Help with old mandolin

[Kjl]

Hi, I wonder if someone could help. We have found my great grandfathers mandolin which we know he took with him during WW1. I know nothing about mandolins, but my son (23 year old !!) wants to learn to play it. So, it needs some expert tlc. Any advice as to where to take it (UK). I shall attempt to attach photos !! Many thanks

[MikeEdgerton]

With pictures many people can help.

[MikeEdgerton]

Here (https://vimeo.com/33795824) is a tutorial on posting images.

[Ray(T)]

As well as photos, please let us know roughly where in the UK you/the mandolin are/is.

[Kjl]

Hi guys , thanks for replying . I don't have a desktop , only a phone so am having trouble with photo upload - but will persevere ! I'm in North Yorkshire , UK

[Kjl]

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oh my gosh - I did it !!

[MysTiK PiKn]

Can you get a pix of the soundhole - inside, looks like there might be a label in there - perhaps a blue one??? hard to tell. Also the headstock, front and rear; also the tailpiece area - more pix means more detail means greater chance of recognition - there are some people here who are very serious about bowlback mandolins.

It looks like it's all there except the bridge 'saddle' is missing - original saddle likely bone or ivory. It obviously needs a cleaning. It's hard to see neck/body joint, and other wood parts condition.
Methinks it's pretty well preserved; just has a protective layer of dirt and dust.
I would guess it might be Italian, circa 1900-1910.

Others here know a lot more than I do. Stay tuned; others will likely comment.

[Kjl]

Thank you MysTik. I don't know a headstock from a tail piece ! So tomorrow I shall take a whole bunch of pics from top to toe :-). We know my great grandad survived the whole of ww1 in active service and had this mandolin with him , so any info at all is greatfully received .

[allenhopkins]

Well, I'm guessing American, quite possibly Chicago-made, early 20th century. I've seen those "bat-wing" pickguards on other US-made instruments. Here's (http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2010/09/c1910-unmarked-butterfly-bowlback.html) a link to an instrument with somewhat similar features: "rope" binding (the alternating segments of dark and light binding around the perimeter of the top), similar ornamentation on the rosette around the soundhole, and a similar though not identical pickguard profile.

Jake Wildwood speculates the linked mandolin is either Chicago-made, or perhaps an Oscar Schmidt (Jersey City) product. Yours is in some ways "nicer," with engraved plates over the tuners, and what appears to be a rosewood "bowl" with a large number of ribs. It is, as stated above, missing a bridge saddle. The 1910-15 date would agree with the way this one's constructed.

If there's a label inside, that'll solve many questions. However, lots of these mandolins had no labels. We may never be able to completely ID this one.

[MysTiK PiKn]

Various Italian Puglisi from my own collection, found while trying to i.d. my own Puglisi - but mine is a flatback, not a bowl.
Guiseppe Puglisi e Figli (puglisi and sons) - had a blue label thru 1910, changed to light green later.
No exact match - but various characteristics match.
Bridge similar.
The OP's tailpiece barely visible on end matches mine - 4 posts, 2 strings per post, minimal tailpiece - maybe common to other makes.
One pix shows match to tuners. (flat 4 on a plate)
Headstock similar curve, difficult to see in OP.
Note the common stamp crest on the top below bridge is not visible, or is covered by years of dust??? Or certain years not used?
Note also the diameter of the position markers tends to decrease as markers approach body - almost an optical illusion - mine has that too.
= Still just my best guess. =

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[brunello97]

I'm in agreement with the Italian origin.

For me here are the clues:

_Very thin rosewood fretboard with slight curvature at the alignment with soundhole

_General suave-ité of MOP inlay--though we see that on American mandolins, too, the 'twisted ribbon' soundhole inlay isn't so common here. I'm a sucker for that "Sienese" black / white MOP top banding. US makers did that as well, I admit, but I've always liked it.

_Tailpiece with four posts (very common on Italian mandolins, though it is seen on some US ones, too.)

_Appears to be a veneer covered neck. Don't know if I've ever seen that on a US bowlback, though wouldn't be surprised if some of the blingy Martins tried it.

_Those tuners were used on a wide range of Italian as well as American mandolins.

_Very thin (if any) finish on the spruce top. Again, this isn't a smoking gun, but most MOR Italian bowls had such a micro finish on their tops.

Where I'm in agreement with Allen (and risking contradicting myself) is in the bowl shape. That kind of squarish, deep bowl is often seen on US mandolins. It could be a US made mandolin heavily influenced by perhaps newly arrived Italian luthiers employed at someone like Oscar Schmidt. I've never seen such a think fretboard from Schmidt though, or a veneered neck.

_The fact that it is in the UK makes the chance of it being a US made bowl (from the OP's GGF) a bit slimmer.

When it comes to vintage mandolins, I always love being proven wrong though. ;)

Where are you in the UK? The default man of choice for repair / restoration / rejuvenation is our good friend John Maddock (http://jzmaddock.web44.net/) down Tavistock way. You won't find someone with a better feel for or more experience with old Italian bowlbacks. Champion fella.

Please keep us posted on what you decide to do with your mandolin!

Mick

[8ch(pl)]

These require extra light strings. a set of modern bluegrass strings will put too much tension on the instrument.

[Ray(T)]

He's in North Yorkshire Mick - about as far as you can get, in England, from Tavistock.

[allenhopkins]

Deferring to the more experienced -- Italian origin could be accurate.

Agree that a "hands-on" by a more experienced repairperson -- or even sending that person a good set of pics -- more likely to produce a reliable analysis.