Calace

[Lord John]

Hi,
I`m new to the forum but would like some advice.
I have inherited a Raffaele Calace Mandolin dated 1917. The strings on it, may be original. The original owner had it for at least 60 years and never played it or changed them. The question is, is it therefore better to leave the strings untouched due to it being an attraction to a collector, or am I safe to remove them and re-string so that it can be played and enjoyed ? I do not want to wipe £££ off its value without checking first.
Thanks

[brunello97]

If the mandolin is at all playable (which would have the greatest effect on its value) then any new owner would certainly change the strings in order to play it. Beyond curiosity, the old strings will hold no value to anyone looking to play it.

If you are looking to sell it, leaving the strings on will not likely effect the sale price. Inadvertently putting the wrong strings on, however (such as heavier weight strings not suited for such an instrument) could negatively effect the mandolin in a serious way.
If you have someone knowledgeable on hand to put proper lightweight strings on it for you, then you might go ahead. Otherwise, I'd recommend leaving it be while you attempt to sell it.

Can you post some pictures of the mandolin here for folks to see and possible offer more refined advice?

Mick

[Tavy]

+1 on what Mick says: original strings are only good for playing the tetanus blues. I can't believe the original owner never changed them either - IMO no way wound strings would survive 60 years of playing without falling to pieces. And yes light (10-34 or ultra-light (9-32) strings only, and only if the instrument is structurally sound.

[vic-victor]

If the mandolin was left tuned 60 years ago and no one loosened the strings as it was stored, the likely scenario is that strings tension has deformed the instrument and it is not playable anymore.

[brunello97]

If the mandolin was left tuned 60 years ago and no one loosened the strings as it was stored, the likely scenario is that strings tension has deformed the instrument and it is not playable anymore.

Yikes, that would be a disaster, Victor. I hope it is not the case. Looking forward to some photos from the OP.

Mick

[Bruce Clausen]

I wonder though. When I bought my Ceccherini, the seller thought it couldn't have been touched in at least 50 years. But it had no structural problems, and was still more or less in tune!

If it had been played continuously over that period, the tension would likewise have been continuous, no?

[brunello97]

OP said the owner never played it over the last 60 years, Bruce. :confused: Who knows? It had 40 years of life before that.
Tension often is effected by the environmental conditions under which the instrument is stored. Attic, cellar, closet, under the bed, in or out of a case, etc. I left my Schwab Emando in a closet in TX while we went to Italy for three months one summer. You don't want to know what I found upon return. (Kevin and I are still friends.....)

Still hoping for some photos.

Mick

[Lord John]

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Thank you all for the helpful advice. i attach a photo which may be of interest

[Lord John]

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[Lord John]

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Hopefully one of you guys can identify this instrument and perhaps tell me a bit more about it

[Beanzy]

Lovely example of a simple Calace design from that period.
Don't bother putting new strings on it until you get the top properly repaired, along with the binding and the seam separations on the back sorted out; it's looking like it has held shape ok and the neck isn't in obvious need of realignment from the side pics.
A bit of the laminated veneer has lifted on the rear of the headstock, but nothing too worrying.

Depending on your location I'd be inclined to get it repaired well and then sell it. It should go well in the Japanese or European markets. You don't want to go near normal repair shops though, so give a rough location and there's enough bodies on here to give you a good steer for most places.

Also, hang on to that plectrum.

[Jim Garber]

I don't know, Eoin. That bridge is not original and looks pretty low. It is also hard to tell from the side pics what whether the top is all right. It may very well be so, but I can't really tell. I am hoping that John Maddock (Tavy) will chime in and also that the OP is located in the UK. He would be great to restore it. My assumption is to think of the worst and hope for the best in these cases, but the Calace would be worth it. I call these "hole in the head" style Calaces. I had one a few years ago. Very nice instruments and pleasantly understated.

[brunello97]

Love the eccentric soundhole inlay and the scratchplate / pickguard. Very elegant looking mandolin.

Mick

[Tavy]

Man that is one big top crack! Get the strings off it, or at least slackened right off before any more damage is done as it's unlikely to be structurally sound in that condition :(

Hard to tell from the photos but as Jim says, neck angle looks borderline, but probably just acceptable, and should certainly be well worth restoring.

[Jim Garber]

Actually, it looks like two significant top cracks, one on either side of the strings.

[Lord John]

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. It is now in the safe hands of `Tavy` who will keep you posted on the progress of the restoration of the instrument.
John

[Tavy]

Time for a first progress update.... today was strip down day, here's the label for posterity:

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The arm rest was half coming off anyway, and seems to have been stuck on with something unpleasant and all the consistency of congealed honey:

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Most of that mess scraped off fine, but this small bit of spruce packing is going to get replaced:

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Earlier this morning I glued up half a dozen tiny bowl cracks, which may or may not have required it, but I wanted to absolutely sure they were sound for the main event:

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For the record I don't like using clamps like this, but it was the only way I could apply enough pressure to squeeze things back together... my usual "tape it up" method wasn't man enough for the job.

More to follow...

[Tavy]

Day 2.

Time to look at the top. Remarkably the pieces of the top are still firmly attached to the braces, and the method of construction doesn't make top removal easy anyway on these (top is fitted inside the side "skirt"), so the plan is to repair in place. Staring with the this side separation:

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It wouldn't squeeze together as is, even after scraping all the old glue out with dental picks - everything has moved, but is still glued together somewhat. Injecting a little steam freed things up enough to be able squeeze it back together, a little more HHG and some tape to hold it together should do the job:

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[Tavy]

Here's a question for you all, is this bridge likely to be original:

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It's extremely well made, but I can't find anything else quite like it, then again I can't find another Calace with the pickguard extending down below the cant either - which is presumably the reason for such a short bridge?

[Jim Garber]

Here's a question for you all, is this bridge likely to be original:

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It's extremely well made, but I can't find anything else quite like it, then again I can't find another Calace with the pickguard extending down below the cant either - which is presumably the reason for such a short bridge?

Here is another 1913 hole-in-the-head model that uses a similar bridge:

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[Tavy]

Here is another 1913 hole-in-the-head model that uses a similar bridge:

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Thanks Jim!

Interesting to see there were two "stoppers" on the soundboard to locate the bridge between, also interesting that that one has almost the same top-cracking as John's...

[Tavy]

Days 3&4:

Hiatus: I left a damp cloth inside (on plastic, no direct contact to the wood) to see if re-humidifying things would close either of the top cracks up any... but no joy.

Day 5:

Back to plan A: turn those large cracks into slots and insert new wood. I start off by machining some spruce down to approx 0.5mm - guide rails here are candy floss sticks, spruce is a soundboard off-cut:

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I've decided to put cleats in first - these will align the parts of the top, strengthen everything, and also provide a "stopper" that will prevent me from inserting the new wood too far, the larger of these proved to be too large, but you get the idea:

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I needed a way to align the parts of the top temporarily, this is a piece of brass strip bent at right angles to hook under one half, while the clamp and padding pushes down on the other half:

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To put those cleats in I'm using an inspection camera attached to the good old bent coat hanger, plus fish glue for a long open time:

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This is why the longer cleat turned out too large: it completely blocked the camera view! You don't see much putting when these in, but it's marginally better than using mirrors:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfNdXaUKNsY&feature=youtu.be

[Beanzy]

The creative mind at work, great to watch, thanks. Whch glue did you go for on the cleats? & what's it like manoeuvring that rig? Is it more intuitive than using a mirror?

[Tavy]

The creative mind at work, great to watch, thanks. Whch glue did you go for on the cleats? & what's it like manoeuvring that rig? Is it more intuitive than using a mirror?

Fish glue: same reversibility properties as HHG, but a long open time - something you really need for this (or at least I do!) as it's not easy to manoeuvre everything into position in a short time.

As for intuitive, well no, no matter which way you do this it's always upside down and back to front... you also have no depth perception using the camera, so you're never too sure how close to landing you are. On the plus side, with a small and already partly obstructed sound hole, I don't have to worry about my tools or hands obscuring my view of an inspection mirror, in this case I was able to stuff some fingers into the sound hole to help guide the wire to the right place. If you try and guide these single handed by just holding the end of the wire then the other end wanders all over the place, it's still pretty shaky with two hands, but certainly a lot easier. As with all things, practice makes perfect - first two cleats on one crack took the better part of 2 hours - that includes assembling everything, preparing the cleats, and countless practice runs. Second pair of cleats were done in a few minutes as I had the technique down by then. Of course, since you don't exactly do this every day, you never get really good at it!

[Lord John]

i`m so pleased that it`s in your skillful hands Tavy, fascinating to see the progress and the skills and patience involved.

[Tavy]

Lost my internet for a couple of days, but back now...

Day 6:

I was planning to lift the pickguard to extend the repair up underneath it, but someone has glued it down with something indestructible :disbelief: Normally these just pop right off, but all I succeeded in doing was more damage which I'll have to fix later... Oh well, I'll have to work around it, may put a couple of small cleats directly under the bridge. In the mean time the new inserts go in:

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Day 7:

Tipping point: things stop looking worse now, no more destruction, just things getting slowing better. Staring with cleaning up yesterdays gluing:

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Some touch up on those very white strips, plus 2 coats of shellac sealer: normally on Neapolitan I'd stop at this point, just scrub things back with 0000 wire wool and call it done... but as you can see from the differently coloured section forward of the bridge, these had something like an ultra-thin varnish (not shellac) finish on the top. I'll probably use a little TruOil over the next few days and see how it looks.

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[plinkey]

Fine work as usual, John. Thank you for the pictorial progress reports.

[Tavy]

All finished off, would have liked to have disguised the new wood better, but it will darken in time anyway:

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Sounds pretty good too - better than playing anyway!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mQlV2V_58&feature=youtu.be