Mandolin Oddities

[JEStanek]

Euclidians from a parallelgram universe.

Jim, do those trapezoid mandos share any relationship with Russian balalaikas?

Jamie

[Jim Garber]

No I think they were just cheapos sold by the dozen to various wholesalers. just a way to make the equjiv of a cigar box instrument.

Jim

[MikeEdgerton]

I've actually got a cigar box I've been holding onto for years looking for the right mandolin neck.

[Jim Garber]

I've actually got a cigar box I've been holding onto for years looking for the right mandolin neck.
Soeaking of which, I just go this in a email from Elderly (http://elderly.com/search/elderly?terms=cigar+box&x=0&y=0).

Jim

[MikeEdgerton]

I found a cigar box uke from the 30's many years ago in a second hand store in Oregon. It's in the Cigar Box Guitar Museum in York, PA if it's still open. Fun stuff.

[Martin Jonas]

Here is one from this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250119087168) Ebay auction. Looks a reasonable enough, if slightly off, F-style at first glance, until you realise it has nine strings in five courses, and (unlike, say, on a waldzither) the single string is in the middle, i.e. the string configuration is 2-2-1-2-2. Any guesses as to how this was meant to be tuned, or why?

Ozark is the house brand of Stentor Music, the biggest wholesaler in the UK, so this would appear to be an Asian instrument that they were contemplating distributing to music shops.

Martin

[Jim MacDaniel]

Uh, wouldn't the 10-string neck <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC-8-AND-10-STRING-NECK-MANDOLIN_W0QQitemZ190145264939QQihZ009QQcategor

yZ10179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">on this</a>, make the 8-string neck superfluous?... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Bill Snyder]

Uh, wouldn't the 10 string neck on this make the 8-string neck redundant?... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
I guess you could use a different tuning on each neck. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[james condino]

I'm not sure how I missed the previous 11 pages of this post, but I've got to say that it is one of my favorites. Special thanks to Mandopete for adding my green "cricket" mandolin to the list.

I'll add the following images of a nicely hand engraved early 1890s Merril aluminum bowlback mandolin (and Springer violin). You can read all about them in the spring issue of American Lutherie.
__
j.
www.condino.com

[james condino]

Here is the top profile....

[JEStanek]

Those are great photos of those aluminum instruments. I love the look of the fiddle in the second photos.

Jamie

[james condino]

Jamie:
'Glad you enjoyed the photos. If the fiddle stands out to you, you should see my aluminum standup bass from the same era!
_
j.
www.condino.com

[JEStanek]

Gawd! Talk about making a galvanized washtub bass feel inadequate. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
Jamie

[james condino]

More not so heavy metal can be seen on my website...

j.
www.condino.com

[Jim Garber]

Monster 16 string mandolin (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160161648813).

[Sonomabob]

Not so strange. But I have never heard of any other one. #002 from Arron Hammond, Fairfield Ohio.

My apologies if these photos don't work.

Bob

[Sonomabob]

Oh well, I will have to try another way.

Bob

[mrmando]

Try this (http://www.slide.com/r/KHBSqpKbvz_mNa7DJHW4w3wCYencNGAx?view=large). The headstock's a little funny, but I wouldn't call this mandolin exceedingly odd.

[Sonomabob]

Hey Angry young Mando:

How did you do that?? Thanks. Its only odd because I have never seen another one. I would like talk to anyone else who has one.

Bob

[markishandsome]

Well there must be at least a #001, but there's a good chance Mr Hammond held onto it. You could try posting in the "Looking for Info" section.

[croonerexpress]

the dingulator


http://charlesmartinsimon.com/ding1.gif

[Jim Garber]

the dingulator


http://charlesmartinsimon.com/ding1.gif
What is that? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

Oh, wait... I see all about it here (http://charlesmartinsimon.com/CharlieNothing.htm).

I think.....

[MikeEdgerton]

Somebody else posted a link to this guys site a few months ago.

[Neil Gladd]

Siamese Mandotwins (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330172279564&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:2)

[Bill Snyder]

This one can be found at <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Mandolin-hand-made-F-style_W0QQitemZ170158622252QQihZ007QQcategoryZ1017 9QQssPageNameZWDVWQ
QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">this</a> ebay auction for a few more hours.

[Antlurz]

One would hope he has a very narrow thumb if he intends to play very far up that neck.

Maybe a "RESTRICTED ACCESS" sticker on the "scroll" would suffice...

Ron

[jefflester]

Not mandolins, but some very odd guitars.

Ugliest guitars #50 to #30 (http://www.guitarsite.com/news/features/50_ugliest_guitars_of_2007_50_30/)
Ugliest guitars #29 to #10 (http://www.guitarsite.com/news/features/50_ugliest_guitars_of_2007_29_10/)
Ugliest guitars #9 to #1 (http://www.guitarsite.com/news/features/50_ugliest_guitars_of_2007_9_1/)

#40
http://www.guitarsite.com/news/images/ugly07/m33sax.jpg

[Jim Garber]

Must be about time to revive this venerable thread...

Here is a real winner... not sure what the maker was intending but he/she also built a form-fitting case for this one. From a German super collector at http://www.banjoworld.de.

[Jim Garber]

Double-necked tenor(?) / mandolin banjo from the same site.

[mandolooter]

those are cool Jim! Nice to see this thread back in action!

[Jim Garber]

Yes, we will have to come up with a few more weirdo mandolins. I will keep you posted.

[Jim Nollman]

jim,

is that mando with wings one of yours? i almost think the case is weirder than the instrument. I'm curious how it sounds.

[Jim Garber]

Hi Jim:
No, not one of mine. I came across both those oddballs on the site of the German collector linked above. Check out the site. He is more insane than I am BION!!!:))

[Jim Garber]

Ah, yes... yet another mandolin from Bizarroland (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230311939264). Looks like a Lyon & Healy neck on a homemade body.

[Phillip Tigue]

nm...

[Bill Snyder]

Here is a bit of an oddity.
It has a soundhole in the back.

[delsbrother]

That is a tahitian ukulele (aka a tahitian banjo, to cover all the bases, LOL). They're basically solidbodies with a conical soundwell, topped by a softwood disk upon which the bridge is placed. They're also usually strung with neon green fishing line. They're quite fun to play - though very tiring! Nonstop (syncopated) strumming. Sound is kinda bandurria/charango...

[Jim Garber]

Well, I didn't want to post this because I wanted to win it. Since it was won with some backroom bargaining by someone else (anyone here?)...

Anchor mandolin (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260418207223)

[JEStanek]

Wow. I bet it has a deep tone. Deep to the bottom.

[Jim Garber]

What is esp odd are those extra two tuners in the headstock. The bridge only has 8 notches and the tailpiece has 8 pins. Maybe the luthier changed his mind. I did ask the seller how wide the fretboard was at the nut but never heard back.

[Jake Wildwood]

Some good ones in this new batch...

The double neck banjo... oh my I'd hate to tune that thing. Oh my, I'd hate hate hate to tune that. Especially with a skin head on it in humid weather. ;)

[Jim MacDaniel]

Wow. I bet it has a deep tone. Deep to the bottom.


Yeah -- an instrument like that could really anchor a band's sound.

[JEStanek]

Jim, I thought those extra tuners were just there to look way cool. I just re-looked at the frontal photo and am struck by the pick wear on the treble side of the fingerboard. Either someone spent the extra money to have that mando-anchor distressed or it was actually played a lot.

Wow!

Jamie

[mandomania7923]

I love these two

[Bill Snyder]

I love these two

I would hardly call those oddities.

[Jim Garber]

Here is another one for your entertainment:

Tortoise backed mandolin (sorta) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120424432165) actually more of a Tortoise Tamburitza (a turtleritza?)

[journeybear]

Perfect for playing "Turtle Blues" - slowly, ssslllooowwwlllyyy ...;)

[mandomania7923]

I would hardly call those oddities.

They definitely aren't an F5 but i still love 'em(more than an F5)

[Jim Garber]

I downloaded a bunch of Levin-related catalogs from a Swedish site. This was evidently made by the company at the turn of the last century. It would be great to find one of these. You could accompany yourself, if you had a few extra hands.

[tnbluegrasser]

We went to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN this weekend. John Rice Irwin does a great job with this museum and has an interesting exhibit of musical instruments. Here are some of the Mandolins he had on display...

[tnbluegrasser]

Go back to the bottom of Page 12 for the first set. Here are just a few more...

[Jim Garber]

I like the toilet themed instruments. Very nice!! That tradition goes back a long time a does the cigar box one.

[markishandsome]

I like the "Gibson look-alike" label on the Regal. I wonder which Gibson model they thought it looked like.

[Jim Garber]

Here is a good excuse to bump this thread. I love this odd shaped mandolin (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200613696247&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123). Seller says it has a handwritten name on it. I would go for it tho it looks pretty crude.

[brunello97]

Here is a good excuse to bump this thread. I love this odd shaped mandolin (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200613696247&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123). Seller says it has a handwritten name on it. I would go for it tho it looks pretty crude.

Quasimodo's mandolin? Bowlback, Boatback, Bulgeback, Humpback. Not very PC, I know.

Mick

[JEStanek]

Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days. If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.

Jamie

[Jim Garber]

Here's some pics for our future generations.

[Treblemaker]

You can't mention Mandolin Oddities without mentioning Bill Bussman (Old Wave Mandolins).
I have played Juicy (the watermelon mando) and it was, and I am not kidding, one of the best sounding and playing mandolins at a Norcal Mandolin Gathering at David Crumney's Inverness, CA family vacation home. And this was alongside dozens of other mandolins, several of which were 1st tier luthiery....

[Treblemaker]

72724

Whoops - forgot the attachment....

[Treblemaker]

Here's an odd one..... no origin known.72725

[Jim Garber]

Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days. If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.

Man, Jamie, I haven't a clue what you are talking about... I must really be out of it.

[Jim Garber]

That Cullen oddity is creeping upward in price. I would not be surprised if it goes above $100. I guess there are some people out there who like folky/funky designs.

[JEStanek]

D8 = 8 Sided die (dice) from Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. See, Jim, you're not so (D&D) dorky!

http://www.dicegamers.com/files/imagecache/uc_category/category_8-sided.jpg
Jamie

[Ed Goist]

Man, Jamie, I haven't a clue what you are talking about... I must really be out of it.

Jim, you know! D8...The hit die for a Cleric, or the damage done by a long sword verses man-sized creatures...
(Jamie, what adjustment does that get me on my saving throw vs dorkiness?!) :grin:

[Paul Busman]

Might as well add my own home made oddity:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/Brewerpaul/Mandos.jpg

This is a little 4 string travel mandolin I made, shown with my Fullerton Gloucester for size comparison. I got a bolt-on neck from an electric mandolin maker. I bandsawed the body from a piece of 1" Maple, leaving side walls about 1/4" thick, thicker at the neck and tail ends. The top, back and headstock trim are Purpleheart 1/8" sheet stock.
Acoustically, it's terrible. It doesn't sound like a mandolin at all-- more like a banjo with a really thin sound. However, it's durable as hell--I took it on a trip to China, just wrapping it in clothing in our suitcase and it survived two 13 hr flights and numerous bus trips. It's surprisingly fun to play, and certainly better than having nothing at all to noodle on.

[Ed Goist]

Paul, to be honest, I don't think your travel mando is much of an oddity at all.
I think it's one of the more attractive travel mandolin designs I've seen.
I really like the body shape, the oval hole configuration, and the balance the large paddle-style peghead provides...
Lots to like there!
Nice job.

[JEStanek]

Good job there, Paul.
Ed, you're at least a level 7 Mando-Bard-dork. Well done, +4.

Jamie

[mrmando]

Here's an odd one..... no origin known.72725
It's from Rice Custom Guitars (http://www.ricecustomguitars.com/instruments/098.html) in Illinois. Whatever you do, don't watch the video.

[mrmando]

Terrifying but true: a two-headed beast from Cripple Creek Mandolins...
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1387/5933374/23579709/396662023.jpg

[KristinEliza]

Yep - forget about playing above the 12th fret on that one - guess the rest of the FB is just for decoration?

[Jim Garber]

I got in trouble for saying this a few months ago, but nothing is really new under the sun -- a 1912 Shutt Professional model 3 (from Lowell Levinger):

[brunello97]

Nice looking Shutt, Jim. Those twin scrolls kind of remind me of a double-barrel shotgun blast. ;)

Mick

[JeffD]

While not odd in the sense of an offense to our aesthetic sensibilities, this mandolin has some different features.

I love the rollers at the nut, and the strap button on the back of the peg head. And I have played it, this fellow as a bright sound.

[Jack Roberts]

Here is my oddity. Actually, I am quite proud of this. It was hand made by a music teacher in the 50's who used it to teach music classes at an elementary school in Los Angeles.

730237302473025

[Jim Garber]

Jack, that is wonderful. Was that masking tape inlay original? Does it actually play? (The mandolin, not the tape!)

[Jack Roberts]

Jack, that is wonderful. Was that masking tape inlay original? Does it actually play? (The mandolin, not the tape!)

I play it almost everyday at work. The custom inlay was done recently.

I lament that we seem to have lost the ability to make our own things nowadays. I tried to make my own fiddle and really horsed it up....

[Jim Garber]

I tried to make my own fiddle and really horsed it up....

I love this horse fiddle... nice hat, too.

[Jack Roberts]

Er hu, Brute?

[Jim Garber]

Er hu, Brute?

Here's Liuqin at you, kid.

[Dobe]

Whatever you do, don't watch the video.

You HAD to say that; I almost watched it all just to hear the mando solo :grin:

Can't....look.....away !!! :disbelief:

New screen saver of that flowerpot Gibsun headstock. Someday I'll own one, I can dream.

[Mandoviol]

Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days. If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.

Jamie

Dang, Jamie, you're right, it is a d8. I think acknowledging this just caused me to lose a few points on my Charisma score, though...

Aw, heck, I'll run with it. Waiting to see one that is icosahedronal (a d20, that is).

[mrmando]

Here's Liuqin at you, kid.
If we pun any morin khuur-ing a fine is the likely result.

[Dobe]

BanjitarDolin, that's my best guess. For all you pickers that need to throw your instrument around your head like Victor Wooten, give it a half twist, and go seamlessly from Banjitar to mando, without the hassle of actually grabbing a different instrument; this one's for you !
Won't let me download pics so go here, pt-2 is the mando side:

http://www.banjoworld.de/Odds1a.htm

Love the Portugese style tuners, I was wondering how that would be done !

[Jim Garber]

Dobe: That is a real winner for this thread.

[mrmando]

Three-pointer, a little Duck-ish but not quite as extreme:
http://www.tomhoelle.com/MandolinCase2.jpg

[Bill Snyder]

Here is a better photo of that mandolin.
http://tevieray.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hoelle(fullview).jpg

[Jim Garber]

Hmmmm... sharp points and dull f-holes.

[Jim Garber]

As usual, I was searching for something else and this wonderful mandolin (http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/247996/mandolin-case-giovanni-cera-wood-metal-1946) came up. Built in the 1940s by Giovanni Cera an Italian immigrant to Australia. A combination of Gibson and Mozzani influences.


Mandolin made by Italian migrant Giovanni Cera during the 1930s, with timber from an old bass violin. Giovanni used to visit second-hand furniture depots or music stores to seek out the timber for his instruments. He also built guitars and zithers. Giovanni played this instrument at many special broadcasts for radio stations 3LO and 3AR, and appeared with Peter Piccini, Frank Zaetta, Giovanni's brother Guerino [Rino], Angelo Candela, Domenico Caffaro and Ezio Giannaccini at musicals events staged in town halls, theatres and restaurants from 1945 to 1975.

[JeffD]

That is a real beauty.

[Larry S Sherman]

I love that. I bet Brian Dean (http://www.labraid.ca/) could reproduce that...at least visually. I bet it would sound amazing too.

Larry

[Bill Snyder]

I love that. I bet Brian Dean (http://www.labraid.ca/) could reproduce that...at least visually. I bet it would sound amazing too.

Larry
I suspect that most if not all of the professional f-style builders that post on the Cafe could reproduce that. I would suspect that if Mr. Dean where to do it though that it would reflect some of his own style. He can not be called a copyist.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

I just want more scrolls all the time.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a340/Hippiesmurf69/2scroll.jpg

I should really try to add a couple points to the bottom too. :grin:

[Jim Garber]

Hey, it has been awhile on this thread. Here is a new on for you oddity-o-philes, currently on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150717018606).

I am thoroughly unclear on what the design concept was on this one. Maybe the luthier and friends were gathered at the local drinking hole and one friend got really hammer and said, scribbling on a napkin, "Here... build this." And then another guy said, "and make the soundhole shaped like a leg of lamb, yeah!!!"

[brunello97]

Hey, it has been awhile on this thread. Here is a new on for you oddity-o-philes, currently on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150717018606).

I am thoroughly unclear on what the design concept was on this one. Maybe the luthier and friends were gathered at the local drinking hole and one friend got really hammer and said, scribbling on a napkin, "Here... build this." And then another guy said, "and make the soundhole shaped like a leg of lamb, yeah!!!"

I'm definitely seeing some Larson 'traits' on this one, Jim. I think.

Mick

[Tavy]

It's a mandolin Jim, but not as we know it! :)

Quite the ugliest thing I think I've ever seen...

[Jim Garber]

I'm definitely seeing some Larson 'traits' on this one, Jim. I think.

Yes, indeed...

[Jake Wildwood]

Jim, I immediately did NOT press the "watch this item" button on eBay when I saw that for the first time...

As for the soundhole -- does anyone else see a pipe?

[frshwtrbob]

Please forgive me, but it kinda reminds me of:

79632

[journeybear]

Sanctuary! :))

Yes, closer to a pipe than a lamb chop, I suppose. Sort of a paisley with the tail going the wrong way. I think the builder was trying to do about everything differently as possible, and also had some notion of thematic continuity. Certain curves are repeated at different points on the instrument. FWIW, natch. ;)

Have to wonder about the acoustic effect of the two-piece back. I imagine that renders this more furniture than instrument. :(

[Ed Goist]

...snip...As for the soundhole -- does anyone else see a pipe?

I'm thinkin' it's supposed to be a partial profile of The Loch Ness Monster.

79635

[journeybear]

Or a kigmy or a shmoo (tip o' the hat to Al Capp).

And I think the builder might have seen a pipe, or two ... :whistling:

[Jim Garber]

Yes, closer to a pipe than a lamb chop, I suppose. (

Not a lamb chop! A leg of lamb. It does resemble a pipe, for sure.

[Jim Garber]

Or a kigmy or a shmoo (tip o' the hat to Al Capp).

Now you are talking...

[journeybear]

You're quite right - you did say leg of lamb, not lamb chop. I had the shape of a lamb chop in my mind. Not Lamb Chop, mind you. That's a whole 'nother somethin'!

Hmmm ... Suddenly noticed it's getting close to lunchtime ...

[Jim Garber]

Yummmm...

What I also can't figure out is what that piece of clown barf is on the bass side -- looks like there are some plastic pieces on it.

[journeybear]

Yes, that has me puzzled, too. I thought it might be attached to the second back, as it seems to be floating there, but I don't see any screws, as I would expect from the way the back is attached. It could be glued in, though ... and bedazzled ... Interesting color choice, too. :p

[JeffD]

The more I look at that Giovanni Cera (post #338) the more I am really really liking it. You accoustical luthiers would know if it has a chance of sounding good. But I think it looks really cool.

(In this case cool means you would look forward to being seen playing it.)

[Tavy]

The more I look at that Giovanni Cera (post #338) the more I am really really liking it. You accoustical luthiers would know if it has a chance of sounding good. But I think it looks really cool.

I agree - I have a soft spot for harp-guitars/mandolins - and would love to see/play one in person one day.

I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the style, and never added the extra harp strings?

With regard to sound... I can't help thinking that the body-extention would render the body cavity too large, and the Helmholtz too low in frequency, for the instrument to "work". But then again you can probably make any design work if you experiment for long enough ;)

[Jim Garber]

David Newton, who posts here sometimes, has built a few of these. I would love to get one someday.

[Jake Wildwood]

I'm thinkin' it's supposed to be a partial profile of The Loch Ness Monster.

79635

Well, at least we've figured out what this mandolin was titled... :)

[journeybear]

I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the style, and never added the extra harp strings?

I'm puzzled by that, too, in this case. If you're going to add all that, why not include some strings? Does that serve as a resonating chamber? I wonder whether there are any recordings of it.

[Bertram Henze]

I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the style, and never added the extra harp strings?

Many years ago, I had a construct like that which I had built myself, and I can answer that question:
It earns you puzzled looks and questions from the audience, but condescending smiles from other mando players and especially from harp players. It is a bit like running a marathon with a surgically fitted third leg.
As for playing technique, you have to decide if you want to play the mandolin part with a pick or the harp part with your fingers - both cannot be done synchronously unless you are Zaphod Beeblebrox.

If you have to have a combination, try this:

QBOenZD6mN4
b.t.w. this guy is real - I see him sometimes turn up at our sessions.

[Barry Wilson]

I am a huge Andy Mckee fan, Don Ross too. Love the sound of harp guitar. So is that called a harp mandolin then?

[journeybear]

No, it's just as the title says - double-neck mandolin-guitar, or however you want to recombine those terms (within reason), though it seems the convention is to name a hybrid instrument with the more unusual instrument's name first. A harp-mandolin would consist of separate set-ups for harp and mandolin on one body. So the Cera really isn't a harp-mandolin, since there are no harp strings. A harp-mandolin would have to be able to function as either and both. That's my line of thinking, anyway.

[journeybear]

- duplicate -

[JeffD]

I'm puzzled by that, too, in this case. If you're going to add all that, why not include some strings? Does that serve as a resonating chamber? I wonder whether there are any recordings of it.


There are (were) some with strings. That was probably the original design.

I have heard Jess Youngquest play his harp mandolin, and it sounds pretty cool in his hands.

[Jim Garber]

A harp-mandolin would have to be able to function as either and both. That's my line of thinking, anyway.

From Gregg Miners site (http://www.harpguitars.net):

For the layperson looking for the short answer of "What is a Harp Guitar?," here it is in a nutshell (from Definition 10 below):

A guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with any number of additional "floating" unstopped strings that can accommodate individual plucking.
The modern harp guitar must have at least one unfretted string lying off the main fretboard; these unfretted strings are played as an open string.
The word "harp" is a specific reference to the unstopped open strings, and is not specifically a reference to the tone, pitch range, volume, silhouette similarity, construction, floor-standing ability, nor any other alleged "harp-like" properties.


Same for the harp-mandolin which has it own page here (http://www.harpguitars.net/history/org/org-related.htm). There do seem to be some older versions that do have harp strings. So I think you use the unfretted strings to complement your melody on the fretted ones. You can certainly pick them or play the fretted ones with your fingers. I would prob do the former.

[Dan Margolis]

http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad188/guitarmando1/PorakoMandolin.jpg

This probably has already been posted, but I'm not looking at 350+ posts to check. It's a Porako--not mine.

[journeybear]

Geez, Dan, that is Picasso-esque! It's as if the bass side had been flipped 180°. Looks like a yin-yang.

Yes, indeed, Jim - the third paragraph from the Gregg Miner quote really nails it - "unstopped open strings," and the long list of unnecessary "harp-like" properties in the disclaimer - very smart going. ;)

Now, that's a harp-mandolin! :mandosmiley: The best way to play it would be with three hands, but, well ...

[Jim Garber]

I recall that Porako... I think it was at Dave Colburn's shop in NH originally. Very cool.

[Bertram Henze]

Now, that's a harp-mandolin! :mandosmiley: The best way to play it would be with three hands, but, well ...

Where do you fix the strap on that? :grin:

[Tavy]

Where do you fix the strap on that? :grin:

I think you put it around your belt and hang yourself from the instrument!

[Randi Gormley]

Well, if it's anything like a real harp, you'd sit in front of it and lean it against your shoulder, which should make it an interesting experiment in finger picks since you'd need to pluck the harp and pick the mando ... aiee!

[jerrymartin]

What's the function of the thingie behind the bridge? Damping harmonics, perhaps?

~o)

Jerry Martin

[Tavy]

What's the function of the thingie behind the bridge? Damping harmonics, perhaps?

Looks like a "string tensioner" similar to one seem on some bowlbacks - it increases the string break angle over the bridge - no doubt since this instrument could have neither an angled neck, nor a canted top it would need something to help the strings bare down on the bridge.

[journeybear]

Just noticed - rather odd neck placement. It joins the body at the tenth fret :disbelief: and even though the neck goes to 16 frets (on the florida), with no cutaway reaching them would be difficult. I don't see why the fretboard wasn't placed a bit further out. :confused:

[world_of_mandolins]

916139161491615

Flat mandolin with floor and sides. Set on neck, pegbox angeschäfteter. Fingerboard with 17 proposed a brass federations. 3 Neck tags mother of Pearl. A total of 20 strings, arranged in 4 reeds

Theodor Zels/ Danzig/Poland

Copyright: Museum für Musikinstrumente der Universität Leipzig"

[Bertram Henze]

Flat mandolin with floor and sides. Set on neck, pegbox angeschäfteter. Fingerboard with 17 proposed a brass federations. 3 Neck tags mother of Pearl. A total of 20 strings, arranged in 4 reeds

The description is the real oddity here. Looks like an automatic scramblation... ("Angeschäfteter" - is that like an "Aufgesetzter"?) :confused:

[Marty Jacobson]

17 Brass a federations, too!
I wonder what the intended tunings were for those 4-string courses? I can imagine some wicked Get Up John type foolishness on this thing with each course strung to a triad plus a fifth... or something.

[world_of_mandolins]

The description is the real oddity here. Looks like an automatic scramblation... ("Angeschäfteter" - is that like an "Aufgesetzter"?) :confused:

Yes, you are right and I agree that the translation is oddity but itis not my work!

[Jim Garber]

I cannot imagine that that thing was ever playable. Definitely an oddity. I assume that those 10 on a side tuners were cobbled together from a few smaller sets. If 20 strings arranged in four "reeds" (courses?) that would be 5 strings per course. I have seen a 16 string (4 strings per course) but this takes the cake for sure.

[journeybear]

Oh, I think it's playable - just not tunable! :)) Looking at the nut (I mean the one on the instrument, not the one who made the instrument), it looks to me like there may actually be five reeds of fours strings each. My screen doesn't have the resolution to tell clearly, but it looks like there are five groupings at the nut. I assume these pictures and description are from the museum's website, (http://mfm.uni-leipzig.de/dt/index.php)(which is hard for me to navigate, being in German) so I would like to believe they have it right.

[Bertram Henze]

Thanks to JB, I have been looking for the German description and found it (http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/09102/487AC39779C689DE72695DADFDA8F42BC64766C7.html):

Flachmandoline mit Boden und Zargen. Angesetzter Hals, angeschäfteter Wirbelkasten. Griffbrett mit 17 eingeschlagenen Messingbünden. 3 Griffbrett-Markierungen Perlmutt. Insgesamt 20 Saiten, 4-chörig angeordnet

My attempt at translation goes like this:
Flat top mandolin with back and sides, bolted neck, scarfed headstock, fretboard with 17 fixed brass frets. 3 fretboard markers MOP. overall 20 strings in courses of 4 each.

This confirms several of our theories:
- JB's about there being 5 courses,
- mine about the automatic translation: the German word Bund describes both an organisation of people (federation) and a fret (in medieval times, frets were gut strings bound around the neck, and the members of a federation are bound by a contract), that's how the algorithm got confused; how it arrived on "reeds" remains a mystery.

Those who wonder about playability might consider widening their fingertips with a hammer :grin:

[Jim Garber]

Great work, Bertram! I could not find that mandrioliolia (is that a good name for it?) on the museum site. I have to ask Christian where he found it.

[world_of_mandolins]

Great work, Bertram! I could not find that mandrioliolia (is that a good name for it?) on the museum site. I have to ask Christian where he found it.

http://www.mimo-db.eu/MIMO/infodoc/ged/view.aspx?eid=OAI_ULEI_M0004311



Explore Europe's cultural collections

[brunello97]

Interesting description of the instrument. But is it perlmutt or Klobrillemutt? Hard to tell from the photo ;)

Mick

[Marty Jacobson]

I keep coming back to this really strange intrument. Looks like the peghead has one set of 12-string guitar tuners with a set of mandolin tuners on top of that.

I have toyed with the idea of building a cittern with some sympathetic strings that might end up with 20 strings total, but 20 plucked strings is a little crazy.

What does this phrase "Wanderglück Mandoline" mean... ? A backpacking mandolin? Bushwhacking mandolin? Hiking Luck mandolin? Just curious. From the Web site it looks like that's how it was identified on the instrument's label.

[Marty Jacobson]

Oh, maybe the "wandergluck" is the scene on the front?

[Bertram Henze]

What does this phrase "Wanderglück Mandoline" mean... ? A backpacking mandolin? Bushwhacking mandolin? Hiking Luck mandolin? Just curious. From the Web site it looks like that's how it was identified on the instrument's label.

That's correct, the label says that. A better translation than "hiking luck" would be "hiking happiness". I also like "bushwhacking mandolin" :))

Um das Schallloch herum Abziehbild mit "Gruß an Danzig" und Musikanten in einer Landschaft

means: decal around the soundhole with "Regards to Danzig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gda%C5%84sk)" and musicians in a scenery.

[Tavy]

OMG, I want one! But not for too long.... :)

[world_of_mandolins]

91658


http://www.mimo-db.eu/MIMO/infodoc/ged/view.aspx?eid=OAI_ULEI_M0000658

91659

click on it to get it larger!

Description about an exhibition in Vienna 1892

[Bertram Henze]

Should be easy to create that from any bowlback mandolin with the help of approx. 10 beers...

But what is the difference between a Napoli mandolin and a Milano mandolin? Tuning? Fretboard width? Wait, one of the headstocks has 3 extra pegs - triple courses? Which is which?

[Martin Jonas]

Bertram,

A Milanese mandolin has six courses (usually singles, sometimes doubles), tuned in fourths. So, the right-hand neck on this hybrid is the Neapolitan one with eight strings in four courses and the left-hand neck is the Milanese one with twelve strings in six courses.

Martin

[journeybear]

It sounds as though a Milanese mandolin is almost a half-neck 12-string guitar (not sure how its tuned exactly, but it seems it would be in the ballpark). Electric versions of these get used occasionally these days by guitarists who want a mandolin sound for a particular song without having to learn the instrument. This seems rather like a forerunner to the electric guitar-mandolin doublenecks played by Jimmy Page, Robbie Robertson, and others. Robbie's was actually a factory issue, believe it or not - not that Gibson made that many of them, but it was in the catalogue (this is from another thread). This is an intriguing example of luthiery. It looks as though the maker was trying to maintain as much symmetry as possible, arranging the tuners in the headstock in three rows of four, rather than extending the length to accommodate two rows of six.

Here is one being played by one of our members. I hope he doesn't mind. BTW, if I am reading accounts right, at some point in the late 19th century these became single string instruments. That may help date this instrument.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUj89sB6BRs

Curious as to how this was tuned, my research turned up this. (http://www.nrinstruments.demon.co.uk/MilMan.html) I hope it is correct:


The string sounding length on the Milanese mandolin (as of its predecessors) was about 30 cm, and the tuning was g b e' a' d" g". Since the highest comfortable pitch a gut string of this length can be tuned to is f" (at a'=440 Hz), this tuning was apparently at a tone low pitch standard. At modern pitch this tuning would be f a d' g' c" f". If one tuned the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings a semitone lower, one would have e a d' g' b' e", an octave above the standard 19th century guitar tuning. This would be an appropriately familiar tuning if the musician had strings made for the tone-low tuning but had to play at modern pitch. A different set of strings would be needed for the tuning g b e' a' d" e", which apparently was for playing permanently at modern pitch. When the strings were in paired courses, the reduced open-string range of this tuning made it possible to use all-gut bass strings supported by octave companions. The octave guitar tuning (at modern pitch) has been popular with those who pick up playing the instrument without the benefit of being trained in its original tradition.

[Jim Garber]

Jake tunes that one in the video to octave guitar tuning. Read more about it in this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?78186-c-1890-Carlo-Albertini-Milanese-Lombardic-Mandolin). Standard tuning would be GBEADG.

[journeybear]

Thanks for that! :mandosmiley: I had been searching for relevant threads and turned up this, (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?14002) which is more general in nature. FWIW, there is a major third in there, but we'll just let that slide. The practical approach beats the pedantic one, usually ... :)

[world_of_mandolins]

This one was at Elderly a few months ago.

Jim

916889168991690

Easy to see which kind of the star mandolin it was, but the advertisement about Catania, Italy is from 1909, so they have been earlier but does someone have any idea where the other one is coming from??? Sold by Bruno! Does someone has a catalogue description? Copyright for the last picture by mugwumps: http://www.mugwumps.com/ad_list.html Michael Holmes is/was looking for one!

[world_of_mandolins]

Here's one from ebay, kinda cool

From my collection! Here are additional pics:

9169391694916959169691697

[world_of_mandolins]

Here's a pic for after it is long gone. Enough soundholes for you?

Jim


91698

[world_of_mandolins]

Hmm. These are not what I know as Wappenform. Normally, the German word Wappenform is used for something like this mandola below (from a recent Ebay auction (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7358142890&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1) which in restrospect I regret not bidding on). "Wappen" means crest in German, and this shape is distinctly more crest-like than the ones posted above. It's also very similar to the shape of a Vega cylinderback.

Martin

I am sorry that you have not been the lucky winner Martin! Some pics for remembering!

916999170091701917029170391704

[world_of_mandolins]

Lots of butterflies were inlaid on bowlback pickguards but have you seen a mandolin body that was shaped like one?

Jim

Yes Jim, I did! This butterfly mandolins come from France made by luthier AUDINOT Eugène Emile in 1926

Coprights by all pictures hold by: Musée de la Lutherie et de l'Archeterie (Mirecourt)

917059170691707

[Marty Jacobson]

Yeah, that's cool! Move over, Bill Bussmann!

Look at the side view... the way the soundboard sweeps back like that is fantastic. Wonder how it sounds?

[Bertram Henze]

Wonder how it sounds?

I guess we're trespassing into an area here where sound does not really matter any more. Once the old form/function connection is broken, everything is possible...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VC4P84aUnMc/Tl-BnzRBykI/AAAAAAAACuM/iEVCsGjE3Nc/s1600/759px-Sundial_in_the_form_of_a_mandolin_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_15050.png

[rb3868]

Has anyone ever seen a mandolin with sympathetic strings, like a Hardanger Fiddle?

[Tavy]

Has anyone ever seen a mandolin with sympathetic strings, like a Hardanger Fiddle?

Yes, there's some discussion on Hardanger mandolins made by Harald Hougaard here (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?31424-Hardinger-fiddle-on-mandolin). Unfortunately he seems to have dropped off the web so I can't find any decent images.... JG will no doubt have some, Jim? ;)

[Jim Garber]

Somehow I must have missed this request for more pics. Here they are.

[Jim Garber]

This unlabelled "treasure" certainly belongs on this thread.

[Jim Garber]

I would have gone for this harp mandolin (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Old-1800-s-Antique-Harp-Mandolin-/230871505346) if I had had Internet access (down because of hurricane Sandy) and some loose cash after buying the other oddball above. From what I can tell the maker's name is C. Lozano. It looks like he/she was a fan of Monzino instruments but those tiny F-holes I would think would have stifled the sound. Interesting and odd, nonetheless.

Did anyone here win this beauty? I would love to see what the bracing is like inside.

[Jim Garber]

Here is a Monzino harp mandoliin from Gregg Miner's site for comparison. The Monzino is a little bit more gracefully designed.

[Marty Jacobson]

I tried searching to see if these had been posted before.

Behold, just what everyone needs. A combination cane and mandolin! Perfect for those walking bass line blues! Ahem.

They look to be thoughtfully designed and nicely made, despite the quirkiness of the concept. The seller also has uke-canes, taropatch-uke-canes, and the travel mandolin (http://www.etsy.com/listing/108187786/custom-designed-pocket-mandolin) is one of the best I've seen. Though tuning it might be a bit of an ordeal.

947709477194772

http://www.etsy.com/listing/93277264/custom-order-walking-cane-mandolin-free

[Jim Garber]

BION there is a long tradition of walking-cane instruments. There are a good handful in the Metropolotan Museum collection including: Flute/Oboe (http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/180016338) and Violin (http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/180014792)

Also: Older MC thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?73761-Walking-cane-mandola-!)

[JeffD]

I would have gone for this harp mandolin (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Old-1800-s-Antique-Harp-Mandolin-/230871505346) if... .


That is real cool.

[Marty Jacobson]

Interesting... the woodwind/cane combination is pretty logical.

[Charles E.]

This unlabelled "treasure" certainly belongs on this thread.

So Jim, how is that beast? Have you had time to hear it?

[Jim Garber]

At the moment, it is sitting next to me here, but not really playable. It need some work, tho the body is surprisingly resonant. I hope to work on it in a few months. it will surprise me if it is actually playable. The upper frets look like they were not put in correctly.

[Raider rider]

Found this one but isn't the one I was looking for. Was talking to a friend and he said he was looking for a pandolin. This is what I thought he was talking about.

http://blueridgeluthiers.com/members/WoodyMcKenzie/DSC_0113%20382x225.jpg

Instead this is what he was talking about http://www.appalachianinstrumentsusa.com/pandolyn/files/dsc00018.jpg

[Jim Garber]

Here are the pictures...

Frankly if I wanted something like that I woud get a Commodium (http://www.appalachianinstrumentsusa.com/pandolyn/files/dsc00018.jpg).

[Bertram Henze]

That pandolin reminds me of something I built decades ago: a wooden banjo resonator for a back, a stainless steel cake platter for a top and the leftover neck of a former banjolin. The sound wasn't exactly that rich complex experience you're searching for...

[Harrison Withers]

Surprised no one has mentioned the offset teardrop that wishnevsky makes 95426

[Bertram Henze]

Surprised no one has mentioned the offset teardrop that wishnevsky makes 95426

Isn't that what Jim Carrey finds in "The Mask"?

[Harrison Withers]

I have one of his offset teardrop mandocellos and it really does have a lot of bottom end.
95451

[Seppo]

Greetings from a museum in Rome, Italy...96665966669666796668

[Marty Jacobson]

Whoa! Attack of the siamese bowlback guit-cittern.... thanks for posting those.

[mrmando]

Gotta love the mini-theorbo!

[Marty Jacobson]

Mandolins built by Brent Ewing of Montana, from a number of years ago. (The Web site was on Geocities, so pre-2000, possibly mid-90's).
Looks nicely made and there are definitely some interesting ideas. I wonder if he is still building?
96825
96826
http://www.oocities.org/ewingmandolin/

[Jim Garber]

A lovely f-style on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mandolin-/261222251166?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd20f3a9e).

[MikeEdgerton]

That is lovely. Just lovely.

[jim simpson]

I shouldn't have looked at this so close to bedtime. I know I'm going to have nightmares.

[Charles E.]

Huh, four bids, went for $71.00. Jim, I hope you did not get this.......whatever it is.

[Jim Garber]

No way, Charley! I know it appears that I have bottom-of-the-barrel taste...

[Charles E.]

Gotta love the headstock on this one.....;)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-MANDOLIN-BEAUTIFUL-VINTAGE-PIECE-Vintage-gibson-era-/230992221247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c835943f#ht_837wt_917

[Bertram Henze]

Gotta love the headstock

It was made to be a wallhanger.

[Jim Garber]

Gotta love the headstock on this one.....;)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-MANDOLIN-BEAUTIFUL-VINTAGE-PIECE-Vintage-gibson-era-/230992221247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c835943f#ht_837wt_917

I was following that one but final bid was too much for my blood. I like the general 2 point style and the headstock is certainly silly but the soundhole looks way too large.

[oldwave maker]

Always thought the melondolin was 'normal', at least at Farmers Markets, and the F5 a true oddity!

[Jake Wildwood]

I was following that one but final bid was too much for my blood. I like the general 2 point style and the headstock is certainly silly but the soundhole looks way too large.

I loved the look of that in general but didn't like all the separations I was seeing... and was curious about the big soundhole and neck stability if the neck block wasn't big enough to do the job (like on those funky 2-point lyre-shaped Harmony 20s mandos that ALWAYS die).

[Marty Jacobson]

This just cropped up in this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?96820-Help-identifying-old-mandolin-with-odd-body-style&p=1178574#post1178574), and is for sale here (http://www.tejonstreetmusic.com/mandolins/used-mandolins/mandolin-from-unknown-maker-circa-1920s/). NFI

I think it's awesome.. look at that pickguard.. Jim, are you going to buy it? :-)

10397410397510397610397710397810397910398010398110 3982103983

[Marty Jacobson]

103984103985103986103987103988103989

[Tavy]

Marty: those are the standard mandolinettos that show up in the UK quite often with various makers names - usually the "Neapolitan school of music" or something similar - all completely fictitious of course!

I had a more conventionally mandolinetto shaped one of these a while back and it actually sounded quite nice, I dare say this one would as well.

[brunello97]

I love the shape of these....

Mick

[Graham McDonald]

I would very much doubt if these oddly shaped mandolins are British made. German I would suspect, especially with that scratchplate (and the German tuners).

The mandolin with strange head that Jim has posted the pics in Post #433 of could quite possibly be a New York made instrument from the 30. If you go to this (http://www.andriusviolins.com/history.html) site there are several pictures of a mandolin built in the shop of Guiseppe Nettuno, a guitar and mandolin maker in New York in the 20s and 30s, probably one of the people who made the A. Galiano labeled instruments for Oscar Schmidt.

cheers

[Bertram Henze]

Not all ugly things are German ;)
This instrument might look much better if the neck had been attached to the other end. As it is, it looks like a viola da gamba met with an accident.

[Jim Garber]

I
The mandolin with strange head that Jim has posted the pics in Post #433 of could quite possibly be a New York made instrument from the 30. If you go to this (http://www.andriusviolins.com/history.html) site there are several pictures of a mandolin built in the shop of Guiseppe Nettuno, a guitar and mandolin maker in New York in the 20s and 30s, probably one of the people who made the A. Galiano labeled instruments for Oscar Schmidt.

Thanks, Graham, for pointing out the similarities with the Nettuno/Faruolo mandolin. it is quite possible that this was an earlier version of the one pictured in the link above.

[Jim Garber]

Wow! Four years since the last posting on one of my favorite threads. Time to bring it back especially for this beauty for sale on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/262890663924).

I would love to go back in whatever time and speak directly to the maker to see what he/she was thinking. 3/5 tuner arrangement, asymmetrical headstock, fanned-out tailpiece, strange carved-out(?) back with smooth neck joint, ultra-funky workmanship, etc. Enjoy!

[Norbert Feinendegen]

Thanks, Jim, for reviving this wonderful thread!

Here's another mandolin oddity built by the German waldzither producer C. H. Boehm: the so-called "walddoline"!

It's actually a flat-back mandolin with Boehm's usual glass bridge and Preston style tuning mechanism.
The walddoline was introduced in 1904 and built until 1941, when the Boehm factory was sold to the GEWA Company.

158301158308
158302158303158307
158305158304158306

For more about these fancy instruments see here: http://boehm-waldzither-page.webnode.com/walddoline/
In my opinion, they even sound quite good, especially the rare Nr. 2 model with rosewood back and sides.

Norbert

[Joey Anchors]

Here is something odd I'm having build.

158322

[Jim Garber]

Here is something odd I'm having build.

158322

Single course, five-string acoustic flattop/pancake mandolin? Not so odd really. Kind of cool, in my estimation.

[Norbert Feinendegen]

Ah I forgot, Dave Hynds has one to sell (if anyone should be interested):

158323

http://www.mandolinluthier.com/mandolins_for_sale_04.htm
I'm sure he is open to offers with regard to the price ...

[Nigel Gatherer]

158327

A Milanese mandolin with a woman's head.

[Nigel Gatherer]

158326

From a museum in Milan. When you break a string, just move on to the next neck.

[Jim Garber]

It is way time to wake, mandolin-oddball fans. 1-1/2 years! We must have missed some good ones.

Here is a finely-crafted mandolin, alas unfinished. It is neck, headstock, sides, top, and bracing all carved out (more or less) from one chunk of wood. All you need is to add a back and you'll have yourself a dandy planter... er... mandolin—I think. Here it is on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/233111389366).

And some pics:

[Charles E.]

That's about as odd as it gets.

[Herman Munster]

Whats up with this beast??
http://www.emando.com/images/builders/Bussmann/Bill_Bussman_Guppy.jpg

its a tuna fish LOL

[MikeEdgerton]

For anyone unaware that was made by luthier and cafe member Bill Bussmann and is on the Cafe several times. His user name is Old Wave Maker. Here's (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/80-Mandolins-in-progress?p=408989&viewfull=1#post408989) one thread where it makes a brief appearance. It can also be seen on Bill's website at www.oldwavemandolins.com under Photos and Styles/Fun Creations.

[mandotool]

its a tuna fish LOL

I just got this image from the metropolitan museum of art's new musical wing which has just opened after several years of renovation..175059

[Jim Garber]

I love that fish-shaped Portuguese machete at the Met. I once asked a luthier friend of mine if he would make me a mandolin version of that.

[allenhopkins]

I'd buy Bussman's fish-shaped mando, but I'd swap out the tunas for Waverlies. I'll bet it has a great bass response! I'd love to see it perched on a stand in my music room, where I'd have a whale of a time playing it. Probably costs too much, so I don't have a ray of hope of getting it.

Well, time to clam up...

[Jim Garber]

Something is very fishy about Allen’s post. Shell we all ignore it and go back to playing our scales?

[Charles E.]

I would like to play it just for the halibut.

[eightmoremiles]

Stop it!
I am getting a haddock reading these inane posts!
It is so bad I might have to see a sturgeon!
(Continuing the Marxian direction of the thread)

[V70416]

didn't Bill Bussman make a fishy-lookin mandolin called the Lloyd Lure?

[MikeZito]

Play it too much and you might get hooked!

[buckhorn]

175103 thought that I posted on here a while back.. started out as a real cannon, but the body just wouldn't support the neck.. now it's a wall hanger.. maybe I'll find a better way to them up....

[MikeZito]

How could we forget that one!

[JEStanek]

175103 thought that I posted on here a while back.. started out as a real cannon, but the body just wouldn't support the neck.. now it's a wall hanger.. maybe I'll find a better way to them up....

Have you looked at the Commodium. Same idea with bed pan but uses a hospital food tray cover for the top plate and has resonator holes in it.

0p8c2CrNd0Q

Jamie

[Charles E.]

Pheffernan turned me onto this Woody Williams, um, "mandolin".....

https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/products/c-1948-mandolin-woody-williams-mandolin-family-handmade-folkart-mandolin-45823

Nfi

[Steve VandeWater]

I'd buy Bussman's fish-shaped mando, but I'd swap out the tunas for Waverlies. I'll bet it has a great bass response! I'd love to see it perched on a stand in my music room, where I'd have a whale of a time playing it. Probably costs too much, so I don't have a ray of hope of getting it.

Well, time to clam up...

I bet it doesn't sound crappie!

[Jim Garber]

Pheffernan turned me onto this Woody Williams, um, "mandolin".....

https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/products/c-1948-mandolin-woody-williams-mandolin-family-handmade-folkart-mandolin-45823

Nfi

"c 1948 Woody Williams Mandolin Handmade Folk-art Mandolin" only $365—Folks, that is a mere $1 per day for a year to own this beauty.

I better post some photos, because it will be gone soon... :)

175137 175138

[jefflester]

On L.A. Craigslist:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/msg/d/culver-city-unique-string-instrument/6846399715.html

It needs strings . I have the bridge . Its built well , built to play . Its a acoustic instrument . Semi hallow . Different woods . See pictures for condition , its in good condition , darkening of finish , probably vintage . $425 obo

175506175505

[Jim Garber]

On L.A. Craigslist:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/msg/d/culver-city-unique-string-instrument/6846399715.html

It needs strings . I have the bridge . Its built well , built to play . Its a acoustic instrument . Semi hallow . Different woods . See pictures for condition , its in good condition , darkening of finish , probably vintage . $425 obo

175506175505

That is a Tahitian ukulele. Read more here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahitian_ukulele).

[Steve VandeWater]

I'm surprised that I haven't posted this one to this thread before, but here it is...again....my 4 stringer that I made out of concrete. It's recently been signed by both Gibson's David Harvey and the great Mike Compton. I lost Don Julin and Billy Strings' signatures when I re-topped it awhile back and put a pickup in it.
175524 175523 175525 175526 175527

[MikeEdgerton]

Actually, I remember the original thread you posted about this mandolin. :cool:

[Charles E.]

I don't even know where to start with this one, I am speechless.........

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mandocello-Guitar-8-String-Hand-Made-In-Orlando-USA-Branded-Well-Made/264291753166?hash=item3d89041cce:g:DGQAAOSwwRBcu2i 4:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!32080!US!-1

Never seen a backwards fret job. :disbelief:

[Jim Garber]

Especially a "Vintage Mandocello Guitar 8 String".

Dig this label—"Grey neck guitar"?:

176230

Here is another photo:

176231

I assume that it is just painted with gold Krylon rather than made of brass-colored metal.

Actually the best part is the headstock:
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[Baron Collins-Hill]

Makes this infamous instructional video as close to correct as it will ever be (start at 47 seconds):

https://youtu.be/BccifzVxQwk?t=47

Thanks,
Baron

[Mike Buesseler]

I love the frets on that Grey Neck beauty. Easier to play the farther up the neck you go! Nice color, too. Great for noodling around in the duck blind.

Baron, that video is a revelation. :disbelief:

[John Soper]

At least the instructor in the video is right twice on each string!

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Three times if you count the tritone, still not a great success rate.

[Charles E.]

That just proves that one should never do bong hits before recording an "instructional video".

[Jess L.]

Never seen a backwards fret job. :disbelief:



176231

Y'all are overlooking an important advantage... Acccording to the seller:


"There is no fret wear."

Imagine that! :)) "No fret wear", almost like it's brand new & never been played, hmm I wonder what could possibly be the reason for that? ;) :grin: :))

Seller further states:

"...would play perfectly with a fret level."

Oh, well heck if that is all it needs to "play perfectly", someone better buy it quick, wouldn't want to let such a golden opportunity get away. ;)

[Cobalt]

It might be fun to learn some weird fingering to get just one (specially chosen) tune out of it, then hand it to someone else to play.

[Jess L.]

It might be fun to learn some weird fingering to get just one (specially chosen) tune out of it, then hand it to someone else to play.

:grin: :popcorn: :mandosmiley: :cool: :)

[MikeZito]

I can now safely relinquish my long-held title of 'World's Most Useless Mandolin Player' . . . that 'instructor' has me beat my a mile!

[Jim Garber]

Time to bring another oddball instrument to this lovely thread. This on French eBay. The French are especially creative in the oddity department, the most famous of which are the Gelas instruments. This one (https://www.ebay.fr/itm/193480334377) is by a German who lives on the French border and had some interesting ideas. This is his fretted 6-string version. According to the seller, "These came in several varieties – some had six strings, others eight, some with frets, others unfretted. He called the unfretted versions Violins and the fretted type Mandolin Violins."

[Jim Garber]

I found the site that had the photo of Engelbert and his wife playing plus the catalog page for these instruments. There are other variants on the wall behind them. He plays the 8-string violin version and his wife the mandolin.

He is listed in my Henley violin book as only "Resident at Völklingen (Saar). 1924."

[AndyV]

186186186187

Somebody must already have made the point that F styles must have been out of the world oddities when they first appeared.

Yeah, I didn't read the entire thread

[vic-victor]

The idea lives on: Grand concert mandolin by Brian Dean:
https://reverb.com/item/5964228-grand-concert-mandolin-by-brian-dean
186190

[Jim Garber]

Just what I don't need, another oddball, but lucky I did get outbid. Anybody win this beauty (https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/132388377) on Shopgoodwill.com? Workmanship is a little dodgy but interesting. Hard to tell if it is playable or even sounds like anything.

[Dusepo]

Somehow I must have missed this request for more pics. Here they are.

That design of f-holes where it's on two levels (not sure how else to describe it) reminds me of the Hardingfele or Hardanger fiddle from Norway. They often have this same design of f-holes:
http://www.hfaa.org/a/hfaa.org/hfaa-test/Home/about-the-hardanger-fiddle/Lynn%20Berg%20fiddle%20full.jpg


Just what I don't need, another oddball, but lucky I did get outbid. Anybody win this beauty (https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/132388377) on Shopgoodwill.com? Workmanship is a little dodgy but interesting. Hard to tell if it is playable or even sounds like anything.

That's a nice citole shape!

[Jim Garber]

Jo: yes that mandolin was made by a Norwegian to imitate the style of a hardingfele and has sympathetic strings.

[Dusepo]

Jo: yes that mandolin was made by a Norwegian to imitate the style of a hardingfele and has sympathetic strings.

That explains it!

Here's another star-shaped mandolin-banjo that's similar but in less playable condition than the one previously posted:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/89/01/cd/8901cd13186cf1f00520b069ed862cbf.jpg

Here's a 5 string fretless mandolin:
https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--GTmRKXMR--/f_auto,t_large/v1580851044/cfukkffigcxawizgfcmm.jpg

[Dusepo]

I'm surprised that I haven't posted this one to this thread before, but here it is...again....my 4 stringer that I made out of concrete. It's recently been signed by both Gibson's David Harvey and the great Mike Compton. I lost Don Julin and Billy Strings' signatures when I re-topped it awhile back and put a pickup in it.
175524 175523 175525 175526 175527

Concrete? :O Is it as heavy as one might assume? I'd love to hear how it sounds too.

[Dusepo]

Another star-shaped one I just saw on wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Mandoline_%C3%A0_quatre_choeurs.JPG

[Jim Garber]

Well, it has been quite awhile that this site has been updated. Here's a wonderful odd-looking violinish and very red mandolin made by James Pappas in Newark, DE in 1957 currently on eBay. I am impressed by the graceful(?) scrolled headstock. Go for it, you treasure hunters... https://www.ebay.com/itm/225579884363




(https://www.ebay.com/itm/225579884363)

[JeffD]

Somebody must already have made the point that F styles must have been out of the world oddities when they first appeared.

I agree, but it wasn't without context. The waning art nouveau movement and the beginning art deco movement were in the vocabulary of many architects, designers, decorators etc. In that context the F style with its curly bits and pointy extrusions would not have been entirely out of this world or unexpected. That is my reading of it.

[journeybear]

Another star-shaped one I just saw on wikipedia:

I guess I wasn't keeping up with this thread ... but now it's back. (Thanks, Jim, for your habit of doing that now and then.) So somehow I missed this. And what Jo said. You saw this on wikipedia? :disbelief: I'm stumped as to in what context. Hardly seems exemplary or otherwise instructive. :confused: I do like what the description says: "forma anomala" - in English, "abnormal shape." It certainly is! :))

Anyway, I tried searching for "mandolino" at the wiki but didn't get too far. Though I did find a reference to this oddty by that name. My best guess is Les was messing with his best guess of what one might do with a mandolin - other than play one, you know, because he seemed intent on merely emulating one. Interesting to see the video creator also avoided the mandolin, eschewing any such imagery, while including many other instruments.

yTjDktpjGbs

[Steve VandeWater]

207783
Posted a few times over the years, my mandolin made of concrete.207784
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[Dusepo]

207783
Posted a few times over the years, my mandolin made of concrete.207784
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Wow, how heavy is it? :o

[DavidKOS]

Here's a 5 string fretless mandolin:
https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--GTmRKXMR--/f_auto,t_large/v1580851044/cfukkffigcxawizgfcmm.jpg

I guess that's for playing oud music.

[Charles E.]

This just landed in the classifieds.....

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/211293#211293

:disbelief:

[JeffD]

This just landed in the classifieds.....

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/211293#211293

:disbelief:

Wow! Not without its charms. I am particularly intrigued by its take on the scroll. An homage to the traditional scroll that I kind of like. Though you can't use it for a strap hanger.