gartini de lugini 1906 flatback

[mandomicky]

Hi
Has anybody come across or Know anything about these old mandolins?
I have found a couple of references to them being makers of bowl back mandolins but this one has a flat back.
anybody got an idea to it's value? it plays well, action is very good and it stays in tune
not bad for such an old mandolin!
it has the original bone bridge and tuning pegs and a modern case.
any information would be greatly appreciated
thank you
Mick

[Bruce Clausen]

Nice shots. Looks like a well made instrument. It's a little rounder shape, deeper too, more like the Portuguese shape than the usual flatbacks-- hence the extra padding in the case. I see a bowlback by this maker on Dave Hynds' site (mandolinluthier.com), but otherwise know nothing about the company. Some experts will probably be along shortly.

[mandomicky]

thanks Bruce

[Jim Garber]

I can only find one Lugini mandolin in my picture files -- also a bowlback. This does look nice. I can't quite tell but it looks like someone added a bone top to the bridge -- normally there would be an insert with the back grooved part spacing the strings.

[brunello97]

I have nothing definitive to add, for as Jim and Dave, I only have a couple bowlback examples from de Lugini in my files. These flattop/back Italian mandolins do show up from time to time and my instincts typically lead me to think Catania because of similarities in the simple binding, neck and back detailing and fretboard detailing at the soundhole (though this is often seen on MOR Neapolitan bowls as well)--the general willingness of the Sicilians to break out of the design boxes of Napoli and Roma. That along with the example on Dave's site being a DeMeglio knock off (the one I have is a generic Vinaccia-n model) makes me wonder about the varied / inconsistent output from GdL.

That said, this is signed and dated. And fairly nicely made, the headstock in particular. Value? My hunch in the $300-400 range, maybe. How does it sound? How is the intonation?

Jim, I have an Italian mandola (or whatever) with a superimposed compensated saddle (rather than an insert in the bridge.) This one looks a bit more gnarly, as if someone sanded off the top of the bridge, revealing the unstained wood beneath, and fastened the saddle on top. Dyed wood bridges are muy sketchioso. The back and sides on this are very nice though-great color as well. Lately I've been appreciating the wood scratchplates when they have a nice profile such as this one has.

Cool mandolin.

Mick

[Graham McDonald]

Interesting in that it is the earliest dated Italian flat back I have come across. The head is quite Vinaccian in style, but the body is right out of the ordinary for a Neapolitan instrument. Might S. de Lugini be another of these jobbers whose production was limited to printing labels if he 'produced' such a variety of styles?

g

[brunello97]

.... Might S. de Lugini be another of these jobbers whose production was limited to printing labels if he 'produced' such a variety of styles?

g

Maybe, Graham, and that was my original guess though the signature/date/numbering throws me off. I suppose there are other jobbers who may have done it as well. Hopefully this thread scares up more examples of his work, or labels at least.

This is the only thing I have turned up. A listing for a Gartini Lugini guitar at auction:

Gartini Guitar (http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/italian-acoustic-guitar-made-by-gartini-lugini-1-c-tnnfct8fvw)

Unfortunately, no image.

Mick

[Martin Jonas]

Interesting instrument. The headstock looks Italian of the period, while the body including the neck joint detailing looks very similar to my 1925 German waldzither (see attached photos). I agree with Jim that the bridge looks like it is intended for a much smaller unnotched bone insert, rather than the large notched bone piece shown in the photos -- with bridges like this, the string spacing is provided not by notches in the saddle but by spacers in the rear part of the bridge, behind the saddle.

Martin

[brunello97]

A couple examples of compensated bone saddles from Puglisi. Don't know if they are original equipment, though they resemble the one on my Puglisi mandola. Can't get a good read on the Lugini but it doesn't appear as integral a design effort as these.

Mick

[Martin Jonas]

Mick,

I didn't meant to say that there weren't any bridges with integrated bone saddle such as on those Puglisis you have posted -- Embergher of course had them as well -- but in the photos by the OP is looks to me as if the saddle part has been squeezed into the forward part of the bridge, in front of the original string spacers. The resolution isn't very clear, but it looks like a retrofit to me.

Martin

[mandomicky]

Thank you everybody for all the comments

[mandomicky]

The intonation is very good, the action is very nice too and it stays perfectly in tune, I bought it about 12 years ago in the UK it came from a friends collection of instruments, he knew nothing about it think he told me he had swapped it for a violin or something.
my main instrument is a Godin A8, but It's nice to have a vintage instrument about to pick up and tinker about on.
I recently lent it to a lady I'm giving mandolin lessons to and she is desperate to buy it,
I'm really not sure if I want to sell it or if I did what I should ask for it hence posting on here.
thank you for all the replies

[Prince of Darkness]

Just picked up a mandolin from eBay as a restoration project. No label, or other identification, but appears to be the same model. Another Gartini de Lugini?
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[Joe Bartl]

Looking closely at the bridge under the bone saddle, it appears as though there were earlier 3 strings per course. Is this an illusion? Or is there another explanation? Shadows?

[Prince of Darkness]

Looking closely at the bridge under the bone saddle, it appears as though there were earlier 3 strings per course. Is this an illusion? Or is there another explanation? Shadows?

Does look like it. It seems likely to me, that with an instrument of this age, the bridge may well have been replaced. Could be that somebody reused a bridge from a 12-string (Mandriola). There has been some discussion that the saddle may have been replaced.

[Prince of Darkness]

I found this thread in August, when I was looking at another instrument on eBay. 12-string version.
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