shutt mandolin on ebay

[ollaimh]

there is a shutt mandolin on e bay right now of anyone is interested, and sorry to blow the cover if people were laying wait in the weeds. i don't want a shutt but some people collect them. i'd love to try playing one but never had the chance

[BradKlein]

This is a Shutt influenced or related design, made by Harmony. And although I have not examined this instrument, I know the model well and have played several. It's an extremely playable and 'modern' design that contains some but not all of the innovations brought to the mandolin by Albert Shutt in the early 20th c. And this one seems to be in better than average condition. with a fairly solid finish and no obvious damage. I think they are among the most interesting non-Gibson prewar mandolins.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123022374063?ViewItem=&item=123022374063

166052

Typical for this model - Solid woods. Pressed, not carved, unbraced top and back. Recessed tuners. Do to the light unbraced top, and perhaps the neck block design, this model does best with light strings, in my opinion. The neck is also unreinforced. It's not uncommon to require a neck reset, and sometimes added neck reinforcement. Here's Sarah Jarosz playing a slightly fancier variation of this model.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kewgIYXU1Ec

[MikeEdgerton]

Indeed it is. Scroll through these (https://www.google.com/search?q=shutt+harmony+site%3Amandolincafe.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1) threads if anyone wants more information.

[BradKlein]

I think it's fair to say that this model from this period ('teens through 30s?) are the best instruments of their type. But there really aren't many others 'of their type'. Stradolins of the period were carved tops, if I remember correctly those I've examined or opened. With their transverse braced carved top, they sound very different. But the 'advanced' features of the Harmony/Shutt, including elevated fingerboard, ff-holes, and most importantly, the longer well shaped neck and 13 7/8" scale places it headstock and shoulders above any Strad in playability. (see what I did there?)

They're not comparable to various flat-top and cant-top instruments of the period. And the 'looser' sounding unbraced top really shouldn't be compared to the more restrained carved top Gibson oval hole instruments, with their 'barely braced but much stiffer tops. And certainly not to the F-5 with its powerful parallel braced carved top.

As for other unbraced, press-topped and backed solid-wood mandolins... maybe the only competition was also made by Harmony? The lower end Monterey instruments and the like? I haven't played one, or even examined one of those in hand.

[Jeff Mando]

pickguard is quite bizarre, IMHO.

[BradKlein]

pickguard is quite bizarre, IMHO.

That's what Harmony called the "black fiber suspended guard plate"! Forward thinking for its time, suspended above the top and screwed into the headblock. The outline, if seen head-on, follows the line of the f-hole exactly - eliminating those dangerous resonances between the top and underside of the pickguard that render the Gibson F-5 almost un-playable. ;-)

Shutt designed a fancier version that didn't require a woodscrew!

[BradKlein]

Sold for $738 plus shipping. Not a bad deal in my opinion - my reasoning set out above.

166188


The one I play, (not for sale) needed a fair amount of work, but it's a fun instrument. I removed the wood screw that a previous owner had put through the heel, into the neck block - patched the heel, re-fit and reset the neck - made a new ebony fretboard and fit it, using the original binding - made a new bridge - had a pro do the re-fret.