My Mandolin, "No idea what kind it is" can anyone give insight?

[Scootercr500]

Hello All,

This was my Mothers mandolin. I know it pre-dates 1969-70, has an "M3" within the inside body looking thru the design cutout, but that's all I can tell anyone about it.:crying:7106571066710677106871069

[Scootercr500]

Hello All,

Can anyone give me insight upon this Mandolin? It was my Moms.

See link;

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?72355-My-Mandolin-quot-No-idea-what-kind-it-is-quot-can-anyone-give-insight

Thanks.

Scooter..

[JEStanek]

I've merged the threads to the Post a Picture section. Welcome to the Cafe. I bet you'll have an answer in a very timely manner.

Jamie

[Scootercr500]

Thanks Jamie!!

[billhay4]

Looks like a Kay to me, but some other sellers sold them under other names, too.
Bill

[Scott Holt]

Looks like the one Ray Jackson played on Maggie Mae! Is it a Columbus?

[Scott Holt]

http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/uploads/rayjackson-small.jpg

[Jim Garber]

Whatever it is labelled, most likely it was made by Kay. Looks very similar to the one on this page (http://thechimeracollection.com/KayMand.html).

Here is another one (http://www.musurgia.com/products.asp?ProductID=3633&CartID=1647334122011).

http://thechimeracollection.com/files/kay_full_front.JPG

[Scootercr500]

Thanks for all the feedback. It certainly does look like the Kay brand.

[Scott Holt]

Oh it definitely looks more like the Kay.

[RichM]

I agree, everything about that mandolin say Kay to me.

[Scootercr500]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to look this over for me!! Most appreciated.

[MikeEdgerton]

It is indeed a Kay.

[Shelagh Moore]

100% sure its a Kay too. We have a Columbus mandolin identical to Ray Jackson's at home (it's my partner's) and, apart from some similarities in body shape, other features are different.

[MandoSquirrel]

Looks like it would be hard on the right hand, with the screws sticking up & no saddle or adjustment wheels!
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=71068&d=1303221519&thumb=1

[Scootercr500]

Hello MandoSquirel I have the wheels but no adjustment bar. I'm not sure why this was taken off. Are they easily replaceable?

[George R. Lane]

Take it to a luthier and have a new saddle made. Or just have a new bridge installed.

[Jake Wildwood]

It's a Kay... I just worked on one of these. Laminate wood all over save the neck.

Here's the link to my blog post/photos about it:
http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2011/04/c1955-kay-electric-mandolin.html

[Rickey Noel Mitchell]

Is that the same one Harmony sold under the name Batwing?

[Bill Snyder]

Nope. Here is a batwing from an old thread.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=38317&d=1232795035

[Rickey Noel Mitchell]

I have got to plat one of them.

[Rickey Noel Mitchell]

I have got to play one of them.

[Scootercr500]

What is this worth to someone who could use it? I don't play, I'd love to get it to someone who could enjoy it.

[Scootercr500]

Can you purchase a Saddle nowadays? I do have the adjustment wheels!

[Scootercr500]

I'm learning there are various styles/shapes. What style would this fall under?

[mrmando]

Kay called it a "Florentine (http://www.musurgia.com/products.asp?ProductID=2025&CartID=3872484272011)," but that can be confusing, since the term "Florentine" is also used by Gibson for both its F-style acoustic mandolins and its EM200 electric mandolin. I'd call this shape a "KayKraft" ... it goes back to Kay's predecessor, Stromberg-Voisinet, and was copied extensively by Japanese instrument factories in the 1960s.

If you take it to a luthier, he or she may have some appropriate saddle blanks from which to carve a new saddle. Or you could have a new bridge fitted. The original bridges on these are of low quality, and a new bridge could improve its playability.

It is probably worth $150-200 on eBay, provided that it's restored to playability first.