Bought a Stradolin. Serial Number?

[jaybp30]

Always thought it would be cool to get one after reading about them. Was looking for a bit of a beater to keep in my office for lunch time playing and saw one on craigslist. Maybe I paid up a little ($310) because it has two stable-ish cracks from the bridge to the tail piece but I have a buddy who is a luthier who can sure them up for me. Things sounds really nice and has the cool faux tortoise shell pick guard and over the tail piece cover. Also the guy I got it from was a riot and had a 1910 Gibson mando family (mandolin, mandola and mandocello all blonde with the nice design around the sound holes) so I was excited to buy from him. Reason I'm posting is that there is a serial number on the back of the headstock. Not sure if it can tell me anything about the instrument. Either way I'm happy with the purchase.
168217
168218168219

[MikeEdgerton]

We've never been able to determine who made them although I have my suspicions. There were no serial numbers. There was a time when people were putting things like their drivers license number or social security numbers on things so they could be identified if stolen. I suspect that's what that number is. At times there is a date written inside under the top. Try using a dental mirror and a flashlight to see if it's there. By the way, you're looks very familiar. I paid $50.00 for mine with shipping many years ago. Make sure you post pictures in the Strad-O-Lin Social Group. I don't have those tuners.

[jaybp30]

Thanks, I'll put a post on there. Looks like your back is solid. My top is solid but the back and I assume sides are laminate. My back doesn't look as nice. Also, I don't have a strap button on the tail piece. Do you think it would be bad if I slipped a piece of rope through the tiny gap between the tail piece and the body?

[MikeEdgerton]

Chances are greater that it's all solid, I've never seen one that old that wasn't solid. Do you mean like in this (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?30705-No-strap-button-no-problem) thread? Look at all the posts. I added the strap button. That's a Frank Ford www.frets.com solution to no strap button.

There are only a few that I've seen with two piece backs. Maybe 4 or five. Almost all are one piece backs.

By the way, the tailpiece cover is pretty special. Most don't have them.

[MikeEdgerton]

As far as the strap button goes I use these (https://www.allparts.com/AP-6695-001-Gibsonreg-Style-Nickel-Strap-Buttons_p_490.html) nickel buttons from All Parts. I generally replace the screw with a slightliy smaller slot head screw in stainless so it looks more like it belongs there.

[allenhopkins]

I think OP has found " 19 G 6137" stamped into the headstock. The two Strad-O-Lins I've owned have been number-less. Anyone else found a stamped number on theirs, headstock or otherwise?

[MikeEdgerton]

I've never seen one. That stamp isn't real clean either.

[Jeff Mando]

Cafe member Spruce owns a Stradolin with a similar number stamped on the back of the peghead between the tuners. He posted several large photos of it on May 13, 2017 with the title "Another Strad-O-Lin in the Quiver....."

I would post the picture, but not sure how to do it, technically. It is easy to find with a Google Image search.

This is only the second Stradolin I've seen with such a serial number stamped.

[MikeEdgerton]

Bruce's Strad is here (https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?132205-Another-Strad-O-Lin-in-the-Quiver). Same format, different stamp, horrible job with the dies. I still suspect it's a Driver's License format for a state. Who would buy an instrument with the paint all chipped off like that? The manufacturer would have done a better job. I'm not buying that it's a serial. Bruce's is a WWII era by the tuners.

[Jeff Mando]

Those covers over the tuner gears look like what National was putting on their non-resonator guitars in the late 40's/early 50's. I've never seen a mandolin version of those covers.

[William Smith]

Its an old personal ID #, There was one just like it scratched into an old Gibson A model I had at one point.

[MikeZito]

Hey Jay:

I am in CT, too, and I saw that mandolin on Carigslist yesterday. I too was curious about the 'serial number' that I saw pictured on the listing; (although I don't remember any mention of the cracks). Glad to hear that you are enjoying it. How are the tone and action?

[jaybp30]

The stamp on the back reads "19 G 6197". Yeah the ad didn't mention the cracks. I didn't see them until I got there but I can't move them with a little pressure so I think my buddy can fix them easily. The tone is nice and woody. To be honest I have barely played any other mandolins beside my Michael Kelly, which is very thin sounding with no low end and a Martin Koa. This sounds similar to the Martin with more volume. A pretty decent chop. The action is a little high but playable. About 1/8" at the 12th on the G string. My buddy says it can be lowered. The nut is not cut all that well and there is room to lower the bridge, but I'd probably just get a new bridge for it if I were to go that route. I'm not in a rush to change the action as it doesn't really feel too bad to me. Probably will be good to practice with it for when I eventually upgrade, which was my intention before buying this. This may make the need to upgrade a little less immediate.

By the way MikeZito, hope you didn't stay up for all 14 innings last night. I went to sleep after the 13th, and a good thing I did.

[jaybp30]

I really can't make out any sign of the wood's grain on the back, looking inside or on back. Although I MAY be able to on the sides.

[MikeEdgerton]

Those covers over the tuner gears look like what National was putting on their non-resonator guitars in the late 40's/early 50's. I've never seen a mandolin version of those covers.

I've seen them on mandolins.

I just saw a set of these on a website. It appears to be a cover over an open set of Kluson's. I've labored under a misconception about these all these years. Thanks for the National hint.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=963445&sid=e96c174c21dadd834ca9a5abb5a87d69

[jaybp30]

Interesting. Do you think these covers were put on later or by the factory?

[MikeEdgerton]

At the factory, these apparently preceded the more common Gibson covered tuners that were seen on instruments from the late 40's through the late 60's. They would have been considered part of the tuners.

[jaybp30]

Well the guy thought it was 40s so I guess early 40s makes sense.

[MikeEdgerton]

Pull a cover off. Are there screws holding the cogs on the gears or do they look like the example on the other one with a number posted above?

[Darren Bailey]

Last night I ordered a Stradolin that looks very similar to the original poster's instrument. Wasn't expensive and seller described it as being in excellent condition. Have a week to wait before it arrives from Portugal but looking forward to seeing what I've got. I'll follow up with details when it arrives.

[spufman]

Saw that one on craigslist (I’m in CT too), but guess I shouldn’t respond to the still-active listing! Hope it works out well for you.

[Eric Platt]

Been told the tuners are nicknamed valve covers by some dealers. Regal Jumbo King guitars had them as stock in the 1930's. Collings/Waterloo has reproduced them for their version of that guitar. (Aside - I owned one of those Regals. The Waterloo is a lot better than the one I had.)

[MikeEdgerton]

Been told the tuners are nicknamed valve covers by some dealers. Regal Jumbo King guitars had them as stock in the 1930's. Collings/Waterloo has reproduced them for their version of that guitar. (Aside - I owned one of those Regals. The Waterloo is a lot better than the one I had.)

All of that makes sense. I've never heard them called that but the description is apt.

[jaybp30]

Can someone take a look at this pic and see if they can tell if it is laminate. Looks it to me. Can't see any grain in it. Same mando in the original post I made. My buddybfixed it up and I love it either way. 169926

[jaybp30]

Pull a cover off. Are there screws holding the cogs on the gears or do they look like the example on the other one with a number posted above?

Finally remembered to pull off the covers. They look like the ones in the above picture, not screws. Why did you ask that? What does that tell you? Sorry for the looooong delay. Thanks.

[MikeEdgerton]

You need a picture of the inside edge of the sound hole to have anyone tell you if it's solid. The tuners without screws dates your mandolin to WWII or just after.

[jaybp30]

You need a picture of the inside edge of the sound hole to have anyone tell you if it's solid. The tuners without screws dates your mandolin to WWII or just after.

Thanks for the quick response. The top is definitely solid. Wood grain on the inside and on the edge of the sound holes is obvious. It's the back and sides that don't look it to me. Can't really see any definitive grain at all, even looking at the outside of the back. When did laminate instruments first start popping up? It doesn't matter too much to me because I really like it and it's not a collectors item so I'm not interested in selling it at any point. Just curious about it. I guess if I ever put in an end pin I'd find out about the sides. Now I just have a lace through the gap in the tail piece and it seems to work just fine.

[allenhopkins]

... When did laminate instruments first start popping up?...Just curious about it...

In their 1977 book Guitars, Tom and Mary Anne Evans illustrate (p. 48) a guitar made by Louis Panormo of London in 1822, with a laminated back of rosewood over spruce. Quite a few of the earlier, 17th and 18th century guitars had laminated necks, but this was done with the dual objectives of appearance, and of strengthening the neck against warpage under string tension.

The use of laminated wood as a cost-saving factor probably began in the early 20th century; Washburn mandolins were shown in their 1922 catalog as "3-ply back and sides" for less expensive models. (Pleijsier, Washburn Prewar Instrument Styles, p. 160.)

Not sure when laminated tops were introduced; as far as I know, Gibson didn't make laminated-top mandolins, although Gibson's import brand Epiphone has all-plywood, less expensive mandolins in their line.

[MikeEdgerton]

Kay was selling laminated sides and backs as a feature in the 30's. Lyon and Healy actually used laminated sides on some of their Washburn guitars, again as a feature, that kept them from cracking. I haven't seen any laminated tops on Strad-O-Lin genre mandolins until the later years, the 50's.

[jaybp30]

Interesting that it was once a "feature". Well my top is definitely solid by I am quite confident the rest is laminate.

[jaybp30]

176834176833

[DocT]

People in the military, when I was in, were required to mark all of their personal belongings with a driver's license, service number, or social security number just in case it were stolen or someone thought it was government issue. So, perhaps these numbers are for that reason?

[MikeEdgerton]

Back in the 70's pretty much every police department in every large city in the country suggested you engrave an identifying number like your social security or drivers license number on valuable personal items so they could be identified as yours if they were recovered after being stolen. You see it all the time on eBay. It was the advent of the inexpensive personal engraver market.

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=engraver

[jaybp30]

These days if you did that you'd get the double whammy of having your item stolen followed by good old fashioned identity theft.

[NickR]

I think those kluson tuners with cover plates are from 1941- and possibly used into 1942 when metal became scarce. I have never seen them on mandolins except those Stradolins featured at this site. However, the Sivertone catalogue for 1941 actually shows them- the guitar versions which I have on a 1941 Silvertone Crest. They are shown on the top right of this page while the blurb for the Crest further down mentions them in the text176842.

[NickR]

Further to my above post, this Stradolin which needs work but is currently at a low price has those enclosed Kluson tuners. I will also post this at the ebay discussion thread:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-mandolin-as-found/382957255862?hash=item592a07fcb6%3Ag%3A2gQAAOSwCWZ c3Y4E&LH_ItemCondition=10

[Eric Platt]

Further to my above post, this Stradolin which needs work but is currently at a low price has those enclosed Kluson tuners. I will also post this at the ebay discussion thread:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-mandolin-as-found/382957255862?hash=item592a07fcb6%3Ag%3A2gQAAOSwCWZ c3Y4E&LH_ItemCondition=10

That's an odd duck, IMO. All laminate body. Likely refinished. Was it a solid color to cover the sanding through of the laminate? But older tuners. Or at least older covers. And a bridge from something else entirely.

Strange.

[NickR]

Yes, that bridge is from a Kay. It begs the question: would the original bridge fill the gap without the wooden plinth? If it does, it may be that the top is not too bad but it is often hard to tell without a good shot from the side.