Levin mandolins

[GeetarPicka]

I played a few vintage 1940s~60s Levin (Swedish) archtops, beatiful instruments and their top-of-the-line stuff wwas equal to some old Gibsons I've played so far.
Now I noticed they also built Mandolins but I never saw one personally. But pictures of their high end stuff are just awesome sort of a mixture of old Gibson and D'Angelico ideas.
The Aristocrat model is a 2-point mandolin that has a killer look - anyone has a Levin mandolin or played one? How do they compare to other instruments of their time?

[GeetarPicka]

found a bit of info myself...still wonder how the top model compares in sound to old Gibsons
1952 catalogue (http://www.hagstrom.org.uk/52Cat/1952hagcat28.htm)

[GeetarPicka]

http://members.aol.com/Altec639/man.jpg

[Jim Garber]

I have seen these online also but never in person. I am in the US and I would assume that they are more prevalent in Europe. I wonder if they were even imported here.

That same site, Vintage Guitars in Sweden (http://www.vintage-guitars.se/gallery.htm), has some wonderful pics of Levin mandolins going back to 1923.

Jim

[jmkatcher]

I saw a performance a few months ago where one of the players had a Levin mandola. It was very very nice sounding.

[GeetarPicka]

what fascinates me mostly is the fact that Levin tried to follow Gibson while the other Europan builders were doing those classical round bowls at that time. I think that Aristocrat mandolin #has a very classy look, woder how it would sound. These are not cheap, dunno if it would be wise to invest in one rather than a vintage A-style Gibson

[Disturber]

I have a Levin Aristokrat. Probably made in the
mid 1940's. It's a great instrument.

The Levin factory in Sweden was considered perhaps
the finest European instrument factory at it's prime.

The Levin factory exported instruments to the USA.
They where sold under the name GOYA, see this link
for full story:
http://www.folkofthewood.com/page5631.htm

This is a two point Goya mandolin from 1958.
Very similar to a Levin Aristokrat.
http://www.vintageinstruments.com/photos/inst20/goyaful.jpg

[Peter Hackman]

I used to own a blonde f-hole Levin Aristokrat. It was built in 1968, the first
one they built on taking it up again. #I'm sure it was one of their very best,
with a full-bodied #and dry sound. I've played
the sunburst pictured a few posts back, and it's nowhere near, too much bicycle bell.

I traveled from festival to festival in the summer of 1969, and owing to the very
humid climate the neck began to separate from the body. I stayed with
a friend in DC and one evening we went to John Duffey's shop in Arlington
to have it fixed. In the process he set the neck angle back a bit, producing an
even drier sound. It was totally unique among Aristrokrats.

In 1974 I became disenchanted with my playing and got rid of it.

[brunello97]

Great thread.

I was aware of the Martin/Goya/import connection and basically blew off the product line (due to sense or stupidity or both.) I had no idea of the Swedish connection. The two-points look very nicely made. I'm sure those folks had access to some great wood and wood-working craft and knowledge must be extensive up there.

I'll keep my eye out.

Mick

[Peter Hackman]

I have a Levin Aristokrat. Probably made in the
mid 1940's. It's a great instrument.

The Levin factory in Sweden was considered perhaps
the finest European instrument factory at it's prime.

The Levin factory exported instruments to the USA.
They where sold under the name GOYA, see this link
for full story:
http://www.folkofthewood.com/page5631.htm

This is a two point Goya mandolin from 1958.
Very similar to a Levin Aristokrat.
http://www.vintageinstruments.com/photos/inst20/goyaful.jpg
My first flattop guitar was a Goya that I bought in 1964 and
kept for 5 or 6 years. It had stained maple b/s and Grover pegs.
The story told then was that the name Levin was deemed unsuitable
for export to the US, because it sounded too Jewish!
Obviously Goya sounds more goy ...