Did Flatiron make a Mandola 2MC?

[telepbrman]

You all may recall I have a 2MC from 94, well did Flatiron make a 2MC Mandola?

[Dfyngravity]

Yup I think so. I think they had a 2K mandola, a 2MC mandola and a 3MB mandola. Possibley more, but I am no expert, maybe someone that know a bunch about Flatiron will chime in. I would actually like to get my hands on a flatiron mandola myself.

[steve V. johnson]

Yes, if the "2MC" is the same as a "Scout" and looks like an Army/Navy model.

I had one of those here, sold it for a pal. This one was a deep red finish, the maple striping on the back was only visible in some angles of the light. It was a sweetie. I've seen several of them at auction since, maybe three, and most of them were natural, not red. Actually, I've seen more of the A/N-type Flatiron octave mandolins on auction than I have the 'dolas.

Once upon a time I found some archive/history-of-Flatiron page that listed the specs of the Scout 'dola, but I can't find it now. I was looking for it with Google and found references to auction prices from $560 to $880.

stv

[RolandTumble]

The 2MC is not the same as the Scout, though they're the same shape.

The Scout mandola and Cadet mandolin were the lowest "trim lines", done in opaque finish (or nearly so), to cover the fact that the woods weren't the world's fanciest. I think they also had a shorter warranty period, FWIW.

After that came the numbered lines:
#1--no binding, following letter indicated finish (Natural, Cherry, CHocolate)
#2--top bound, fancier woods, letter for wood type (Maple (Wavy or Birdseye), Koa)
#3--back also bound, rosette, even facier woods, letter as for 2 line

I can't actually answer the original question, though....

[mrmando]

Yes, they made such a thing. I used to own one. Here is a photo of my cat helping me tune it.

[telepbrman]

Sweet photo....I got to get one, thanks for the info, dy.

[Nathan Sanders]

Out of all the Flatirons I've had and have, I have not had a mandola yet. I've got to get one too.

[DerTiefster]

MrMando (Martin),
Is that a 16-1/2" scale mandola or the 23-1/2" octave mandolin? I can't count the frets, but it appears to be longer than the CGDA mandola. caveat: I may only think I know what I'm saying, so reinterpret freely but please explicitly define your terms. I saw pics on http://www.bluestheater.net/flatiron3MB.html of the OctaveMando/Bouzouki GDAE version (24 frets), but there is also apparently a 16-1/2" CGDA version.

Addendum: OK. I found a 14" scale 3MB mandolin picture (19 frets) here at elderly:
http://www.elderly.com/items/90U-3473.htm
That site also has a bouzouki reference but the pics are gone. The mando pics will probably disappear soon, too. Here's what's probably the critical pic of the 14" mandolin, showing side and front rosette details. I hope this falls under "fair use." The second and third pics are what I believe to be the (20 fret) 16.5" mandola.

Addendum2: oh, what the heck. Might as well be hung for... I'll add the bluestheater Zouk front shot. The back looks like the birdseye of the other two. Remembe, these are all 3MB (Maple Birdseye with rosette and full? binding) versions

[allenhopkins]

Well, here's (http://www.denverfolklore.com/instrument_photos/Flatiron_Mandola_photos.htm) a 3-MC, from which we could infer a 2-MC. I found another listing of a 2-M mandola.

[jefflester]

MrMando (Martin),
Is that a 16-1/2" scale mandola or the 23-1/2" octave mandolin?
If that is an octave/zouk, Martin one huge dude, not to mention his cat. :grin:

BTW - did you notice this thread was 4 years old?

[DerTiefster]

Well, with the picture not being a good stereo pair, I couldn't tell cleanly whether the fretboard was pointing toward me much or not. Foreshortening from perspective. And the cat's tail obscured some important parts of the instrument. I was looking over the picture a while later and decided it must be either a mandolin or mandola rather than the zouk, but still had some uncertainty.

And I did notice the date on the thread. I added the photos because I had some difficulty finding info. After quite a while of web searching I succeeded, and then thought I'd supply some pics and fret counts here on this cafe thread for anyone else coming later with the same interest. I've not had the experience of holding a zouk in hand. Allen noticed the resurrected thread during the time I was finding the last of the info and incorporating it into the post.

I think a zouk would be a marvelous thing to try out. I held a Gibson H1 mandola a week or two ago and thought it gripping soundwise. It motivated me to look up info, and I'm in the process of getting a mandola as a result. I hope it's not the beginning phases of Mandola Acquisition Syndrome. But maybe that's denial. And I thought that the Birdseye Maple was striking.

[jefflester]

And I did notice the date on the thread. I added the photos because I had some difficulty finding info....

Well if you've got a couple of hours to kill, you could read this thread:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3496&

[DerTiefster]

It wouldn't be just a couple of hours. I spent quite a long time going through the first half of that thread last night. I just didn't pick up much on the birdseye maple versions, nor on the octave or mandola versions vs. the mandolins. And those were the things I was interested in at the time.

Addendum: and yes, there is at least one zouk/OctaveMando in that thread at post 590:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showpost.php?p=197243&postcount=590
It gives the proper perspective between the 19 and 24 fret versions.

Addendum 2: Oh, well. I can't see. From more materialonthe "compulsive buy" thread, the fret counts are 18 (mandolin), 19 (mandola), and 24 (zouk/OM). Mea culpa.

[delsbrother]

Remember, you can search INSIDE a long thread for keywords using the "Search this Thread" tool. Very handy. I use it in the emando thread all the time.

[DerTiefster]

Well, the edit window on my post #13 has expired, so I'll just add this now.

Addendum 3: OK. I spent more time than I should have in following that thread to its last post as of last night. There is a great deal of info, along with many images, in the later portions of that thread. Anyone looking for info on Flatiron pancakes ought to spend some of their time perusing it. Thanks to jefflester for pointing me back toward it. The second 20 pages of posts contains more of the sort of info I'd been looking for than the first 20 pages.