Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
I am not a great expert in US-made mandolins, but I agree that Derr was probably a reseller, rather than a maker. To me the instrument looks like a run of the mill turn of the century mandolin possibly from a Chicago factory. However it may have been a custom factory order given the special fingerboard markers and brand insert in a headstock. The tuners are probably not original.
Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
vic-victor
The tuners are probably not original.
After you said that, I finally was able to find them online. The tuners aren’t original, but appear to be Grover 304C Sta-Tite Mandolin Tuners in chrome. So there has been some restoration done.
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Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
It looks to me to be made for Derr by Lyon & Healy. They probably asked for a mix of features like the custom headstock inlay and slightly fancier fretboard markers for a student-grade model. See similar (but not exactly) ones on this color page from my 1912 L&H catalog. And some specs for those models.
BTW I doubt that the bowlback you have would have been sold in his store later than the teens. I am pretty sure he would have been selling flatbacks like the one that Elderly sold and like those pictured in the 1937 band photo.
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Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jim Garber
BTW I doubt that the bowlback you have would have been sold in his store later than the teens. I am pretty sure he would have been selling flatbacks like the one that Elderly sold and like those pictured in the 1937 band photo.
Thanks. I was wondering how late these might have been likely sold. I checked census records and found him listed consistently as a music teacher in Toledo starting in 1903, through 1940. Perhaps he had a few instruments for student to use. I notice a few bowlbacks in the picture, in a case behind the band.
I am not sure if he ever had a store; I think he was teaching out of his residence, based on city directories.
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Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jim Garber
It looks to me to be made for Derr by Lyon & Healy. They probably asked for a mix of features like the custom headstock inlay and slightly fancier fretboard markers for a student-grade model. See similar (but not exactly) ones on this color page from my 1912 L&H catalog. And some specs for those models.
I like the Lyon and Healy possibility. I have a “student conservatory” version, with 15 ribs. The Derr has nine, comparable to a lower end instrument(?) My Lyon and Healy has been partially restored at least once. There were a couple details to compare. The two are almost identical in length, with headstocks the same shape. The Lyon and Healy headstock is wider. Hardware on the bottom is different, but maybe an indicator? Derr has engraving, “Pat Mar 10 91”.
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Mine is missing the cover on the tail, but this other Derr (with different pickguard) does show one possible type.
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Re: Derr mandolin, Toledo
Found an advertisement in which William J. Derr and his brother Charles B. Derr advertised as dealers in stringed instruments, Toledo, Ohio, 1925 city directory.
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