Mandolin by "ELMO"

(Apologies for the long story but it's needed to explain what I'm searching for)


Elmo Macdonald and my grandfather were very good friends. So good that my grandfather asked him to handcraft him two Mandolins so that he could play and pass down through the family.

Well after my grandfather passed away the two mandolins were taken and sold without my knowledge when the instruments were supposed to be returned to me. I know this is a long shot but just looking to make sure they're in a good home. These insturments were my grandfathers love and joy. I was named after one of them. So if you have seen these or know someone who recently purchased a Mandolin made by ELMO from Fredericton New Brunswick can you please tell them to contact me on possibly getting them back? Thanks. Here's a pic of one of them.

Attachment 172636Attachment 172636

Wow, that is a cool look in a mandolin! Seems very unique in design. I hope you can be reunited with one or both! Happy pickin :mandosmiley: and good luck.

Sweet.

(By the title I thought this thread was about a mandolin playing muppet.)

that's pretty distinctive. keep us apprised of how the search goes!

Here are other threads with the name Elmo mandolin in them: Elmo mandolin.

I also found that Elmo passed away in 2016. Here is his obituary.

He had a good service and many family was able to attend the funeral. Still sad though.

Very distinctive looking mandolin—can you post a couple of clearer pictures, including a closeup of the peghead please? Those are very unusual features of an A-style mandolin, it appears there is a scroll on the peghead and one or two on the body, or is it sitting on something that makes it look like that?

A couple of suggestions: 1. Watch kijiji, buy and sell/musical instruments, keyword mandolin, separate searches for NB and NS, maybe PEI as well. I just did this, nothing appears today. You only get 20-25 hits in each province for mandolins, so just bookmark the searches and check every week or so.
2. Get in touch with Halifax Folklore Centre, that’s almost certainly the most likely place they might eventually turn up, and Tom has been in business since 71 and probably knew Elmo.
3. I’m always keeping an eye out for cool mandolins in the Maritimes, if you send me a PM with your contact info I will let you know if I ever run across these nifty pieces. Good luck!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jim Garber

Here are other threads with the name Elmo mandolin in them: Elmo mandolin.

---

Looks like this link did not work. Gere are a couple of threads with photos of other Elmo mandolins.

My New Mandolin

2009 Elmo F-Style

I have Elmo Nbr 11 made in 1977. It is an A model and is very elegant in it's workmanship although not terribly ornate. The headstock, fretboard, pickguard and tailpiece are very similar to your picture. I purchased it in 1988 from an elderly gentleman in Montreal who ran a mandolin orchestra. I don't know if he was the original owner. Pics att'd

Attachment 207961
Attachment 207962

From the Forum Posting Guidelines:

- Refrain from using the forum as a market place, ie., a resource for selling, purchasing or trading. Please limit selling, buying and trading activities to the Classifieds section of this web site or other external locations.

My mistake. I've created a post in the classified section. I'm just excited that others have knowledge of these Elmo mandolins!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danesbitt

My mistake. I've created a post in the classified section. I'm just excited that others have knowledge of these Elmo mandolins!

---

I am curious but I don’t see any listing for your Elmo mandolin in the classifieds. Can you send me a link via PM?

Here it is Jim...

https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/207227#207227

NFI

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danesbitt

My mistake. I've created a post in the classified section. I'm just excited that others have knowledge of these Elmo mandolins!

---

I am curious but I don’t see any listing for your Elmo mandolin in the classifieds. Can you send me a link via PM?

I see it now. Maybe it takes a little time for the ad to appear?

I've made a couple of walk-through videos of the 1977 #12 Elmo MacDonald mandolin for anyone who may be interested:

General Overview:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ch0...usp=drive_link

Additional details on neck and top:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mgZ...usp=drive_link

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by danesbitt

I've made a couple of walk-through videos of the 1977 #12 Elmo MacDonald mandolin for anyone who may be interested:

General Overview:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ch0...usp=drive_link

Additional details on neck and top:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mgZ...usp=drive_link

---

May be different for others, but I get an "access denied" message when I try to view the Google Drive files. Asking price would be a handy thing to include in your ad as well.

-Chris

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manjitsu

May be different for others, but I get an "access denied" message when I try to view the Google Drive files. Asking price would be a handy thing to include in your ad as well.

-Chris

---

I've updated the sharing preferences. Hopefully the videos work now. I've also included a price in the classified.

I'm going to go ahead and close this thread. It really has been given a long leash but is in violation of our Posting Guidelines.