"Stadium" mandolin - $25

[Earl Kayoss]

I went back and took the Stadium mandolin for $25 (he wanted $75.)
i said no way 'cause there's an eensie bit o separation on the bottom,
which i can fix in ten minutes with wood glue and a clamp so...
i got it for $25.

nothing fancy... it seems ...but in overall nice shape.
any info would be appreciated.
is it worth $25?

sorry for lousy photos.

i went from zero mandolins ever in life to owning 3 in less than a week.
I think 3 is enuff, for me anyways.

- e87442874438744487445874468744787448

[Ed Goist]

...snip...is it worth $25?...snip...


Yes. Just the vintage clam-shell tailpiece is worth more than that.
These regularly sell for +/-$30 on ebay.

[Earl Kayoss]

Thx so much, Ed.
I figured for $25... what the heck.

so...
3 mandolins... $125 total.
done.

i wanna make a case for the sunfish mandolin.
i figure i'll just find an exsiting small square piece of luggage or something,
fill it with
a block of foam,
then,
cut the foam to the outline of the sunfish
and insert the the thing in the case.

i aint gonna worry about a case for the "stadium" model
and I have a case that came with the r.a. mango. , so that one is well-protected already.

- e

[Adam Sweet]

any mandolin that's playable is worth money. Having said that, I think this mandolin was made by a Korean company called Saein. They are now called Daewon....I'm pretty sure that's the same company. They do OEM for Epiphone guitars, and make the Morgan Monroe line, the Michael Kelly line and a few others distributed by Saga. When I was there, they had some Fender electrics and some Hohner nock-offs in the factory Let me see if I have a video of that trip

[Adam Sweet]

Ok here it is http://youtu.be/0GAn0ELyiZ4

[Earl Kayoss]

neat little vid, Adam.
Cool to see.

I believe someone said something different in regard to the "stadium" manufacturer in another thread though.
in think within the thread on the 1936 r.a. mango mandolin.
i will go back and look, if i find it, i will copy/paste it here.
i think they also said....some of the better old "Stadium" mando's sell for $300 - $400 and they did not mention Korea.

[Earl Kayoss]

found it, Adam,

here it is, copy/pasted from the 1936 r.a. mango thread..
it was posted by another member of this forum.

Stadium was a brand that was built by the same company that made Strad-O-Lins which were budget mandolins some of which are quite nice players. The better of those go for about $300-400. YMMV as far as that one goes but it could be ok -- nothing like the Mango tho. Given this shop is prob one of the few on this earth who haven't a clue of what the worth of instruments are or maybe have no internet connection, it is probably worth the few bucks that they will charge.

[MikeEdgerton]

This is a Regal built instrument and has nothing to do with the Strad-O-Lin's. You got the best of the three with the last one. This is not an over the top mandolin, the value is still a little more than what you paid for it and you can buy those tailpieces new, they still make them. Don't pay $30.00 for one. That's not a Waverly cloud tailpiece. This mandolin was made in Chicago, probably before 1930.

[Earl Kayoss]

Thx Mike.
The head on this "stadium" looks very similar to the "washington" so I thought they may have something in common and it may be "Regal" that they have in common.

Mike, did you say this "stadium" model is the best of the 3?
better than the "washington" (sunfish) .... and better than the "r.a. mango"?
if thats true it surprises me because this stadium seems to be the least fancy of the 3.

- e

[MikeEdgerton]

The Mango, then the Washington. This is a distant third.

[MikeEdgerton]

Take a look at this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=251071659439+&si=S34TMmut79zbrjC4a9ucP9d7ma4%253D&viewitem=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc) Regal. Different finish, similar mandolin.

[Earl Kayoss]

gotcha, Mike.
Thx.

well then, here they are my 3 little pigs,
i think i paid $115 total.

washington = $40
r.a. mango = $50
stadium = $25

874508745187452

[MikeEdgerton]

You're doing fine so far. Go back and ask them if they have an mandolins with little curly scrolls on them that are signed by a guy named Lloyd. You're on a roll here.

[Earl Kayoss]

Is "Lloyd" a famous maker/brand?

He has no more mandolins.
then again, who knows.
if you saw this place, you'd wonder because its dang near impossible to even walk in that store.
absolutely no exaggeration. its dangerous trying to manuever around that store.

found the r.a. mango completely by chance.
he knew he had it (another mandolin) but didnt know where it was
and its just jam packed with stuff in there,
its quite difficult to walk around in there.
extremely difficult.

well, i walked around a corner and there it was, a mandolin case on the floor at my feet,
it turned out to be the r.a. mango.
i had seen the "stadium" when i bought the sunfish.

If I see any mandolins with "Lloyd" on the head,
i will let you know.

who is this Lloyd fellow?

- e

[Randi Gormley]

He means signed by "Lloyd Loar" -- it's the dream of many of us to discover an un-registered Lloyd Loar in some back shop or at a tag sale. Although I believe the price has come down a bit on them from the high of -- what was it, $250,000?

[MikeEdgerton]

Lloyd Loar worked for Gibson in the early 20's. You can read about him here (http://www.siminoff.net/pages/loar_background.html).

[F-2 Dave]

But don't be confused by one that says 'The Lloyd' on the headstock.

[Earl Kayoss]

OK, thx.
I'll check that link and learn as much as I can.

Know whats buggin' me?

the pickguard on the r.a. Mango is /was embossed and I can't read it.
does anyone know what may have been there on that guard?
its quite large actually,
it takes up about 75% of the guard length.
i wanna do a pencil tracing.... but i dont have a pencil.
(i hate pencils, won't touch them.)
in this case, i'd make an exception though,
'cause its bothering me to know what it says on that guard.

[bmac]

The Stadium appears to be the same instrument as one of mine with a different brand name. Mine is labeled "La Melodia" on a paper label inside. Yours has binding on the body and mine doesn't. Otherwise they are identical though yours is in better shape. These sound quite nice, with a deep resonance. Quite unlike the modern bluegrass mandolin. Mine leans a little toward a resonater mandolin with its thin wood body. These show up on ebay quite often at more than you paid but they are very common and not particularly valuable. The thinnest strings are recommended on these as they are made with such thin wood.

I have seen these sold under maybe seven different brand names.

[MikeEdgerton]

Again, these were made by Regal. Regal built for the trade. Distributors and even other manufacturers would order them to be rebranded.

[Earl Kayoss]

thx bmac.

i am familiar with this scenario but in regard to old Japanese guitars (which I favor).
one plant would make all the guitars but...
depending on where they were being shipped/distributed...
that's what determined what name went on the headstock.

its my intention to do the best i can by all 3 of these mandolins.
you know...
get them to be the best they can, just for the sake of the instrument itself.
if they've been around this long,
let's try to get them further on down the road, in decent shape.

depending on costs...
which i am completely in the dark about,
i'd like to drop off the sunfish at the same time as the mango and have them both looked after but...
i'm not a rich man, i hope i can afford to take care of them.
tomorrow is Monday, I'll speak to the shop in Brooklyn
and hopefully have an idea of whats involved.
its pretty exciting for me to wanna see these things get taken care of.i cant wait.

- e

[Earl Kayoss]

i checked that link on Mr. Loar.
Stunning.
an incredible incredible man.

[greg_tsam]

so...
3 mandolins... $125 total.
done.


hahahaha ...hahahaha...haha. hah. hahaha.. *gasp haha..

You are so NOT done, brother. Oh the naivety of it all. *slaps forehead and grins. This is merely MAS planting a seed and lulling you back to sleep. One day you'll be eyeing another one worth more than all of them combined, by far, and feel the uncontrollable urge to buy it. And you will. As you drive home with your new "precious", somewhere, faintly, in the back of your mind, you will hear the dreaded MAS proudly proclaiming "The sleeper has awakened!" But you'll mistakenly think it's the bluebird on your shoulder and forget about it as you hurry home to play your mando.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Earl Kayoss]

you are probably right, greg.
hence, my 35+ guitars.
Oh welll,
not such a bad problem to have in life...
guitars + mandolins.

- e

[Jim Garber]

Yes. Just the vintage clam-shell tailpiece is worth more than that.
These regularly sell for +/-$30 on ebay.

Sorry, Ed, that is not a particularly desirable tailpiece. The ones that go for $30+ are the two piece ones. You can buy a modern version of this one piece which is more solid for under $13 from Stewmac (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Mandolin_tailpieces/Scalloped_Mandolin_Tailpiece.html) or cheaper on eBay.

Yes, it was a good deal anyway.

[Jim Garber]

I think this mandolin was made by a Korean company called Saein. They are now called Daewon....I'm pretty sure that's the same company. They do OEM for Epiphone guitars, and make the Morgan Monroe line, the Michael Kelly line and a few others distributed by Saga. When I was there, they had some Fender electrics and some Hohner nock-offs in the factory Let me see if I have a video of that trip

I am curious why you think this is Korean. To me it looks much older like 1940s or so. I would tend to agree more with Mike that it is a Regal product.

[greg_tsam]

Exactly. haha.. :mandosmiley:


you are probably right, greg.
hence, my 35+ guitars.
Oh welll,
not such a bad problem to have in life...
guitars + mandolins.

- e

[Jim Garber]

Take a look at this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=251071659439+&si=S34TMmut79zbrjC4a9ucP9d7ma4%253D&viewitem=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc) Regal. Different finish, similar mandolin.

This one (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-30-s-40-s-REGAL-Mandolin-Chicago-All-Original-Very-Nice-W-Orig-Case-/251073212813?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3D UA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D251071659439%26ps%3D63%26clk id%3D8904274148318179674) is even closer altho also different finish.

[MikeEdgerton]

So, let me get this straight. You think this might be a Regal built mandolin? :cool:

[Earl Kayoss]

i have it hand right now, gents.
whoever made it, its old.
look at the "sunfish" mando i bought first.
the head on the sunfish and on this stadium are remarkably similar.
also, the way "washington" and "stadium" were applied to the head are remarkably similar too.
the tuners and gears look old.

while obviously a lower end model, this little stadium dont sound half bad.
its loud and clear sounding and feels rather sturdy in hand.

plus, i think if it was new, it'd say
"made in korea" On it somewhere, but it dont.

but, thats just info for you to consider, i have no insight on these things.

- e

[MikeEdgerton]

Earl, rest assured, it wasn't made in Korea. You can borrow mob money and bet the ranch on that. Almost positive it was built in Chicago, Illinois. Most likely built by Regal as we've seen this model for years with different labels on it.

[Earl Kayoss]

Thx Mike.

I kinda like it and would still like it, regardless of origin.
i know all you guys have intense mandolins and this little stadium
doesnt rank but...
in and of itself... it sounds OK, its ez to play and you could have fun with it.
you know...
there's something to be said for having one that you won't cry if it gets banged around a bit on a road trip or
visit to the upstate house for the summer.
know what I mean?
it performs sufficiently to have fun with... and sounds OK and...
you'd rather have your Stadium crushed by a wayward moose than your Loar.
I have guitars i wont take outta the house and I have guitars I do take out of the house,
good to have both kinds.

- e

[Mandolincelli]

i went from zero mandolins ever in life to owning 3 in less than a week.
I think 3 is enuff, for me anyways.


:)) Welcome to MAS anonymous. They're small. One more won't hurt.

[Jake Wildwood]

Take a look at this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=251071659439+&si=S34TMmut79zbrjC4a9ucP9d7ma4%253D&viewitem=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc) Regal. Different finish, similar mandolin.

This mando is definitely a Regal.

[MikeEdgerton]

OK Jake, what took you so long? :)