Larson Brothets Mandocello

[TAM]

I found an instrument at an "antique" store marked "mandolin as is $36". I knew it was too big to be a mandolin but did not know what it was. No bridge. No tail piece. Split top. Caved in right side. Back coming off. I could tell it was a high quality instrument so I bought it and had planned to get the elmers glue and purchase a bridge and tail piece and fix it up myself. However, I checked on the internet and found it was made by the Larson Brothers. Never heard of them. The more I read I realized I should not touch it but should have it professionally repaired. I took it to Portland Frett Works and left it for repair. It is beautiful! I have it tuned an octave below a mandolin so that I can play it. I think I should insure it. I have no idea what it is worth. It is not all original. There is a restoration label inside dated 1956, Portland, Oregon. So work has been done before. I need your assistance with some guestions : should I have it insured? How do I get it appraised? Is it OK to have it tuned as I do? Any advice or suggestions? I would appreciate your assistance. Thanks, Tom.

[Jeff Mando]

Gruhn Guitars in Nashville have sold a lot of Larson Brothers instruments over the years and they do online appraisals if you can email detailed photos and a description. It could be very valuable.

[Jeff Mando]

Once you have an appraisal, then you will know what to insure it for.

[delsbrother]

I would get in contact with Robert Hartman, who is related to the Larsons and is the foremost authority on their instruments. He literally wrote the book on them. There are several other websites dedicated to the Larsons that I would also check out if I were you, but Robert is probably your best bet as far as impartial information, especially on mandolin family instruments (most of the other sites seem guitar-focused).

larsonscreations.com

[goaty76]

Post a couple of pics here. I'm sure you'll get plenty of opinions about what it is and what it's possibly worth.

Phil

[barney 59]

Yah, pictures! How did you determine that it is Larson made? That isn't all that easy as they often did not sign their work and sometimes even the best informed get it wrong. Some distributors have been credited as having their instruments made by Larson Bros. such as Stahl and Stetson and Dyer but almost certainly not all their instruments, and as this had come from published sources (Vintage Guitar, and corrected in later additions) it has caused a lot of confusion as to what is claimed to be a Larson and what actually is a Larson. If it is a Larson the value would be determined by quite a lot of factors, condition,originality, is it a student model or a presentation model etc. Larson guitars can sometimes bring sky is the limit prices, their mandolin family instruments not anywhere near that being not very far off what an equivalent Martin from the same period would be worth. Some very nice elaborately decorated flat top mandolins I have seen in the 2 to $3000 range and sold by dealers at those prices. Robert Hartman would be a good source for determining what it is and George Gruhn wouldn't be bad at it either and would probably be better informed as to it's value in today's market place.

[TAM]

Yah, pictures! How did you determine that it is Larson made? That isn't all that easy as they often did not sign their work and sometimes even the best informed get it wrong. Some distributors have been credited as having their instruments made by Larson Bros. such as Stahl and Stetson and Dyer but almost certainly not all their instruments, and as this had come from published sources (Vintage Guitar, and corrected in later additions) it has caused a lot of confusion as to what is claimed to be a Larson and what actually is a Larson. If it is a Larson the value would be determined by quite a lot of factors, condition,originality, is it a student model or a presentation model etc. Larson guitars can sometimes bring sky is the limit prices, their mandolin family instruments not anywhere near that being not very far off what an equivalent Martin from the same period would be worth. Some very nice elaborately decorated flat top mandolins I have seen in the 2 to $3000 range and sold by dealers at those prices. Robert Hartman would be a good source for determining what it is and George Gruhn wouldn't be bad at it either and would probably be better informed as to it's value in today's market place.

I believe it is Larson brothers but I could be wrong. I think it is based on what I have read and by looking at photographs of their instruments. It is marked Wm C Stahl. I do not know how to place photographs but will get assistance with that. The luthier who repaired it said it was msde by the Larson brothers. I will place photos as soon as I know how.

[barney 59]

I went on a short internet search for a Larson Bros. mandocello which I have never seen in person and only found one example and even that one alluded to the fact that it was "believed" to be Larson built. Stahl claimed that their instruments were made in Milwaukee and the Larson Bros. were in Chicago but it is generally accepted that the Larson Bros. did build instruments for Stahl so it could in fact be Larson built. Stahl also had other sources for instruments. Is this a bowl back instrument or flat? Like I said people who are very knowledgeable about Larson instruments,which is in fact only a handful of people, sometimes get it wrong or they decide that that can't be sure. There are a lot of instruments in collections that to the best of anyone's knowledge it "appears" to be a Larson and that is as close as they can get and that,if they are honest, is how they present it. I was able to get up close and personal with a large collection of Larson instruments at one time and I probably had in my hands 50 of them (which I think is a lot) and every one of them I played and held up to light and peered inside but I wouldn't make any claim to having any real expertise for identifying difficult to identify Larson instruments. I did notice that on SOME of their instruments they did do certain things that as far as I can tell no one else did at the time. For example: If below the binding on the neck a small thin line of the ebony fret board is visible I'd vote "Larson". Problem is they didn't always do it but I if it's there I don't know any other builder during that time frame that did that other than Larson Bros. Lots of others have done it since.

[TAM]

The back is flat.

[jdsobol]

Two other typical features of Larson mandolin-family instruments, especially the longer-scale models (mandolas, octave mandolins and mandocellos) is an almond-shaped as opposed to a teardrop shaped body--meaning the sides have little or no re-curve as they approach the neck-block. Also the neck heels are either very tiny or else they are completely covered by the back plate and enclosed in the binding strip--this is more typical of their mandolins than of the big mandos.

That ebony shelf under the ivoroid binding strip on the neck was very common in banjos of the time. DeLuccia Bros. also used it on mando-family instruments--the mandocello-ish 6-string thing that was discussed on here had that same kind of binding strip. So identifying a Larson is not so much a matter of any single feature but an overall gestalt.

[Jeff Mando]

So identifying a Larson is not so much a matter of any single feature but an overall gestalt.

I'm gonna get me some of that there gestalt and put in on my shelf, next to my zen.

[violmando]

I have a Larson Bros. mandocello with a Stahl label as does my friend Miko. Here is a picture of our "twin" instruments.

[TAM]

Gruhn Guitars in Nashville have sold a lot of Larson Brothers instruments over the years and they do online appraisals if you can email detailed photos and a description. It could be very valuable.

I contacted Gruhn guitars and will send pics and information for an appraisal. If I can figure out how to post photographs her I will. Thanks to all who responded for your information and assistance. Tom.

[Bill Snyder]

TAM click the insert image icon then click the "From Computer" or the "From URL" tab and post your photos.

[jdsobol]

I'm gonna get me some of that there gestalt and put in on my shelf, next to my zen.

It's particularly tasty with miso.