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View Full Version : Hot on the trail of a Vega Cylinderback



gretschbigsby
Feb-06-2004, 11:54am
I've been researching mando's constantly over the last couple of months and want a nice vintage, old-timey/ensemble type mando to compliment my A-9. For some reason, I'm fixated on Vega Cylinderbacks....

I know that they aren't too common... what are the price ranges for mahogany cylinderbacks? Rosewood? Maple?

Thanks!

Bob

SteveW
Feb-06-2004, 3:59pm
I've seen one at a local shop. It's in pretty good shape it seems to me, and they're asking about $1,300 for it. It's the 10-string Vega cylinderback (are there other kinds?).

Ken Sager
Feb-06-2004, 6:43pm
I've seen Vegas go between $800-1800, more of course for maple, but they seem to be less common. Mahog backs can be had for under a grand and have a richer, more pleasing tone, if you ask me (you're not asking me, I know).

I've never come across a 10 string.

I'm lusting for one, too. We're all lusting for something, though...

Best,
Ken

Robbie
Feb-07-2004, 5:47pm
I have one and really like it. #Great complement or alternative to an f-hole bluegrass -type mandolin; sweeter and rounder sounding (to my ear) than a Gibson oval hole. #Mine is the most basic trim, mahogany, no binding, and very much resembles the one in Tone Poems 1. #I think it's still worth under a grand, but there are quite a variety of trim levels and materials with some Vegas advertised for over $2k. #I think I recall seeing a 10 string cylinderback advertised once, but it is far from common.

Django Fret
Feb-07-2004, 9:35pm
I just got one with a maple back recently and it is a great sounding mandolin. In my quest to get one, I found prices for the mahogany cylinderbacks to range from just under $500 (style 203) to around $1,000 (style 202). The curly maple seem to run between $1,200 and $1,700 (style 205), and the top of the line (style 207) probably top $2,000 if the are in good condition.

You can also get a new custom Rigel cylinderback for about $4,000 and there is more information at http://www.rigelmandolin.com/Custom%20Work.html

Keep looking, they are well worth lusting after.

spud
Feb-08-2004, 12:18am
I met up with a fellow in town tonight,who has a nice vega cyl back
...one of the best sounding and playing mando's i've ever played!..
now i'm in the lust mode for that cylinder back !

liked it better than the "A" sound ....it's just a smoother,cleaner,mellow tone!

don't know what model it was,I think it was mahogany
can't wait to play it again!

would like to hear/see a cylinder back mandola or cello

Bob DeVellis
Feb-08-2004, 9:40am
Cylinder back prices seem to be going up. I saw a well-worn mahogany cylinder back for over a grand, which I thought was pretty pricey. Then I played it. I've played a number of cylinder backs and have owned a cylinder back mandola for a number of years and just love it. the shop had a fine assortment of old instruments, including Gibsons and a Lyon & Healy. I just kept going back the the Vega. It's tone was just heavenly. I really had no intention of buying an instrument that day. Even though the price struck me as steep at the time, I bought it and have never regretted it. It's one of those instruments that, when you pick it up even for the thousandth time, you just find yourself saying, "man, what a sound!" To me, cylinder-backs are the definition of a rich, mellow, woody sound. It's not that F-5 kind of woody tone, but "woody" just seeems like the best way to describe it.

Like every style of instrument, the cylinder-backs vary somewhat from example to example. My mandola is also a real gem, I'm happy to say. For non-bluegrass players, these are really special instruments. I love old Gibsons, too, but the Vegas just have a special sound. They're very full and also quite capable of more volume than you'd expect.

The dealer I bought it from was Tony Creamer in Amherst, MA -- a great and very knowledgable guy. He seems to have a refreshing philosophy about instrument pricing. His prices are based on how the instrument sounds and plays rather than on how it looks or what label it carries. He had the most pristine 1930s National reso-mando I've ever seen, selling for a couple of hundred less than the cylinder-back. I'd just seen a much poorer example for substantially more in Boston a couple of days earlier. His comment when I picked it up was, "great to look at but not really a very useful tone." It was exactly the impression I had with both the one I'd tried in Boston and the one he had. On the other hand, this rather ugly Vega was priced well above what I've seen similar-looking instruments selling for, but it had a tone fully commensurate with its price -- in fact, I consider it a bargain on sound and playability alone.

Robbie
Feb-08-2004, 12:31pm
I was mistaken - my plain mahogany cylinder back does have some binding. I don't play guitar, but if I did, this one would be my nylon string. Round, mellow, never hard or brassy, but plenty loud. Best for bell-like melody notes and for strumming full open chords.

Brian T
Feb-08-2004, 12:42pm
I have a beautiful Vega cylinderback in birdseye maple that was built in 1919. #I picked it up on E-bay about a year and a half ago for $1250. #I have not regretted it once. #It has a beautiful tone, good action and decent volume. #It needs re-fretting. I think that the frets are original bar frets and are almost non-existent. #Gets pretty hard on the hand after an hour or so. #I am probably going to get it re-fretted in the next couple of months. #They are very nice instruments. #Their collectability is just coming into its own.

gretschbigsby
Feb-10-2004, 3:58pm
Happy Ending!

I found one today! Brazilian Rosewood, 202 style I think... simple ornamentation without sunburst but, man, does it sound great! Full and warm, nice strong sound... loud. The original case is cool too!

Here is a link to some pics if anybody is interested... Push your way through the guitar pictures.... Thanks for all the help guys-- I love this place!

http://community.webshots.com/user/gretschbigsby

Now if I can only play to a level that warrants such a fine mandolin....

Bob

Bob DeVellis
Feb-10-2004, 5:18pm
I'd say it's a Style 203 from 1918, based on serial number (3427*) and the rosewood back. The 203 was curly maple after about 1919, but rosewood earlier. The 202 was mahogany for it's full run, I believe. Although serial number-to-date correspondences remain something of a mystery, recent evidence suggests that Vega mandolins, like Vega banjos, took on the Fairbanks number sequence when Vega acquired Fairbanks in 1904. Existing records for banjo serial numbers put that number in 1918, although all year assignmnets are approximations.

In any case, it's a very nice looking instrument and I bet it sounds great, too. Congratulations!

spud
Feb-10-2004, 10:10pm
DANG YOU!....
I was doing just fine and I came back to this!... you got one and I don't...well thats just fine....a really nice looking cyl!..and thats
what they look like!!...treat her like a queen!!

I am needing a alot of instuments/things right now..and need to slow down for awhile but I would love to get one of these while they are still somewhat affordable...cheaper than a F-5!!!

you've got a nicern!

-------------
Boyd

gretschbigsby
Feb-11-2004, 9:27pm
Thanks for the info and kind words.... webpictures corrected. This warm mando is the perfect antidote for the cold weather... Keep looking Boyd... these are out there!

Bob

jasona
Feb-12-2004, 1:19am
A classic, and it looks barely used. How about a nice closeup of the back?

Bob A
Feb-16-2004, 1:31pm
The ten-string Vegas are even more rare than the 8-string examples. I handled one a while ago, that appeared to have been a 10-string that was converted to an 8-string. It was a remarkable instrument.

I've had two cylinder-backs. The first was mahogany, the second maple. I found the maple instrument much more to my taste; I think that mahogany may not be the best tonewood for mandolins, though I base this on only one example, and certainly your experience may differ.

Regarding price: the mahogany examples seem to be the least expensive. It may be that maple is more in demand than rosewood, but the 10-string mentioned above was a rosewood instrument, and certainly a fine-sounding mandolin.
I've seen maple instruments with decent ornamentation in the $1800 range. The 10-strings seem to be more expensive.

It's hard to say how much the price is driven by the intsrument's intrinsic sound, and how much by collectability. There are not many around for sale, and if two people are feeling the symptoms of Cylinder-MAS, that could push the price.