Old Bowlback- I.D., anyone?

[Dylan Hatch]

I recently received this bowlback mando from my grandmother-in-law. It belonged to my wife's great-grandfather, and we're guesstimating early 1900's or before for its origin.

I would love to know what kind of mandolin this is, but I can't find a maker's mark. The most distinctive thing would probably be the missing pickguard- you can see the outline where it was set into the top. Which brings me to the painful part- the top. It has warped on it's upper half and cracked in several places. The back still looks really nice- there are a couple of those many seams on the back that are starting to seperate, but they look fixable to my untrained eye.

Sooooooo- anyone recognize this type of mando?

Aaaaaaand- any chance you folks think this one could be restored? If it's too ridiculous to contemplate, tell me, I can take it. If it's possible, I would love to bring this beauty back to playing condition- I'll bet it would have a sweet, sweet tone.

Possible silly question coming up- Can you, and would you ever, replace a top on a mando?

Thanks for your time-
Dylan

[Dylan Hatch]

Here's one more pic-

[Jim Garber]

Nothing comes to mind except it looks like a simple lowend bowlback, prob American dating, as you said, early part of the last century. Warped and cracked top prob not worth fixing. For the few hundred you would put into fixing it, you could prob get a good playable bowlback of at least the same value.

Jim

[John Craton]

This puppy looks a great deal like my French Euterpia mandolin ca. 1890. The MOP inlays and pickguard shape appear nearly identical. There are some subtle differences, however, so I couldn't say for sure.

[Dylan Hatch]

Thanks for the responses!

Operaguy- Very interesting- any chance you could shoot me a picture and a bit of info on your Euterpia? I'll also do some looking online, so if it isn't convenient, don't worry about it.

Anybody else find this mando familiar?

[John Craton]

There are pictures of mine and another Euterpia on this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=12;t=18482;hl=euterpia). Mine has more ornamental inlays, but note the pickguard shape in particular. Hope this helps.

[Eugene]

This doesn't strike me as a French build. It definitely smacks of entry-level American stuff. The outline where the scratchplate used to be looks a little odd, and maybe a little asymmetric. Is the taper on the treble side narrower, or is that an optical illusion? If so, I might guess this once had a more traditionally shaped scratchplate that was removed and replaced with something a little more "personalized."

[Jim Garber]

There are pictures of mine and another Euterpia on this thread (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=12;t=18482;hl=euterpia). Mine has more ornamental inlays, but note the pickguard shape in particular. Hope this helps.
Well.... it could be a Euterpia, however I don't see how the pickguard shape is even close to yours, John. The headstock shape is different also. Many of these makers varied those aspecst tho. I would say a more reliable method of identifying might be the shape of the bowl and the apron since I believe many makers would use a form to construct the bowl.

Do you have a pic of the back of your instrument, John?

Jim