Eric Howard
Mar-03-2009, 7:05pm
I bought this mandolin about 25 years ago in Tennessee. Al Gore had not invented the internet back then, so I was clueless as to what it was. All I can tell you is that I was able to trade my 78 Telecaster for it even-steven, so maybe it was a foolish bargain.
At the time I had gotten pretty serious about playing classical mandolin, and had even written a piano reduction of the score for Vivaldi's mandolin concerto so my wife could play along with me. Heaven only knows why I thought an F-body would be appropriate, except being only 25 years old, I thought it looked cool.
So now, after a 15 year hiatus, I've picked it back up to play in a praise band. (that's probably a whole new thread) What I'm trying to figure out is: is this mandolin a keeper? Anybody know if it's a solid spruce top or "select spruce"?
If you can see any details in the image, you can see that it's been 'well-loved,' there are a couple of nicks in the binding, and whenever I put the tailpiece cover on it, there's a slight buzz that just drives me nuts.
Details:
Brazos Mandolin
Purchased circa 1985
The label inside says "the mark of quality....Brazos...Model M-78"
Label on the back says, "Made in Japan."
that triangular thing stuck to the f-hole is an inexpensive contact pickup i've been using to amplify it.
At the time I had gotten pretty serious about playing classical mandolin, and had even written a piano reduction of the score for Vivaldi's mandolin concerto so my wife could play along with me. Heaven only knows why I thought an F-body would be appropriate, except being only 25 years old, I thought it looked cool.
So now, after a 15 year hiatus, I've picked it back up to play in a praise band. (that's probably a whole new thread) What I'm trying to figure out is: is this mandolin a keeper? Anybody know if it's a solid spruce top or "select spruce"?
If you can see any details in the image, you can see that it's been 'well-loved,' there are a couple of nicks in the binding, and whenever I put the tailpiece cover on it, there's a slight buzz that just drives me nuts.
Details:
Brazos Mandolin
Purchased circa 1985
The label inside says "the mark of quality....Brazos...Model M-78"
Label on the back says, "Made in Japan."
that triangular thing stuck to the f-hole is an inexpensive contact pickup i've been using to amplify it.