View Full Version : Nice Washburn bowlback on Craig's List
mrmando
May-15-2011, 4:52am
Check out the inlay work (http://tricities.craigslist.org/msg/2366281621.html) on this puppy. Not a bad price.
Jim Garber
May-15-2011, 7:34am
Ah, yes, the hidden curses of bowlbacks. With the exception of Vegas, which were designed to be set up that way, most bowlbacks with a canted top should have the bridge positioned on the soundhole side of the cant. The seller has the bridge on the tailpiece side which could indicate that the neck may need a reset to make it truly playable. I am not saying that this is a bad deal but unless you want to do this yourself, the cost could add a lot more to the real cost of this instrument.
Interesting, that fretboard inlay occurs on the earlier style 80 , but that pickguard shape is different. Perhaps this is a sort of transitional or unlabelled made for retail outlets.
michaelpthompson
May-15-2011, 11:07pm
Check out the inlay work (http://tricities.craigslist.org/msg/2366281621.html) on this puppy. Not a bad price.
Does look interesting, and that's a decent price. But only if you're in Tennessee.
JeffD
May-16-2011, 11:10pm
Ah, yes, the hidden curses of bowlbacks. With the exception of Vegas, which were designed to be set up that way, most bowlbacks with a canted top should have the bridge positioned on the soundhole side of the cant. The seller has the bridge on the tailpiece side which could indicate that the neck may need a reset to make it truly playable. .
I did not know what to make of that.
Because it looks as if putting the bridge on the other side of the cant, in this case, puts it on the pickguard.
I don't know what to think.
Jim Garber
May-17-2011, 6:35am
Not really there should be some wood there. The answer would be where the correct intonation is but many folks put the bridge just so the action is better but the intonation is not. Vegas were made that way. Other mandolins, no.
brunello97
May-17-2011, 8:44am
I did not know what to make of that.
Because it looks as if putting the bridge on the other side of the cant, in this case, puts it on the pickguard.
I don't know what to think.
I've grown a little less doctrinaire :) viz the bridge position v cant v jumbo scratchplate real estate. I have seen variation in the location of the cant and the cant angle itself in both US and Italian made MOR bowlbacks . If the bowl geometry is a bit wonky to start then the top conforms to that when attached.
I think Jim is certainly correct relative to the design of Vegas, but I have come across a few bowls where the proper position of the bridge (scale-wise) is south of the cant. From my measuring the bridge wasn't in the wrong place, but the cant was.
On the other hand, if the soundhole was mis-located by a few mm then with the big scratchplate filling up the space between the cant one could imagine how things would also get off. A few variables are in the mix. Even with patterns and repetitive 'mass production' things can certainly go astray. I'm not saying it is the case here-one couldn't tell without measuring the instrument.
Mick
From my measuring the bridge wasn't in the wrong place, but the cant was.
:)) Now there is a mandolin diagnosis.
Jim Garber
May-17-2011, 9:58am
Merely a red flag... as Mick noted, in-hand inspection could easily determine what needs to be done anyway. Hey, I have a closetful of mandolins that look like that because I had to buy blind.
brunello97
May-17-2011, 12:17pm
:)) Now there is a mandolin diagnosis.
Hmmm. It is going to be one or the other, isn't it, Jeff?
Mick
Nice looking piece, but it's not a Washburn. The fb inlay may be reminiscent of that on the Style 80 mando, but it's quite different. Could be one of the cheaper L&H mandos though - the features are comparable to the American Conservatory line, but as Jim notes the pickguard definitely looks different.
The pearl border is also wider than what is usual for L&H made mandolins, and more typical for certain Mayflower and Wurlitzer branded mandos of the era. Mayflower was also acquired by Lyon & Healy in the early 1900s. Not sure what that means though...
mrmando
May-30-2011, 2:40am
Well, never mind, then. I should have read between the lines in the ad ... seller says it's a Washburn according to his "research," not according to a label in the instrument or anything like that.
You gotta love lines like this: "I am firm on this price, I paid this much for it to begin with. I will chuck it the fireplace and burn it before I sell it for less than what I paid for it." In other words, he'd rather lose all of his money than just some of it.