Yet another head-scratcher Mandolin ID Thread..

[modorange]

Hi.. Newbie here, my absolutely first post on MC.. I am a drummer with a guitarist son, and another guitarist in the area was trying to put together a set of drums, and he showed me his mandolin, so I have been trying, thus far with limited results, to figure out where/when/by whom it was made.

It is a bent top flat back mandolin, has an irregular-shaped sound hole (Bell shape?) a nice apparently solid spruce top and apparently rosewood back and sides. some of the plastic pearloid inlays have fallen out of the inlay channels, and it features a classical style headstock with round plastic tuning buttons. It appears to have some paint overspray and not sure of the level of quality, but there are signs that it could be like a stencil brand or something. It came with a solid wood case which was painted gold.

There's an engraved/painted tortoiseshell inlay surrounding the sound hole, which has a butterfly on the bass side and some flowers on the treble side. It has what appears to be a painted-on rope-like pattern along the sides of the top. Teardrop shaped body.. The back and sides are coming slightly apart in a few places, and there's a dinged string channel in the nut although the strings still run along it well. It has a zero fret and is about a 13 1/4" scale. Any info whatsoever on this unique and nice-sounding instrument would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks! Great forum.. John C. AKA modorange

Hopefully I can load some pictures:

[Martin Jonas]

I'd say made in Germany, between the 1930s and 1950s. It's a flatback with bowlback-like top design. Not likely to be a high-grade instrument, as it has painted-on fake binding (which was cheaper to make than real binding). Broadly similar instruments pop up fairly regularly on Ebay Germany, but unfortunately they are not very desirable these days and thus would have limited commcercial appeal. However, that's irrelevant if if your friend enjoys playing it and wants to keep it -- there no reason why it can't be a very enjoyable player's instrument.

Martin

[Jim Garber]

Are you sure that the binding is actually painted on? From the photo it could have fooled me. My initial impression was that it was not a cheap instrument. I would tend to agree with Martin that it is likely German in manufacture, but the style is copied from some Italian instruments esp that asymmetrical sound hole/scratchplate. I have seen examples similar in Calace and other makers from Napoli.

[modorange]

Thanks for any and all input! Well, you're right. It is an inlay, NOT a marked-on binding. Here's a couple of closeups, and the surface is different just above them, but my eyes aren't what they used to be, so the camera got much closer and detailed:

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Also the spruce top looks like sold spruce, and if that was on a flattop acoustic it would be very nice.. So it looks German origin, a copy of an Italian design? Is it possible it is Italian? I can provide other closeups.

[Jim Garber]

It could be Italian made but of recent vintage I would think. The heavier varnish indicates to me more recent and not from the early part of the last century. Flat backs are rarer but not unheard of in Italy. Even Calace made them.

[modorange]

He told me his grandmother got it in the early 60s or thereabouts, not sure if it was purchased new. Does the wood case provide any indicators? What about the tuners? BTW The back isn't perfectly flat, is bows in slightly narrowing the body at the butt end of it.

[Jim Garber]

I have similar tuners (at least the buttons) on my student Embergher but I think they may be replacements. I have seen those tuners on many instruments. I will do further searching thru my library of images.

[Paul Hostetter]

The "rosewood" grain on the back looks unconvincing. Look through the soundhole and what do you see?

[modorange]

Just like the first 2 pictures, a lighter-hued wood on the inside ply of whatever is on the back. The back wood has a couple of scratches in it and under them it appears a reddish hue, could be rosewood, maybe it could be mahogany. What does the back wood appear to be to your eyes? Mahogany? Luan? Birch?

I was hoping to figure out the maker so that other conclusions may or may not be drawn from observation.

[Jim Garber]

Could that be birch stained dark on the back? My guess is that it is not a laminated back, but that is only a guess.