Angelo Mannello mandolin needs valuation.

[maurobilu]

Have come into possession of a bowl back mandolin made by Angelo Mannello and I would appreciate any information and approximate market value. Is a piece of ornate luthier art, but not too ornate how two mandolins there are in Metropolitan Museum.

This instrument was restored in 1999 by Ariel Ameijenda, He borned in a luthie´s family. They are the best workers in this profesion in Uruguay.

It is in very good condition and sounds good too.

Photographs are available in attach.

Any information and approximate market value would be appreciated.

Thanks.


Mauro Aguirre
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[Jim Garber]

Mauro: The two mandolins in the Met Museum were made by Mannello himself and IIRC were intended to be presentation instruments. Mannello ran a shop with workers making less ornate models for sale to distributors. Yours certainly does look like a higher end mandolin with that fancy fretboard inlay. I does look like it might need some work replacing some of the inlays. Is it missing some inlays on the border on the treble side? it looks like this would be the equivalent of a mid to higher end Washburn or a middle Vega or Martin and I suppose it could be priced in the same range as those makers.

[brunello97]

Muy cool, Mauro. Here is a link to Ariel's website. (http://ameijenda.com/?page_id=29)

It would be interesting to know how your instrument made it from New Jersey to Montevideo. Perdona mi Tejano Spanglish ;)

Por favor, comprenda lo mucho que amamos estas mandolinas y que íbamos a disfrutar de ver más fotos de su instrumento.

Mick

[sephiroth]

Hi everybody,

I'm really interested by this old thread, because, since 2 days, I'm a lucky owner of exactly the same mandolin than yours!

But it needs restauration, and I'm waiting for the luthier to tell me how much it's gonna cost. How much did the restauration cost to ya? And do you have more information about the valuation of the mandolin?

I showed mine to several luthier, and they all said that it was a high quality instrument, with really beautiful woods for great acoustic characteristics, and that it would certainly be, after restauration, above a lot of mandolin we find on the market.

Thanks for your answers.

Cheers from France.

[allenhopkins]

So this one's gone from Italy to Uruguay to France, eh? Quite an odyssey!

What would make this an above-average-value instrument is the extensive mother-of-pearl inlay work. The "really beautiful woods" refers to the Brazilian rosewood bowl, which was pretty standard on higher-end instruments when this one was made. Subsequent over-logging and regulation have placed a premium on Brazilian rosewood, and it's now a value enhancer, but it was not a big deal when your mandolin was built.

I still like Jim G's overall evaluation: Manello is not as well-known or highly rated as other Italian shops like Embergher or Calace, but he did make some visually striking instruments. Replacing missing inlay is going to be a high priority in its restoration, and this doesn't involve the expense that serious structural repair does -- assuming no cracks, neck problems, or top sinkage.

How its "acoustic characteristics" will be, is impossible to determine just from the quality of the wood used. There are variables relating to bracing, top thickness, etc. that have a greater acoustic effect than the bowl wood.

However the mandolin sounds after restoration, it's going to be a beautiful instrument (well, if you like ornate inlay; some don't). I'd be proud to have an instrument that shows such extensive ornamentation and hand-work.

[sephiroth]

Hi allenhopkins,

Thanks for your words!

I'm pretty sure that my mandolin isn't Mauro's one, because I bought mine to an old lady who kept this mandolin for 40 years in her attic, and this mandolin belonged to her late father, who played this instrument in a prisonner camp during world war II...So crazy story!

The luthier that has my mandolin is a specialist of old instrument restauration, and he told me that he was impressed by the great state of conservation of the wood and, the most important: the neck is perfect, and didn't move. he told me that it was exceptionnal for this instrument (specially when you know the story of this mandolin)

My only aim is to restore this one for playing, simply because I'm a musician, and the luthier told me that the instrument will sound really well after restoration. As he is a really honest specialist, I trust him.

I think it's gonna be expensive, I'll tell you more about it soon!

Cheers.

[Jim Garber]

sephiroth: Please post some pics of yours to compare with the earlier Uruguayan one. Also, if you want to ask us our opinion as to repairs, please do. There is a big difference between a full restoration and repairs made to make it playable. You are talking about fixing all cosmetic problems as well as structural ones. If the neck is good and the neck joint is set properly that is good. Most cracks in the wood are not big problems. Warping of the soundboard can be a more major and expensive repair.

[sephiroth]

Jim, thanks. All i want is to make it playable, that's how i "feel" instruments.

Here are a few pictures:

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And I have exactly the same " leather gig bag" than this one:

https://shop.daigleharp.com/products/angelo-mannello-mandolin

Cheers from France!

[brunello97]

Pretty nice looking Mannello. Not Teddy Roosevelt grade, but no run of the mill jobber either. I like Mannello's work. The fretboard and headstock bling on this are sweet.

The bridge position looks muy sketchioso. Of the Mannellos I've seen, the bridge should be properly located north of the top cant. How this might effect playability is hard to judge from the photos.

The top separation by the tailpiece looks gnarly but may not be so complex a fix, if the basic structural integrity isn't compromised.

I hope our friend, John M, weighs in. Hard to diagnose from a distance, of course, but he's our resident triage guy.

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Yes, I agree with Mick, now that I can look on my laptop (not my phonw) and can actually see details. On photo #5 it is hard to tell but I think I see some warpage of the top with the neck slightly dipping which would make the action with the bridge properly positioned on the high side. Anyway, i assume your luthier did look at all of this in person.

[sephiroth]

Yes, Thanks guys.

The luthier checked everything, and told me that there's gonna be a lot of work, but that the result would be "brilliant", estetically and above all acousticly. He showed me 2 old aged italian mandolins that he restored...I was really impressed (specially about the playability).

I'll show you picture and send sample when it's gonna be done! (will have to wait 3 months...)

Cheers, and, sincerly, thanks to all of you (Jim, Brunello, Allen)