My Recent Stradolin Buy

This popped up on Facebook nearby priced at $100, so I had to rescue it. From the little I've learned about Stradolins, it's a very basic model, probably with pressed laminate front and back. Overall it appears to be in good shape. The top shows no sinking, no separations anywhere, and the finish is still pretty good. The only obvious issue is the very lightweight tailpiece which is missing the bottom screw and has bent upward. I think I may replace it with one of the scalloped Stewmac ones that would preserve the look and be way stronger, unless someone has a better suggestion. I just don't think the original is worth messing with.

I hope to soon remove the strings, do a thorough cleaning, install the new tailpiece, restring, and find out what I've bought.

That's great! Well done! I posted up this spread from the 1959 Sorkin catalogue a few weeks back. I think your mandolin is on the top left although the photo is not great. Looking at the Waverly tuners on your mandolin I would estimate it to be late 50s.

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Great score! You did great for $100!

Nice!

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Originally Posted by NickR

That's great! Well done! I posted up this spread from the 1959 Sorkin catalogue a few weeks back. I think your mandolin is on the top left although the photo is not great. Looking at the Waverly tuners on your mandolin I would estimate it to be late 50s.

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That certainly looks like it. Thanks for posting. I need to go back and read some of the past threads on Stradolins.

Thanks, all, for your comments. After taking it apart for cleaning and having a better look at the tailpiece, I think I'm going to reinstall it. It's more robust than I thought. I need to put a hardwood plug into the old screw hole and redrill it, which should solve the problem. So all in all, I think a new set of strings and a little setup will have it playing again.

That's a good plan with plugging and redrilling the screw hole. The other option is to just put in a larger screw. Have done that on mine when adding a strap button there.

A nice grab for $100. Enjoy.

Here are two other catalog pages showing that model, one from Meisel ca. 1953 and the other from B&J, 1952.

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That's really helpful. I think I have an 850 based on the description and tailpiece design that seems to be unique to that one. I plugged the stripped hole and redrilled for a longer tailpiece screw. The originals are really short. I was happy to discover a relatively thick tailpiece block while drilling so I think it's a good lont-term repair.

I have it strung up now, and it's proving to be a nice mandolin. I want to lower the bridge some, which is already as low as it will go. The nut is nicely setup already.

This is my first experience with tuners without bushings. They get pretty stiff when tuned up due to friction. Maybe I'll try a little beeswax on the shafts next time I restring it.

Thanks for posting.