lucho
Feb-14-2005, 10:52am
Does anybody know anything about Sundberg mandolins made in New York around the turn of 1900. Somebody is offering me a small napolitan style mando with maple ribs, it needs new strings, a fretjob and some little work, but don't know if this will add something of some value to my playing collection ....I havenīt heard or read anything about this brand before... and I donīt know much about napolitan style mandos made in USA at the turn of the century so my question is if this brand is of any value? or is it just another toy for the wall?....
Thanks,
I've not heard of the maker, myself. You would do well to post in the classical section, where bowlback experts hang out.
The best US bowlbacks were made by Martin, Vega, the Larson brothers, and a few others. You'll want to be careful with the stringing; most modern strings a way too heavy for bowlbacks. If it was strung with heavy strings, the neck joint or top may be wrecked. Repairs are not easy to come by, since so few US luthiers are familiar with the instruments.
If you string it with something like GHS classicals, and the action is good, it might be worth pursuing. A certain amount of caution is not inappropriate for these old instruments: many of them were more or less designed to be wall-hanging ornaments rather than real musical instruments.
As ever, a picture is worth a thousand words.