banjo-mandolin

[muskedunder]

Hi!

Would like to know if somebody can give me any information about this instrument, year, quality, if I can use it to teach me a little mandolin, what It could be worth.. anythting.

I Only have this one picture from an ad:
http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g169/bmxcas/?action=view&current=52_1293236850_xl-1.jpg

[Jim Garber]

It looks fine and as long as it is functional, it should be fine for learning mandolin but once you get into playing mandolin I am sure that you will want a wooden instrument. I am not sure of the make but I would say prob European, possibly British (not American) and from the teens or twenties of the last century. This is a broad guess.

Looking at the tuners -- I think I have similar ones on my Levin mandolin so it is possibly built by Levin in Sweden, tho I am not really sure that they built this. The tuners might just be added later.

[allenhopkins]

Here's the only pic of a Levin mandolin banjo (http://www.vintage-guitars.se/Levin_Mandolin_Banjo_Model_420_Banjo_info.htm) I could find. Looks dissimilar.

Instrument does look European, fer shure. I'd guess French although most of the French MB's I've seen have slotted headstocks. And the tailpiece is unlike any in my experience.

Have you any history on it -- who owned it, where it was bought, etc.?

[Jim Garber]

Yeah, I am not so sure about my possible Levin attribution. I have a feeling that those tuners might have been added later and mya have just been used by Levin for my mandolin (crica 1950).

[bmac]

Banjo mandolins are normally inexpensive on ebay. This one looks especially nice. If you watch ebay for a while you can get a fairly accurate estimate of what similar mandolins would go for. If you just want a player you can get one for somewhere between $70 and $150, The problem most of them have is a bent dowel stick making them difficult to play and lacking proper intonation. Dowel sticks can be straightened. These are fun but not everyones cup of tea. I have a few but play my standard mandolins almost exclusively. I have not watched for them on ebay for a while but suspect they are still quite reasonable.

[muskedunder]

Thanks guys. I will find out tomorrow if I get it or not. I have been playing clawhammer banjo for some time now, and have never thought of playing the mandolin. But I think this kinda got me hooked on the thought :-) even if I don't get this one, I wanna have one!