View Full Version : what do I have?
ijustlisten
Apr-23-2014, 7:56pm
118415 I'm trying to figure out what I have here. Was passed down from my grandfather, now passed away. It's 22" long and 5" wide. Does any one know what this is?
Vernon Hughes
Apr-23-2014, 8:00pm
piccalo mandolin?
Jim Garber
Apr-23-2014, 9:00pm
Some people call them piccolo mandolins but i believe that the scale is prob around 13" which means it was meant to be tuned to standard tuning. These are called pocket mandolins and I will bet that this one was made in Germany.
ijustlisten
Apr-23-2014, 9:11pm
Thanks a lot. That fits, Grandpa was PA Dutch (German) and had a little band in the 1940's and early 1950's.
Doug Heinold
Apr-23-2014, 9:16pm
As a PA Dutch German descendent now I'm curious whether there is old PA Dutch mandolin music out there. Pretty cool little instrument.
JeffD
Apr-23-2014, 11:02pm
Oh wow. real cool.
BradKlein
Apr-24-2014, 12:02am
It's such a thin soundbox. I wonder if it wasn't made primarily as a teaching tool, or practice tool, rather than a performing instrument.
mrmando
Apr-24-2014, 12:49am
They were built for traveling -- easy enough to carry it in your coat pocket if need be.
GKWilson
Apr-24-2014, 12:55am
Very cool.
At first I thought it might be a smashed bowl back that someone made into a flat back.
But with a second look the body seemed too narrow. So like above I would say a piccolo.
Or, if it's a full scale, then a nifty travel [pocket] mando.
Gary
ijustlisten
Apr-24-2014, 6:32am
So far I have only found two of Grandpa's recordings. One is a simple guitar accompaniment (sung in PA Dutch). The other is guitar and organ (unique sound). I do know from pictures the band had fiddle, upright base etc so there is always hope of finding something.
Here's a builder, Nathan Sweet, making pocket mandolins. (https://www.etsy.com/listing/108187786/custom-designed-pocket-mandolin) (nfi)
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