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We need to see more, and that instrument is going to need a heck of lot more than just a bridge.

Good luck with that - last time I had to do that, I bought appropriate thickness strip and cut it down... it took ages!

So much subtlety, and so much we don't understand yet, but... the defining difference between the instruments you mention is generally the width of the top, as well as the level of activity of the...

<Sorry... that UK usage has a different meaning in the U.S.>

Interesting to find a US made bowl over this side of the pond, our American colleagues will no doubt have a better idea about the maker. Lovely looking instrument though!

What Randi said about...

From what I can tell from internet photos there's no truss rod, and the fretboard is flat not radiused? You may need the frets levelling and dressing (and no, the "box shifters" do NOT do that...

Afterwards for me, though I don't have "floating" fretboard extensions to worry about. I feel it's easier to get a good level fretboard that way - so less fret levelling afterwards. The thing is...

I think it depends - certainly that is a "mode of failure" for Neapolitans, this is not to say there isn't downward pressure on the top though, and of course US bowls with their less arched tops tend...

A few ideas here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlnUGKXjWJE&t=28s

I'd reiterate what others have said - plug the instrument and preamp into a recording interface, and either monitor directly via headphones, or record and playback. You could even compare directly...

Interesting to see someone investigating the science of bowlbacks https://brill.com/view/journals/ijwc/2/1-3/article-p1_1.xml

Other way around, the older 24 fret one has the English label with the serial number, the Italian label without the number is on the newer 22 fret one.



Yes same size.



Haha, I've had a...

One of these I've been playing for while, the other is newly restored, not often you get two of these in the same place at the same time!

In addition to the level of decoration, the main...

Lots of reasons: poor setup, badly shaped/crowned frets, poorly cut nut or saddle slots, poor neck setup and action. Then if you think of "metallic" as the opposite of "rich", you're looking for...

Indeed, I would start with micro-mesh as you may well find that 2400 or if pushed 1800 micro mesh are coarse enough to do the job, then sand through to say 3.6 or 4K and buff. It'll be a small area,...

+1 on keeping it mild: if it's a varnish finish, then not many glues will stick to it too well anyway, so the residue should sloth off with a bit of polishing, maybe even a fingernail, and then...

These are bar frets, they often get quite skinny/low after multiple dressings which means they bend super easily. So the last fret here is bent up on the right hand side.



Amen, that did make...

It was - sadly not mine!

I respectfully disagree - what's on there now is a horrible solution - it's not well fitted so the sound will not be as good as it should be, and it doesn't distribute the load evenly across the top,...

My hunch is that you're looking in the wrong place for the sound you want. I built a few of these and loved every one, they are in general fairly easy to get right (compared to electric mandolins),...

The neck angle issue come up so often, that I made a short video showing how to check if it's OK or not on these:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bilKP6CbJdg

What you have there is a fairly basic Sicilian mandolin from around 1900-ish. And yes, the tailpiece looks to be a modern replacement. Might end up a decent players instrument - you will have to...

+1 on the other opinions here (and yes I have built a flat top with a Virzi), if you haven't already done so, those braces can be trimmed so they have more of a triangular cross section (ie taper in...

For the e string slots, a razor saw would work just fine (if you have one of course).

Just to expand on that slightly - if there is a problem at the nut, then the e strings will be every so slightly out of tune with each other when fretted - and that can make a 10K mandolin sound like...