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theod3
Apr-04-2014, 12:54pm
Hi,

This mandolin was hand made in 1981 by a family of instrument makers in Ohio. It has a solid mahogany body with a teak neck. Never seen a style like it before. The previous owner had it specially made so it is probably the only one of its kind, and they kept it as a showpiece this whole time. It is in perfect condition and has probably only been played a few times. There is what looks like a minor imperfection in the gloss on the upper left edge, but other than that it is beautiful. The case is also hand made with a plush red interior.

I do not know if it is worth anything or not since it does not have any manufacturers labels or serial numbers. I can upload more pictures if needed.

Thanks for the help!

billhay4
Apr-04-2014, 1:11pm
Unique items are not really appraisable, are they? Even if they were, the appraiser would need a lot more information than you've given.
Now, if the "family of instrument makers" were famous or something, that might be a different story.
Bill

mrmando
Apr-04-2014, 1:33pm
I saw this on eBay or CraigsList a few days ago, I forget which. Got any photos that aren't blurry?

Teak neck? Really? I don't hear of teakwood being used for stringed instruments very much, although I gather it makes good didgeridoos.

Finish work appears to be very crude, but that could just be the photo. The neck appears to be unnecessarily wide for a mandolin, and from this photo I can't tell whether the neck is angled at all. It doesn't appear to have much of an angle. So I'd be concerned about playability. Bridge doesn't appear to be adjustable or compensated, so it would be a minor miracle if it plays in tune.

If this thing turned out to be playable, with good intonation and tone, then it might be worth as much as $350 ... but that can't be established without an in-hand inspection. When someone keeps an instrument but never plays it, sometimes there's a reason for that.

Jim Garber
Apr-04-2014, 2:40pm
I can upload more pictures if needed.

Yes, do so. Martin gave you as best an assessment as anyone can from the fuzzy photo. Frankly, it looks pretty homemade and not made by any master maker(s) even amateur ones. $350 is a very optimistic estimate, I would say, unless there is an interesting provenance.

mrmando
Apr-07-2014, 1:13am
$350 is a very optimistic estimate, I would say, unless there is an interesting provenance.
Yes, I'm thinking best of all possible worlds, and you know I'm a sucker for electrics.

I've had a couple of instruments come in recently in these enormous homemade cases, which are really a pain in the butt in just about every conceivable way. A case should have a little storage for a few essential accessories, should provide protection commensurate with the amount of travel you plan to do, and otherwise should be as light and small and portable as possible.

almeriastrings
Apr-07-2014, 2:51am
It is in perfect condition and has probably only been played a few times.

There could be a good reason for that.....

That neck looks very strange indeed. The whole thing looks like an amateur woodwork project.

Sadly, I do not think it is worth much at all in monetary terms.

houseworker
Apr-07-2014, 5:36am
It looks more like a rudimentary lap steel than a mandolin. I doubt it's playable either way. Start it on eBay at $0.99 with no reserve and you may yet find a buyer.

theod3
Apr-07-2014, 6:37am
Thanks for the responses. I am uploading some "better" pictures. Let me know if you need additional angles. I am not a musician so the playability I cannot attest to. Even if I could hook it up to something and test it I wouldn't be able to tell if the tone was good or not. Maybe I'll go down to the local guitar store and see if they can help me.

I am not positive the neck is teak. I cannot remember exactly what he said and teak sticks in my mind now. I am not optimistic that it is worth a huge amount. I am mainly looking to trade it for something a bit more mainstream to a mandolin enthusiast who can enjoy it.

houseworker
Apr-07-2014, 6:52am
The neck is probably maple. What the fretboard is is anybody's guess. The quite exceptionally crude work at the back confirms that it's an amateur build.

I don't think that's playable and I doubt any mandolin players would want it. A ten-day auction on eBay with no reserve should get you fair market value for it though, providing the starting price is low enough.

theod3
Apr-07-2014, 7:06am
When you say playable I am assuming you are referring to a mandolin player using it as their primary instrument? Do you guys know anything about electric guitars/basses?

houseworker
Apr-07-2014, 7:17am
Mandolin player, lap slide player, whatever. They might try it and even coax a brief tune out of it but I doubt they'd want to take it any further than that.

Kieran
Apr-07-2014, 7:44am
As there's only four strings the builder must have intended it to be a ukulele or tenor guitar.Would probably be better to list it as one of those.
Measure the distance from the nut (the white part where the strings slot in) to the bridge and do some research about 'scale length' to determine what its closest to.

Kieran
http://www.moloneymusic.com

Jim
Apr-07-2014, 7:46am
Lots of electric guitar / bass players on the forum. Yes you should take it to a guitar shop and see if it can be tuned and played. I think an ebay sale is your best bet and would be surprised if you got $100. Still worth a try.

JeffD
Apr-07-2014, 8:39am
I have never seen a case where the strings go through the instrument to the back. (Or am I interpreting things wrong).

Jim Garber
Apr-07-2014, 8:41am
The most interesting parts are the electronics. Has anyone seen a pickup like that? Possibly from a bass? The rest looks like parts from a trip to the Home Depot and maybe Radio Shack. The fretboard is a little curious -- maybe taken off another instrument tho interesting that it goes to the 30th fret!

jesserules
Apr-07-2014, 8:51am
As there's only four strings the builder must have intended it to be a ukulele or tenor guitar
http://www.moloneymusic.com

Or an electric mandolin.


I have never seen a case where the strings go through the instrument to the back. .

Telecasters, for one.

Bill Snyder
Apr-07-2014, 8:55am
Jeff, strings going through to the back of the instrument on an electric is not all that unusual. Kieran many electric mandolins only have four or five strings.
I first thought that maybe it was some type of lap steel but looking at the photos the strings don't appear to be setup to be played with a slide. Hard to tell.

Edit: It looks like Jesserules was addressing the same comments I was as I typed.

theod3
Apr-07-2014, 9:01am
Someone offered me a custom '91 Fender Mexican Jazz Bass in trade for it. He installed an aftermarket pickup kit from Seymour Duncan, an aftermarket bridge from Leo Quan, and a custom fabricated Diamond Plate Pickgaurd. The neck is a Fender Mexican Jazz neck that was Airbrushed with flames and a Indian Rosewood Neck, and lastly it has a set of custom made Steel core/Bronze outer wound strings.

The neck turned out to be bowed so he is replacing the steel rod in the neck. I figure that might be the best option I am going to get. How does replacing the rod affect the instrument? Is it a fairly minor fix or does it potentially lead to a greater chance of bowing in the future?

Jim Garber
Apr-07-2014, 10:22am
I would say that the parts alone would be a good deal for you for that trade. If the guy knows what he is doing and the truss rod is the right one I would think that the neck should be all right. Actually I wonder why the neck is so bowed that the truss rod does not fix it. Still...

Jim
Apr-07-2014, 10:32am
Good trade, I too wonder about why you would replace the truss rod rather than adjust it.

mrmando
Apr-07-2014, 12:17pm
When you say playable I am assuming you are referring to a mandolin player using it as their primary instrument?
No, I'm referring to the ability to form chords on an unnecessarily fat neck and the likelihood of getting through an entire song without the instrument going out of tune.

I have to agree with the general sentiment here. There's no neck angle or relief at all from what I can see. The bridge, tailpiece and nut are all critical for good intonation and they all look inadequate. I've had a few homemade instruments like this and considered myself lucky to find someone to take them off my hands.

The fretboard is correctly laid out for a mandolin, but those last 10 frets or so are mostly ornamental, since there's no cutaway to give the player access to them.

JeffD
Apr-07-2014, 1:47pm
Jeff, strings going through to the back of the instrument on an electric is not all that unusual.

I did not know that. So when you change the strings you have to somehow come in from the back?

I obviously haven't looked closely at an electric guitar.

Jim Garber
Apr-07-2014, 2:17pm
for Jeff:

117806

Steve Ostrander
Apr-07-2014, 2:57pm
Obviously, that's a Hofner Beatle Bass Mandolin. :)

allenhopkins
Apr-07-2014, 11:10pm
It's a diverse mandolin --

The more you look at it, diverse it looks...:grin:

almeriastrings
Apr-08-2014, 11:05pm
The pickup looks like a home-wound job... they used to publish details of how to do this fairly often in hobby electronics magazines.

Construction really is very crude and 'rustic'! It sort of reminds me of some of the instruments I built as projects in the school woodwork shop!

theod3
Apr-13-2014, 9:05pm
I did end up trading it for the mim jazz bass. Thanks everyone for your input! What would you guys put as the sticker price on the jazz bass I described earlier?