"Vintage" the brand

[Gelsenbury]

I had a weak moment and acquired a cheap mandolin on ebay. It looks and sounds nice, but I know nothing about it. The logo on the headstock says "Vintage" (as in the brand). As you can imagine, searching the forum or the web for "Vintage mandolins" yields results that aren't much use to me - an old and precious classic in the history of mandolin making this definitely is not.

Does anyone know if "Vintage" (as in the brand) has a web site, and where I can find it? Or any other source of information about instruments sold under that brand name?

[JEStanek]

Boy if you want to name a mandolin something to make Googling it almost pointless name it Vintage Mandolin! Photos will help. Any stickers inside of it or on the back of the headstock?

Chances are, it is a Chinese (or if older) Korean mandolin that came from a very large factory that puts different names on the headstocks. While it may not be a real killer instrument, if, when set up it holds tune and intonates, you scored a good inexpensive instrument!

Jamie

[allenhopkins]

OK, here's a possibility: there's a British "Vintage" brand sold by John Hornby Skewes Co. Looks like a mid-range line of Asian-made imports, some Gibson clones etc. Here's (http://www.jhs.co.uk/vintagefolk.html#mandolin) a link to their mandolin page; see if this is what you bought.

[Gelsenbury]

I haven't taken a picture of it yet, and I can't link to the ebay listing any more because the auction has ended. The logo on the headstock is the same as on the web page linked by allenhopkins so I'm sure it's the same brand, although it's not one of the models listed there. What I have is an oval-hole teardrop-shape mandolin with a fairly loud but mellow sound. It also feels heavier than my other entry-level mandolin, a Stagg M-20.

I've adjusted the bridge for lower action, and it's stayed in tune since. I don't think I've developed the ear yet to judge on intonation. As I said, I'm happy with it for a beginner-level instrument. I was just wondering if I could find any source of information about which woods were used (the seller suspects spruce and mahogany but wasn't sure) and which strings were recommended (the existing ones seem fairly heavy).

[allenhopkins]

The Vintage A-models shown on the dealer's website are all plywood --- spruce top, maple back & sides. The F-models and the oval-hole two-point list solid woods. You could try contacting the J H Skewes Co., give them the model number if there's a label on yours, and see what info they can give you.

If it feels heavy, that could be an indication of laminated construction. Hard to tell without seeing it.

[Gelsenbury]

I've now had a chance to take a couple of pictures:
57124 57125
Unfortunately there seems to be no serial number. It's obviously an older model from JH Skewes. Sounds nice.

[JEStanek]

It looks remarkably similar to my Johnson branded mandolin except yours has a truss rod, or at least a truss rod cover ;) If it sounds nice and plays nice it is nice. Enjoy it.

Jamie

[Fliss]

Nice looking mandolin. Here's a pic of my recently-acquired Vintage branded mandola, which as you can see has a very similar look. It's quite heavy, but a reasonably nice entry-level instrument. As you say, the brand name doesn't help at all when you try to research them!

Fliss

[Jim MacDaniel]

Intriguing: an all-solid oval-hole two-point with a street price of £239 (http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?submit=View_PLU&PLU=8428) (~$380 USD at today's rates) -- too bad someone isn't importing these into the states. :(

[Gelsenbury]

Interesting new development: Following some links from a social group thread, I came across this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHqBJx_RfEE&NR=1

Here Joel McDermott seems to be playing an instrument that's a dead ringer for mine. There's no good shot of the logo, but the build details look identical as far as I can tell. How exciting!

[Dusepo]

I had a ukulele of the 'Vintage' brand. I eventually ended up selling it as I had too many instruments (story of my life!), but it had a great sound for the price and seemed to be of more solid construction than similar-priced ukuleles.

[abuteague]

I looked at the YouTube clip from Gelsenbury and you can clearly see the headstock at 3:58. At least that is the best view of it. It doesn't look Vintage to me, but perhaps someone who knows a lot of mandolin brands will recognize this mark.

[Gelsenbury]

Ashbury apparently. And both brands must have imported from the same factory and just stamped their own logo on the headstock!

[Martin Jonas]

"Ashbury", "Vintage" and "Ozark" are all house brands of major UK wholesalers (Hobgoblin, John Hornby Skewes and Stentor, respectively), and they have many overlaps in their product ranges. Essentially the same selection of Chinese and other imports that are being sold in the US under various other names, with a few exceptions of genuinely nice and unique-to-the-brand models (such as Ozark's short-scale tenor guitar).

Martin

[Dagger Gordon]

They sell a lot of fairly cheap instruments in the UK. A girl I teach has a Vintage guitar, and it's not a bad instrument at all.

I've never tried their mandolins, but if you think it seems quite good, I would say it probably is.

Dagger

[Gelsenbury]

"Ashbury", "Vintage" and "Ozark" are all house brands of major UK wholesalers (Hobgoblin, John Hornby Skewes and Stentor, respectively), and they have many overlaps in their product ranges.

That helps a lot, thank you. Hobgoblin still sell the Ashbury-branded ones. Although my particular model is no longer in the catalogue, it can clearly be seen in the group photo of Ashbury mandolins: http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/cartmand.htm

All their oval-hole mandos seem to have solid spruce tops, which is also what the seller thought about mine. So it's a fair bet. The wood used for the body seems to vary across models, some solid maple and some unspecified (probably plywood). I'd say this one looks the most similar to mine, but obviously isn't the same:
http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/GR3125-p-Ashbury-AM200-Solid-top-Page.htm

[celtolin]

I've got the "Blue Moon arch top Mandolin" but branded as a Smokey Mountain. No wonder I couldn't find anything online about them. It's a decent enough intro mandolin considering I paid $90 CAD including tax.

http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/GR3106-p-Blue-Moon-arch-top-Mandolin-Page.htm

[Hazelnut]

I'd say you got a good deal with your mandolin because I've had a bit of experience with the JHS Vintage brand myself and know its quality. Their prices have risen in the past 5 years because people are finding out just how good their instruments are. About 10ish years ago, Trev Wilkinson joined them and the quality of their guitars have soared through the roof. My first exposure to Vintage was an electric guitar of theirs - an SG clone. Lovely axe, that!

Which is why my new mandolin (an early birthday present from my husband, bless 'im) is a Vintage. It's a beautiful piece, an F style with solid maple back and sides, (flame maple veneer on the back) and a solid spruce top, gold hardware, lovely scrolly Victorian-style fret markers, MoP headstock design and logo, 25 frets, floating pickguard, ebony bridge - all the stuff you'd expect form a decent F style mandolin - and it comes with its own custom-made hard case. The RRP is £450 and it still looks and feels like something more expensive. It's a gorgeous instrument to play and sounds sweet as an angel's harp.

[smug mode] I - however - got it for less than half price (£208) on a music shop's clearance sale because I have "bargain radar" wired into my brain. ;) [/smug mode]

My first mando was an electro-acoustic Stagg which I really liked - till I played this beauty. Poor Stagg's relegated to "knockabout" status now, or when I want to plug it in and record or mess about with effects.

Don't be afraid to buy Vingtage. They've been building up their customer base for years and, as I said, their prices are going up now because they're making consistently excellent quality stuff and getting great reviews.

Although I do agree, web-searching for Vintage (brand name) is a right royal pain in the backside! However, it's become easier (for mandos, anyway) because recently, they rebranded their mandolins under a new name. They go by "Pilgrim" or "Pilgrim by Vintage" now.

Here's their website - http://www.jhs.co.uk/pilgrimmandolins.html

Second one down is just like mine (minus the gold hardware, scrolly fret markers and the name on the headstock), although this one does have 4 more frets. It sounds just the same though - there's a video beside it if anyone's interested.

And before anyone asks, no I don't work for JHS! I'm just a many years-long fan of their instruments. Definitely worth a look if anyone's in the market for something quite decent that won't break the bank.