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View Full Version : Here's Waldo!



JeffD
Nov-06-2008, 11:59pm
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Vintage-Old-WALDO-MANDOLIN-American-circa-1880s_W0QQitemZ140279385332QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item140279385332&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3%7C65%3A3%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318



Is that cool or what.

Mike Bromley
Nov-07-2008, 12:26am
Yep! I love the tuners!

JEStanek
Nov-07-2008, 8:57am
That's a lot of scratch for a bowl with loose binding and a back crack. Does anyone know if the $400+ price is realistic? Not that I'm interested in purchasing, just interested in knowing.

Jamie

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 12:54pm
I've never seen one before. If that was a high-end Vega (which is similiar) in that condition it would fetch around $300. Maybe the rareness of it justifies another $200. I look for an intact top and straight neck when I check out a bowlback, the bowl seam splits don't really bother me. Depends on who (and how many) wants it. If there's a bidding war between the top 2, plus any snipers, it could easily double.

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 12:56pm
If I had it I'd dress it up in red-and-white striped woolies and hide it in my collection....

JeffD
Nov-07-2008, 1:16pm
I don't see bowlbacks with F holes that often, there are a few, but certainly not the norm. And especially stradolin style three part F holes.

And the tuners!


Very cool.

MikeEdgerton
Nov-07-2008, 1:16pm
Well, lets see. An earlier example of a mandolin with F holes than Schutt or Gibson, some value. The case will get you $300.00 or so from a Martin bowlback owner without a case. The mandolin has to have some historical value so I'd say it's probably somewhere near what it's worth at 475.00. Is it worth more than that? Depends on if somebody bids it higher.

JEStanek
Nov-07-2008, 1:18pm
Thanks guys. For the record, those tuners and the case are pretty cool. Are those Titelist Tuners? :grin:

Jamie

JeffD
Nov-07-2008, 3:01pm
A year and a half ago when I was working in New Mexico, I talked to a saddle maker about making a thin leather "over skin" to go over my Eastman bowlback mandolin case. Well when he figured in materials and labor, the price was in the same range.

mandolooter
Nov-07-2008, 3:18pm
cool looking bugger but those watermelon mandolins are too hard to hold on to.

Schlegel
Nov-07-2008, 4:12pm
cool looking bugger but those watermelon mandolins are too hard to hold on to.

Just glue a rubber mat to the back. After all, if it's good enough for Pettine...

Weagle
Nov-07-2008, 4:31pm
Am I confused??? You are going to have to buy a tailpiece for that mandolin aren't you??? What would you put on it??? Please correct me if I am wrong. What would that cost???

It is the oldest bowlback I have ever seen. Like the inlay on the neck.

Weagle

Jim Broyles
Nov-07-2008, 5:01pm
http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/d/rdevelli/images/Waldo2.jpg

The front line of this late-1800s combo all sport Waldo mandolins.
They had f-holes decades before the F-5 appeared. (Photo courtesy of Paul Ruppa)

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 5:08pm
For a tailpiece, you could put on anything that fits. An old Vega or Fairbanks one would suit nice.

MikeEdgerton
Nov-07-2008, 5:18pm
Am I confused??? You are going to have to buy a tailpiece for that mandolin aren't you??? What would you put on it??? Please correct me if I am wrong. What would that cost???

It is the oldest bowlback I have ever seen. Like the inlay on the neck.

Weagle

Yes, you are confused, there is a tailpiece there, it is missing the cover the same as 3/4 of the bowlback mandolins in the CF Martin museum are missing the covers.

It's old but it's not ancient.

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 6:14pm
For a tailpiece, you could put on anything that fits. An old Vega or Fairbanks one would suit nice.

I am of course referring to COVERS.... one size fits all.... with a tweak

Weagle
Nov-07-2008, 6:36pm
I hate to show my ignorance on this but looking at the picture on eBay it looks like the strings are attached to a single pin and fan out to the bridge. Does or would the cover help with the separation or help maintain the string separation or is the bridge keeping the strings separate???

I hope I am making sense with my question. I am not that familiar with bowlbacks. I appreciate the responses so far.

Weagle

jefflester
Nov-07-2008, 7:20pm
I hate to show my ignorance on this but looking at the picture on eBay it looks like the strings are attached to a single pin and fan out to the bridge. Does or would the cover help with the separation or help maintain the string separation or is the bridge keeping the strings separate???
Look at all of the pictures. (the lowest tang is broken, so the two G strings would have to share, or it would need a replacement, or maybe the small screw could be used :-)

http://artisticnature.com/403059j.jpg

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 7:20pm
Nope. The cover is just for show, though it could be used to dampen the strings at the back. However, if it's not a tight fit it will add a cacophanous rattle.....
It oly looks like the strings are connected to one post....it's missing most of the strings, you can just see the bass strings. Looks like a angled cover will do nicely - purely cosmetic of course.

Eddie Sheehy
Nov-07-2008, 7:22pm
Ah, one pin missing, either double up two strings or replace the tailpiece....

MikeEdgerton
Nov-07-2008, 7:33pm
I hate to show my ignorance on this but looking at the picture on eBay it looks like the strings are attached to a single pin and fan out to the bridge. Does or would the cover help with the separation or help maintain the string separation or is the bridge keeping the strings separate???


Other than the missing pin (not a big deal really) this tailpiece is the same as the majority of mandolin tailpieces used from the teens up by almost everyone (including some Gibsons, all Martins, most Kays, most Harmony's etc.) The famous Waverly Cloud or Clam shell style tailpiece looks almost identical and works the exact same way. All those mandolins that have a tailpiece that looks like this picture look pretty much like that tailpiece when the cover is removed.

Weagle
Nov-07-2008, 7:36pm
Thanks a bunch guys!!!!! I have learned some stuff tonight.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Appreciate the assistance.

Weagle

JeffD
Nov-07-2008, 8:18pm
jb what a great pic.

BradKlein
Nov-08-2008, 4:21pm
What an elegant instrument! I'm not a bowlback guy, but this would obviously cost thousands to have made today, if you COULD find someone to do it.

Headstock:

brunello97
Nov-08-2008, 6:21pm
I had a simpler model Waldo for awhile. The Saginaw, Michigan connection had me hooked. A common problem (which mine had) is curling or deformation around the f-holes. These tops are considerably thinner than carved tops. They show up on ebay from time to time, but this is one of the nicer ones I've seen. The detailing is very nice, and I love the demi-scratch plate and in-laid 'Waldo'. Tim Stevens, from out in Vancouver, who used to haunt the MC a bit knows quite a bit about them, and was researching information for a book on the company. That would be a great addition to the canon.

Mick

delsbrother
Apr-22-2011, 12:06pm
http://bellsouthpwp.net/r/d/rdevelli/images/Waldo2.jpg

The front line of this late-1800s combo all sport Waldo mandolins.
They had f-holes decades before the F-5 appeared. (Photo courtesy of Paul Ruppa)

Wow, that's a neat photo! Are the larger instruments mandolas? I've seen one Waldo mandocello, (pictured here (http://www.harpguitars.net/knutsen/payne.htm)) held by Louis Schermerhorn. I wonder if he is one of the men in this picture?

mrmando
Apr-22-2011, 5:00pm
Saw one Waldo mandocello on eBay and another on Elderly within the past year. There are threads around here somewhere, for which you can search...

Jim Garber
Apr-22-2011, 10:07pm
Save you some time... here are the two mandocelli...

brunello97
Apr-23-2011, 7:33am
.....mandocelli...

Ace.

Mick

delsbrother
Apr-23-2011, 11:22am
I thought those dark patches by the f-holes in the old pictures were stains or shadows, but they're actually twin pickguards. I wonder who the 19th century equivalent of Marlo Thomas was..

JeffD
May-01-2011, 12:55am
I wonder who the 19th century equivalent of Marlo Thomas was..

:))