Stradolin finally strung up and sounds great!

  1. conkerfight
    conkerfight
    I've just posted pictures of my new Stradolin which I'm very pleased with. It's date stamped March 13 1937 inside.

    It needed a top crack repair and the sides had pulled a bit out of shape from the tension over the years so the back had to come off to fix it. The seams have not come back perfectly into alignment but will do for now. It was very dirty when I got it but as I had hoped, cleaned up very nicely. I resisted putting strings on until after the repair which was quite a wait, during which I listed to all the clips of the nicest sounding Strads in the hope mine would sound as good.

    Well... put the strings on today and straight away it sounded really good - had the Stradolin sound I was hoping for which was a massive relief. It's woody and really pings out. I don't think it's had much play for a very long time, there's very little wear on the fret board and back of the neck
    Anyway I'm delighted to be a member of Stradolin appreciation group and thankful for all the info on here that lead me to buying one (for very little cash)!
  2. bart mcneil
    bart mcneil
    It looks like you did well. I have a few nice sounding mandos but I always come back to my Strad-O-Lins as their sound is just a bit different. Your repairs sound fairly typical and probably typical of most mandos of its age which spent most of their years in an attic or basement. Both of mine had similar problems and then some, but they both repaired nicely and are fine players though on one the original finish had to come off. Luckily the wood itself is quite attractive and looks fine with a clear lacquer finish.

    And like so many of us, you will start your quest for a replacement Waverly "cloud" tailpiece cover. They do show up on ebay now and then at between $20 - $40 depending on condition.
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