Another fun Strad-o-lin!

[cqmurphy]

hey all.

i have lurked for a while but only joined today because this appears to be THE place for info on Strad-o-Lins. So here's mine! I had heard about them from a friend who heard about them from a collector/luthier that said that they're a nice find and sorta hidden gems of the vintage player/not collector realm of things.

my wife and i stumbled onto this one at Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst, Ma last month while on vacation. she had never played mandolin (plays a little fiddle and uke), but we were in "vacation spending" mode (i bought a 1969 Gibson LG-O guitar) and she decided after we were both wowed by its tone (and patina) that she would learn to play. once we got home, she expressed some pretty serious buyer's remorse and said, "so i guess i just bought you a really nice gift". indeed. despite shopping for a decent instrument and playing fairly frequently, the only other mando i own is a Silvertone from the 60's that is playable but needs a neck reset. since i got this new "gift" (the Strad), i can't put it down. the shop fully-disclosed that this was NOT the original back in the instrument, but we were still stoked by it brightness, it's projection, and the way it played. from poking around it looks like the date (if stamped at all) would have been on said (and gone) original back. :( the shop dated it to the 30's (i really didn't ask why), but, from what i have gathered from a few threads at the cafe, they may have been pretty on point.

enjoy the pics and tell me what you know!
74893
74894

[BradKlein]

Nice! 1930s seems like a reasonable guess, though I'm no expert. The bridge is a considerable upgrade from the original.

It would be interesting to see the back. It's quite tempting to 'clean things up' inside if you have the back off, since from the look of them, the workers had just a few minutes to slap a brace across the middle and glue it in place. So it is possible that the bracing has been modified.

[cqmurphy]

interesting note about the bracing, brad. one of the guys who has been doing some work on my instruments as of late builds archtops, so hopefully he'll be able to decide the best course for bracing when i have him build the new back.

[grassrootphilosopher]

It´s 30ies for sure. And those out there are great sounding instruments - even for a considerably higher price!

Yes, I´d like to see the back also. The instrument ought to have a traverse/cross-brace.

Post a soundclip, please.

[cqmurphy]

thanks for the info, Olaf. i am certainly not skilled (or reckless?) enough to take the back off of this thing, but it appears to be one piece plywood back with a large(ish) brace running the entire width of the instrument pretty much under the bridge. there appear to be a dowel (of sorts) at each side of the instrument running at an angle from the where the back brace meets the side of the instrument up to (i am guessing) the top. it's awful tough to get a photo of.

will get some sounds up late.

[MikeEdgerton]

How did you determine the back was plywood? The dowels don't sound like they were original. I've never seen anything like that in one of these.

[cqmurphy]

hey mike.
the guy i bought it from straight-up told me it was NOT the original back and that i was ply.

[cqmurphy]

here's a photo of through the treble side F hole. ya get what ya get with an LED flash. further inspection says the "side brace" is supposed to run from the top brace to the bottom. the one on the bass side seems to run flush along that side. maybe the treble one (on an odd angle) has fallen a bit.

as for authenticity and learning more about these instruments, clear this is of precious little note; but I can only wonder if the person doing the repairs took the original design into consideration.

the little i know these instruments would tell me that the top is, indeed, solid wood, but it seems a little thick. any info anyone?

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, it was rebacked. Most of these I've see were solid.

[cqmurphy]

cool, mike. then it deserves a solid back. i will get me to a luthier straight away.

[cqmurphy]

as per Olaf's earlier request, here's a (mediocre) recording of me playing a tune called "Pony Boy" on my Strad.

be warned, while i fine picker on the guitar, the mandolin is still pretty new to these hands.

74898

[Bruce Clausen]

Decent playing, CQ, and a nice healthy sound from the Strad. They tend to sound very good and play very well. From what I've seen, the combination of the rounded peghead, the logo on yours, the "comma" f-holes, and the extended-treble fingerboard belongs to the mid to late thirties. As Brad says, the compensated bridge is a later upgrade. Hope you'll add your photos to the Stradolin Social Group gallery, and keep us posted on your restoration work.

[grassrootphilosopher]

Ok playing and the sound of the instrument spells winner!

[Reid1]

That is a very nice looking Stradolin. I'm sure it sounds fantastic. A luthier can probably tell you more about the back and whether changing it would be a worthwhile upgrade. You might even be able to find a real Stradolin back somewhere that could be put on.
I recently picked up a 50s Mahogany Stradolin, which is 3 ply laminate and it sounds amazing. No one who plays it can believe it is not solid wood. I have to keep checking myself... :))
I myself have no idea why Stradolins sound so good. It certainly isn't the wood used, so it has to be the design, bracing etc. I can't figure out why no one has taken this design and built a 'modern' Stradolin. You would think a modern solid-wood, or even laminate Stradolin would be a damn fine instrument.

[Crabgrass]

I was lucky enough to play a '50s Strad-O-Lin during my rounds of the music stores. The tone was so amazing, it was a close second to the Big Muddy....rich & woody, sweet but strong. If the one I played had been in better condition, I might have chosen it instead.

Interesting question as to why they sound so good.....the quality wasn't impressive, just the tone.

[Randi Gormley]

My strad is my main instrument because the tone is so fantastic -- every time I play it out (at a workshop or where other musicians hear it), someone asks if they can play it and get this same delighted grin on their faces and make a comment about these things being built like trucks. Mine is solid wood all around -- someone thought (maybe it was the luthier who made a new bridge for it?) that the wood used a half century ago or so was just a better quality, even the cheap pieces.

[Fred G]

Sounds reasonable, probably the same reason why the plywood Kay Basses from a half century+ ago sound so good.