mandotim1955
Aug-14-2016, 3:12am
I have an absolute rule; never buy instruments at festivals. Your head is full of music, and you make bad decisions.....rules. Hmmmm...
This was a basket case, with a badly set neck repair and a bodged bridge to cope with the unplayable action. It was made around 1920 by the Windsor Company in Birmingham. It has a European spruce top, ebony fretboard and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
Arthur Windsor used to import expensive American instruments like guitars, banjos, ukuleles and mandolins, and then produce copies of them at lower prices for the UK market. This mandolin is a copy of a Lyon and Healy model, but without the expensive violin style headstock scroll. The top and back are solid wood, but pressed in a mould, rather than carved (again, to save cost).
I sent it to the brilliant Rob Gibbs, and he has worked his usual magic. The neck reset includes a clever and unnoticeable wedge under the fingerboard to strengthen the joint and prevent future problems. Rob could have simply fitted a proprietary bridge, but chose to make one of the most elegant ebony adjustable bridges I've ever seen. It now plays beautifully, with a ridiculously low, buzz free[/ATTACH]action, and sounds fantastic. The sound is very like my 1920 Gibson A2; not quite as strong in the bass, but stronger in the treble. It's also very, very loud! Check out Rob's work in the link below. Don't look if you have a credit card within reach; you have been warned! [url]http://robgibbsguitars.co.uk/148888[/ATTACH]148885148886148889
This was a basket case, with a badly set neck repair and a bodged bridge to cope with the unplayable action. It was made around 1920 by the Windsor Company in Birmingham. It has a European spruce top, ebony fretboard and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
Arthur Windsor used to import expensive American instruments like guitars, banjos, ukuleles and mandolins, and then produce copies of them at lower prices for the UK market. This mandolin is a copy of a Lyon and Healy model, but without the expensive violin style headstock scroll. The top and back are solid wood, but pressed in a mould, rather than carved (again, to save cost).
I sent it to the brilliant Rob Gibbs, and he has worked his usual magic. The neck reset includes a clever and unnoticeable wedge under the fingerboard to strengthen the joint and prevent future problems. Rob could have simply fitted a proprietary bridge, but chose to make one of the most elegant ebony adjustable bridges I've ever seen. It now plays beautifully, with a ridiculously low, buzz free[/ATTACH]action, and sounds fantastic. The sound is very like my 1920 Gibson A2; not quite as strong in the bass, but stronger in the treble. It's also very, very loud! Check out Rob's work in the link below. Don't look if you have a credit card within reach; you have been warned! [url]http://robgibbsguitars.co.uk/148888[/ATTACH]148885148886148889