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This mandolin has a fairly nasty looking break at the tailpiece and other issues. I imagine some kind of end block augmentation may fix it but I am not a luthier. I would imagine looking at the tuners which look to be Grover that it is circa late 30s to 1940. The case would appear to be older as it is branded as a Bulls Head. Of course, the mandolin may be older than 1940 -I am using the tuners to date it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mar...cAAOSwewJeF8~A
You might want to review this current thread in the Builders & Repair forum regarding a couple of Martin 2-15's with collapsed or collapsing tops. Some good info there, but also a discouraging tone about what's needed to effect repairs.
Perhaps, this one in the eBay auction is less of a labour of love as the damage is less extensive but that is not to minimise the scope of the repair- and that other something or other on the top. What would be prohibitively expensive might be a challenge to someone with the skills to buy and repair this instrument. Clearly, this sort of problem is not untypical with this family of mandolins.
Man, that sure is a sweetie -- except for the offending area! What a shame.
I suppose a clever person could remove a 2-inch section of the rim near the tailblock to gain access without removing the top or back, then installing an oversized block to accept the tailpiece screws and give something for the top to adhere to. The repair would show, but be on the end and not as noticeable and avoiding the need to remove the top or back and mess with the bindiing/finish. The top cracks would show once repaired, but would anyway, regardless of how the repair was approached.
Of course, all depending on what it ends up selling for. NFI.
Looks to me like a candidate for a new top. Any problems with the blocks can be addressed in the process of replacing the top.
It might be possible to patch it back together, but . . . by the time you go to the trouble of opening the instrument and repairing the damage, you're half way to expending the same amount of time it would take to replace it, and the repair will be more reliable.
And . . . Martin never did learn how to build f-hole instruments very well. If it came to me, I would convert it to an oval hole.
“If it came to me, I would convert it to an oval hole.”
Man, that sounds like a great idea! With a carved top, right? Does a Martin oval-hole like that exist?
Yes. Martin made carved top oval hole mandolins in styles 15 and 20. The ones I have played were pretty good instruments.
The 20's come up for sale fairly often. Bernunzio has a couple of them right now. I've only seen a couple of 15's.
Bill Bolick of the Blue Sky Boys played an oval hole 20 throughout his very long life.
Here is one- I believe it is a carved top.
https://www.gbase.com/gear/martin-style-20-1929-blonde
If I still had my 1929 Style 20, I would put in a bid just for the case . . .
I would think this is fatal for the top. Not repairable in any normal sense of the word. I imagine that the bids are for the case, and to a lesser extent, parts.
A few luthiers chimed in on this subject on the current thread that Allen mentioned.Quote:
Originally Posted by BradKlein
Everything is repairable, of course. However, I do agree with you that by the time this was restored it would not be worth the effort to make this playable. This is the fatal flaw of these 2-15, 2-20, and 2-30 Martins. I had a 1940s 2-15 and it was playable and then started developing a crack at the tailpiece. In its playable shape it was not particularly outstanding as an instrument and only the fact that it was made with the fine workmanship of Martin makes it worth what it is on the market. Ironically, the earlier non 2-prefixed Martins were better instruments. I could be wrong but I also believe thast they did not have this tailpiece block problem.
My first Style 20 had a hairline crack, but it was easily repairable - my second Style 20 was flawless . . . so I guess I got lucky. I never asked Bill Bolick about whether or not his developed the crack as well . . . but of course by the time he and I became friends, he hadn't taken it out of the closet in almost 25 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Garber
I wonder if the extreme neck set was the problem. I recall mine having a rather tall bridge with the neck set back.
A tragic problem, particularly given that Martin had developed a means to try to prevent this kind of failure at the other end of their bowlbacks.
Mick
might be nice re topped with an oval sound hole. my local lutheir could do that. hmmm, but i shouldn't
Sold for $518 plus shipping. NFI.