it in the soundhole.

[Bruce Clausen]

Nice find! Very similar to mine (see avatar), which is an excellent instrument. If you're not a player yourself it would be worth showing it to a repair person who would be able to make any necessary adjustments and spot any problems. But it looks good. Someone here may be able to recommend a luthier near you.

As Jim says, light strings are best for these— the heavy strings used on bluegrass mandolins can cause damage.

[roseanne]

Thanks guys, Im glad it seems to be a nice instrument I looked inside and it seems to have a second internal soundboard. I cant get a good photo but it looks like there is a thicker layer of wood a gap and then a thinner layer of wood when you look inside and down.
Yeah, there were bits of the inlay missing but I found them all in the case when I got it home. The only damage im very worried about it the Keys, some of which are cracked. They all turn still but its a bit of a shame.

I think i will see what I can do about getting it fixed up and maybe turn my hand to learning to play.

Thanks guys

[JeffD]

What a beauty. By all means bring it back to life. It will tell you wonderful stories.

[mrmando]

Cracked tuner buttons can be replaced pretty easily. Many of them were made of celluloid, which tends to fall apart over time if not carefully kept.

It looks like a couple of small cracks are developing on the soundboard. They don't look bad now, but could get worse if left alone. So it would be advisable to have a qualified repair technician go over it.

I don't know of anyone in England, but Dave Hynds in France should be able to help:

http://www.mandolinluthier.com/

[Willie Poole]

Roseanne, In the pictures it looks like the strings have some kind of devices that seperate the strings behind the bridge, are those floating or ar they imbedded into the top?

The mandolin looks nice and as you say, if unplayable it would look good hanging on the wall or sitting on a stand of some kind....Graet find....

Willie

[Jim Garber]

Cracked tuner buttons can be replaced pretty easily. Many of them were made of celluloid, which tends to fall apart over time if not carefully kept.

Depends on the year but I have seen these with bone buttons.

Roseanne, In the pictures it looks like the strings have some kind of devices that seperate the strings behind the bridge, are those floating or ar they imbedded into the top?

That is standard for the Ceccherinis. Those are little hooks embedded into the top and I believe they are attached to the inner soundboard.

[billkilpatrick]

roseanne - that's some find! - complimenti!

[roseanne]

Thanks. Yeah im realising it was a lucky wee find. The shop I found it in always has old instruments and things lying around. I'll keep my eyes open for any more I think because this is all so interesting
Ive started looking about now to see if there are any Luthiers in this country that I can maybe get to look at the instrument and see what needs done.

Even found in the case a little metal tin of Tortoishell picks or plectrums which seem to match the instrument, really pretty

[Shelagh Moore]

Hi roseanne... nice instrument and definitely worth checking over. Where in the UK are you?

[michaelpthompson]

Congratulations Roseanne! I bought an old bowlback mandolin in much worse condition than that, and fixed it up, and started playing, and now I'm hooked. Have fun!

[roseanne]

Richard: Im in scotland if you know of anywhere decent that can have a look? It will be nice to get there eventually. Think im gonna give playing a try.

[Willie Poole]

If you do start playing you will be sorry, it causes a person to want to always buy a better mandolin than what he/she already has and it keeps going on and on,we call it MAS....So save your money, or better yet get a better job or marry a rich man....Tee Hee

Willie

[brunello97]

Roseanne, while he may be some distance from you, nuestro amigo, John Maddock, who frequents here regularly, does high quality repair and restoration work on Italian bowlback mandolins. I'll bet he would enjoy getting to work on a Ceccherini. He is in Tavistock, down Devon way, but I suppose it would be easy enough to post it to him. I expect him (and our friend, Martin--who is very much the Ceccherini enthusiast) to join the conversation soon. As if you need any convincing, Martin will assure you what a nice mandolin you have found.

Here is John's website:

http://www.johnmaddock.co.uk/

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Hopefully Ian Steel will check in here. He is head of the Lanarkshire Guitar and Mandolin Association . He prob could tell you where to get it fixed up by you.

His forum name is trebleclef528. His email: mandolinscotland@yahoo.co.uk

[Shelagh Moore]

Hi again roseanne... I used to do a lot of acoustic instrument repair and restoration in a past life (and still do setups and repairs on a limited basis although I do not yet have all my luthier tools with me since moving recently and pending setting a new workshop). I'd would be happy to look over your mandolin if you are reasonably local to me (I live between Falkirk and Stirling). From the photos, it looks to be in pretty good condition but a closer inspection is certainly justified.

I know that Tavy, mentioned by Mick above, is competent in restoring this type of instrument. As mentioned already, I would advise that it is set up with strings no heavier that .010 to .034 if you intend tuning it up to pitch and playing it.

Richard

[Bruce Clausen]

[QUOTE=Richard Moore;1050634] I would advise that it is set up with strings no heavier that .010 to .034 if you intend tuning it up to pitch and playing it. /QUOTE]

Roseanne, if this seems mysterious, the figures are the string diameters or gauges in thousandths of an inch, for the smallest (E) and the largest (G) respectively. Everyone here will have their favourite set to recommend. Mine is Pyramid set 529 from Germany, with gauges 9, 13, 22, and 32 for the E, A, D, and G strings. You'll probably find that any appropriate strings will need to be ordered from one of the web-based dealers. But this can wait till a luthier has seen the instrument.

[brunello97]

Bruce, I haven't tried these Pyramid strings but notice that Elderly carries them. Can you flesh out your recommendation?

(Edit) Okay..I've got my answer, Bruce. I tracked down a helpful conversation here about these (and other) strings for bowlbacks.

thanks!

Mick

[MandoSquirrel]

If you do start playing you will be sorry, it causes a person to want to always buy a better mandolin than what he/she already has and it keeps going on and on,we call it MAS....So save your money, or better yet get a better job or marry a rich man....Tee Hee

Willie

Starting with a Ceccherinni is already high on the hog!
I have Pyramid's light strings(mentioned by Bruce) on my Washburn bowlback, and I think they're brighter, with better action, than the Thomastick lights,at about the same price.

[Martin Jonas]

Great find! This one is effectively identical to my own Ceccherini and looks to be in good condition. They are lovely instruments with a very distinctive tone because of the suspended second soundboard inside the bowl -- definitely look into setting it up to play! I use Fisoma bronze strings on mine, which are classical mandolin strings from Germany. I use their medium gauge set (which is actually medium-light, gauges 10-14-25-35), but if you're worried about the structural integrity of the instrument, you can use the lights:

Fisoma medium
Fisoma light

In addition, our forum member Alex Timmermann of the Het Consort ensemble in the Netherlands has worked with Fisoma to develop a special "Consort" set for high-quality vintage bowlbacks, which is basically the medium with a wound A string instead of the plain one. As your Ceccherini has a straight bridge, intonation is likely to be slightly better with the wound A -- I use the plain A as I prefer the tone of it on my Ceccherini:

Fisoma Consort

To give you an idea of the tone of my Ceccherini (which should sound very similar to yours, as it's effectively an identical instrument), here are a couple of Youtube clips of it:

Ciribiribin
Napoli Tutta Luce (audio only)

[roseanne]

Thanks Guys,
Richard, thank you for the offer I might take you up on that further down the road.
Im popping into a large music shop (sells instruments and sheet music) type at the weekend to have a look about and to see about the strings. Im not very un-familiar with the strings as ive played guitar for 15 years or so... Mandolins are new territory tho.
ive got a huge amount of info to wade thru from this site alone so it might take a while to get started...not that I havent been strumming away already (out of tune and badly tho )....biggest challenge is the scale....such a tiny fret board compared to the guitar.
Thanks guys, this is exciting!!!

[Jim Garber]

I don't know about Scotland, but in the US few music stores have more than a couple of brands and gauges of mandolin strings. Make sure you check the gauges that Richard mentioned.