Strad-o-lin interior

[Mark Marino]

I'm in the process of regluing a loose back on a very beat-up but good sounding strad, so after getting it removed, thought I'd post a pic of the bracing and interior design, in case anyone else is curious. #I've always wondered, as these strads sound pretty good for a cheapo mandolin. #This one has a solid spruce top with hand carved "psuedo-f holes", but the back and sides are plywood.

[acousticphd]

Well, that's one unmistakenly transverse brace.

[MikeEdgerton]

Here (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=43206;hl=mikeedgerton) are some interior pictures I took of a Strad-O-Lin oval hole model a while back. That one has a solid top and back. Any chance you could post a picture of the front and the headstock of yours so I can have a visual reference?

By the way, it looks like the bridge sits right over the brace.

[Mark Marino]

Here are a couple pics- I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the camera also. Yes, that transverse brace is mammoth, and runs close to the bridge, about 3/4 inch toward the tailpiece. I think I could stand on this top and it wouldn't sag. Oddly, the back on this mando was black, and appears to have a flat black primer, then a coat of white/off white finish, then the gloss black. It was pretty well crazed and with some pieces missing, so I'm not sure what to do with that when I glue the back back on. Any ideas?

[Mark Marino]

Here's the headstock.

[Mark Marino]

And here's the top.

[Bill Snyder]

You've taken the tail block out since the first photo. Are you just going to reglue it?

[David Newton]

That top is Red Spruce, I estimate. It turns cedar-brown inside (uncoated) with age. The look of these SOL's are so elemental, and right. I wonder that they didn't make, or you hardly ever see, the higher end of their line. I guess they got in at the bitter end of the mandolin boom, and never got a chance to go up-market. They certainly had the skills, looking at this one.

[Mark Marino]

The back had popped free around the tailpiece and the side was distended from the string pull. That pull must have also cracked the glue joint between that block and the front, so it popped free pretty easily and really needed to be reglued.

[Bill Snyder]

Solid linings on this one and the one Mike posted pictures of in the previously mentioned thread. Looks like the linings are let into the neck block and the joint for the neck is nice and tight.
It does appear to be put together pretty good. Is this the exception rather than the rule with the Stradolins or were they all put together this well? I know the general concensus from other threads is that these were probably built by more than one company. Would the old Regals or Kays be put together this well?

[MikeEdgerton]

The old Kays weren't built anywhere near this well. Most of the Kays that I've opened up had awful dovetails. The Regals were hit and miss. I personally think the early Strad-O-Lins were built by one company.

[David Newton]

Mike, do you think it would be safe to identify original-company SOL make by the neck "violin" type straight-dovetail construction?
Really a mortise and tenon. The '53 I got had this same clean, tight joint.
Dave

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm going to hazard a guess that if you open any of them up that were done before 1960 they are going to be the same. My feeling is that you won't find any real change until the brand went overseas, and that was a totally different animal.

[jimmymoser]

Woody McKenzie used to have a great set of photos on his website of his Stradolin as he took it apart and reworked it. He even had a sound sample with it. Here is his website. http://mckenziemusic.com/ If you email him, he could probably send you the jpg and sound files. I didn't see them on his website any longer.

[MikeEdgerton]

Great link, he has this one up there. I'm thinking it didn't come from the factory braced like this.

[David Newton]

Neat pic Mike. You can see a shadow of a lateral brace between the f's, and if you look hard enough and imagine it, you can see a shadow of a brace below the f's like the OP's above.

[MikeEdgerton]

It looks like he did some sanding around the edges as well.

[JeffD]

And here's the top.
Ya know, that old steamer trunk makes an excellent background for mandolin pictures!! Really cool.

[MikeEdgerton]

The more I look at that X braced top the more I think tone bars for mine http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[David Newton]

I'm with you. If God had intended mandolins to have X braces, He would have given Spruce trees lap joints.

[WoodyMcKenzie]

I have repaired or rebuilt five Stradolins. The first one I did is shown above. A friend owns it and it is quite loud. The ones I have taken apart have had tops that were essentially all the same thickness-- around 0.16 inches if I remember correctly. That's why you see where I thinned the periphery of the top a bit. One of the Stradolins I regraduated/rebraced was a two point. It was sunburst, but mostly opaque and not what most people would care for. It sounded great! I sold it to a friend who kept it for a few years and then sold it for a good bit more. All of the ones I have worked on have had laminated backs. All of their tops were made of really stiff spruce-- nice, old stuff. In retrospect, I believe that I could have braced them lighter than I did. I like X braces and if it's possible to generalize, the tone is a bit richer or deeper to my ears than parallel bracing. I believe that you could also use parallel tone bars on these old mandolins and get them to really kick. I also believe you can use the original transverse brace, maybe trimmed a little to good effect. Some of the original ones sound great like they are. The problem I have seen with them is probably a result of production manufacturing and being "farmed out" to various outfits (This is just what I have read about them, I don't really know.)The tranverse braces fail out at their end where they poke into the kerfing. if I were using a transverse brace, I would have it free of the periphery with the end sitting on a vertical post glued to the side. If I were repairing these keeping the original brace, I would add such reinforcement.

There are so many old mandolins and other instruments that can be rebuilt and improved upon. But of course it is too labor intensive to make it worth it in our global market. It is a disadvantage to have a mandolin with a short neck if you play up the neck, but there's an awful lot of great music to be played lower than the 12th fret. And these instruments don't have "that look". Alas, people listen with their eyes!

I haven't built a mandolin in a few years now. I built two guitars this past year and am finishing up my "Walnut Woman" dulcimer over the holidays. She has a double top (with a Nomex sandwich)and nice breasts above her soundholes, with nipples as cnnecting reinforcers. All three instruments are laminate construction using fish glue. Fish glue is the stuff! I intend to put up a whole set of fish glue luhiery pages around the first of the year.

After the dulcimer, I get back to mandolins. I just bought some nice walnut to go with an Englemann top for an octave mandolin.

If you have any questions, just ask. Advice is cheap!

Go play God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen on your mandothingy!

Merry Christmas!

Woody

[Mark Marino]

I ran into a surprise while working on this strad and thought I'd post on the progress. #The back of this mandolin had a coat of heavy black or deep brown paint, original from the factory. #It had become way too chipped to try and save, so after successfully regluing the back I decided to remove all the the finish from the back and try respraying. #After removing the finish, it became apparent that the back had a very nice tiger-stripe to it. #Why they would have painted over this puzzled me, but it looks like when the back was formed into the arch, small surface cracks resulted in the plywood. #I'm gonna do a semi-transparent and see what it looks like. #I was surprised to see such a nice grain to the wood on this type of instrument. #Either way, should make a good festival-special.

[MikeEdgerton]

I wouldn't have expected to see that either. Pretty neat.

[Mark Marino]

I applied some ebony stain and was really impressed. Maybe I should refinish the whole darn thing!

[Mark Marino]

And one more pic just because I'm so stunned. I feel like one of those people on antique roadshow...

[allenhopkins]

Mark, that looks awesome! #If the outer veneer of the sides is anything like the back, you'll have a real showpiece if you do refinish them as well.

As to Strad-O-Lin manufacturers, there's been some discussion on previous threads (here's (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=Search&CODE=02;SID=47afb72f74cb8908)a search). #What I've heard is that they were made in the NYCity area by one of two companies, Hoverick Bros. or Homenick Bros. #The confusion almost certainly stems from the similarity of names; both firms are in Mike Holmes' Mugwumps guide, but with very little additional information. #Someone in one of the earlier threads also opined that Oscar Schmidt built them in Jersey City. #The Strad-O-Lin label was later acquired by an importer/distributor, who used it on a variety of electric guitars, amplifiers etc. imported from Asia.

[Mark Marino]

OK.. maybe I will strip the sides and top. Anybody have any good suggestions on what to use as a stripper? I tried both furniture (varnish) stripper and paint remover on the back- neither had much of an effect so I ended up scraping it. I'd rather avoid that if I could, or at least make it easier.