Vintage electric mandolin

[chayden2]

We have a vintage electric mandolin that we need help identifying.

[JEStanek]

You may want to cross post to the Electrics section at the bottom (almost) of the page... Funky looking old e-mando!

Jamie

[Jim Garber]

I dunno... it looks like a homemade job to me with a guitar pickup that sort of looks familiar. The shape of the early Ricks is different.
http://emando.com/images/builders/Rickenbacker/1932_Rick.jpg

Jim

[mrmando]

My bad. It is not homemade. It is not a Rick.

It is a mid-'30s National. Here is one in a little worse shape, but with National logo pickguard intact. You can see that the pickup and tailpiece are identical (although the pickup's installed upside down).

chayden2's has some other differences: the 3 dots at the 10th fret, and the fact that both knobs are on the treble side. The one in my pic is a '34; chayden2's might be a year or two on either side of that.

The "bump" on the lower left (bass) side of the '34 is a cable jack. Early Nationals used Switchcraft screw-on cables, similar to what you'll find on vintage lap steels and the Shure "bullet" mics favored by blues harmonica players. chayden2, does your instrument have a similar cable jack?

(jgarber, I was thinking of the 1938 Rickenbacher Electro, which is a little closer in shape. The photo you've posted is the '32 Electro.)

[mrmando]

Hmmm (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=150262912035)...