What have I bought!?

[adh110]

Hello, yesterday I bought my first mandolin at an auction for $30. As much as I have looked it over, there are no markings of a brand or anything of that nature. It appears to be a 20's style, and it has definitely been around judging by the plethora of scratches and the cracks in the side. I'm just curious if anyone here could help me figure out what make this ol girl is. Also, the tailpiece is missing four of the little hooks that hold the strings.. Like when you remove the cover you can see where they were, but they have been broken off. Can anyone point me towards a good replacement? Thanks and sorry for the long winded post :)) :whistling:

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[Dave Greenspoon]

Bent top made by many including Regal and others. FYI that tail piece cover is regularly sought, being worth at least what you paid for the instrument. That said it looks like nice solid woods and likely maple back/sides/neck. The herringbone center stripe is a nice touch and usually not on lower end instruments. A little money will make it play and a little more should make her sing. How are the insides?

[billkilpatrick]

Very nice. You'll see a replacement for the tailpiece on ebay every now and then but try "mandolin tailpiece" on google - something's bound to show up.

Hadn't heard of these people till Jeffd posted a link - you'll see your mandolin in action at 1:37. Again, really nice buy - compliment! …


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeXH-61BYMw

[MikeEdgerton]

Save that tailpiece cover. You can buy the base on eBay regularly but the covers have some value, maybe twice or more what you paid for the instrument. The tailpiece is called a Waverly Cloud tailpiece.

What you have is a mandolin built by the Oscar Schmidt Company of Jersey, NJ (the modern company using the same name has no connection to the old company). They built instruments with many brand names, yours is similar to the Sovereign mandolin here (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?75434-Sovereign-Mandolin).

I just ran through eBay looking for a tailpiece base. There aren't any today. These tailpieces were made up into thee 70's. There is a slight difference in the years in size. If you can get the entire tailpiece and cover get them together. You can always recoup some of the cost by selling the cover. Beyond that if you get this back into playing shape it's not worth a whole lot but it's a fun instrument. I surely would have bought it for $30.00.

[adh110]

Thanks so much for the information guys, I definitely want to restore it to playing condition.. insides look good bracing seems to be intact. Thanks for the video that is killer! And thanks for the info on the tailpiece, hopefully one will pop up before long!

[MikeEdgerton]

You could place a want ad in the classifieds here. You're looking for a Waverly Cloud tailpiece with or without the cover. Without the cover you're taking a chance on getting one that might have a slight fit issue but they shouldn't be more than about $10.00. With the cover it goes up from there. I got $90.00 for the last one I sold, others have sold them for less.