Help with identification of a Giuseppe Puglisi Mandolin

[herbert1969]

Hello there!

I'm quite new in this forum, I like playing guitar but I have absolutely no experiences with mandolins. But since yesterday I am the owner of a very old one that came to me becauce someone of my wife's family (the originally owner) died. I don't know much about this instrument, but as I read in this forum, it was made in Catania, Italy, by Giuseppe Puglisi, maybe before than 1905.

Also see: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?85753-Guiseppe-Uglis-Catania

Am I right? What else do I have to know about this instrument? Becauce of not being able to play it, I would like to sell it. Is there a trade of such instruments and how much money is it worth? Thanks for answering and best Greetings from Austria!

[DavidKOS]

I'd loosen those strings, and check to see if they are not the lightest gauge. The neck may already be a bit warped or pulling up judging from the side view.

At the moment such seemingly nice bowl back mandolins are not in great demand and one not in good playing condition is worth less than one that plays well.

[MikeEdgerton]

That mandolin does have neck issues. If you want to establish a value put it on eBay with a ridiculously high reserve and start the bidding low at $10.00. What it ends up at will be the value. Relist it at that price without the reserve and it should sell. You and your wife might get a nice dinner out of the proceeds, you won't be sending your kids to college or buying a new car with it.

[Jim Garber]

I agree with what David and Mike say above. Also, the bridge is cut down to a minimum and is positioned in the incorrect location. For this mandolin to even play close to in tune, the bridge should be on the soundhole side of the cant (the fold in the top). Also, it looks to me that the top may be oversprayed. Puglisis are among the nicer of the Catania Sicily mandolins from the early 20th century but this one looks like it has some issues. It is probably one of the lower end models anyway.

As a friend of Mike's used to say: "bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them". Of course, yours was free, but don't expect too much cash from selling it.

[allenhopkins]

Information on Puglisi. (http://www.mandolinluthier.com/puglisi_family.htm)

Looks like a decent mid-range Sicilian mandolin, that's been over-strung so that the action's way high around the upper frets. Other than that, appears to be in decent shape.

If it's still playable with extra-light strings, you might get a couple hundred dollars US out of it here. It's not a particularly valuable instrument in the US, where there are scads of century-old American bowl-backs on the market at any given time. Doubt many of us are familiar enough with the Austrian market, to know what it's worth in your country. However, there are scads of Italian-made bowl-backs available throughout southern Europe, so Mike E's guesstimate seems pretty accurate.