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Thread: Unsual mandolin I just came across

  1. #1
    Jo Dusepo, luthier Dusepo's Avatar
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    Default Unsual mandolin I just came across

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Har...0AAOSw32lYztft

    Strange bulky headstock. Presumably made for or by someone who's name began with A!
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  2. #2
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I think it's builders initial or maybe they plan on making 26 and giving each a letter
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  3. #3
    Registered User NEH57's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I think this was probably the the prototype .....appeared in a local Auction house near me the other day......

    I don't think some over here should be trusted with Mandolin design......
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  4. #4
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I'm going to guess that it was played with a steel slide like a lap steel guitar.

    I thought that said 1897. 1987 is probably right.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  5. #5
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    There are round holes, and there are f holes, and now it seems . . .
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

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  7. #6
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Looks like the builders name was Jocelyn Abahandt or Abahantt. The last word is probably the city or town where he/she lived, but I can't make anything of it. Could it be French or French-Canadian? Anyway, that's probably where the "A" comes from.
    Living’ in the Mitten

  8. #7
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    The ultimate A-model?
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  9. #8
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Good mandolin for busking — it has a built-in coin slot!

    If you've seen the sound holes on a Vivitone, you know that these aren't actually so weird.
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  11. #9
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I like the Abehardt, I think it's a cool art piece. Oak sides, pretty color. Top, I don't know, maybe a four piece pine top? The A on the soundhole is awesome!

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  12. #10
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Scroll saw block letter of builders initial glued over the soundhole is way easier to produce than a trademarked inlay on the headstock!
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  13. #11
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Gunter View Post
    Scroll saw block letter of builders initial glued over the soundhole is way easier to produce than a trademarked inlay on the headstock!
    You don't even have to work that hard. Target and most craft stores sell wood letters that size.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  15. #12
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I doubt that it sounds like anything with a 1/4" pine flattop and a hunk of a bridge. And that square neck is a real oddity. And take a look at the fretboard — I am not even sure that the frets are in the right place and crazy how the neck bulges out at the top of the fretboard.

    BTW I think the "A" is actually part of the fretboard, not added at all. It even has the last fret on it:
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    My theory is that the maker saw a photo of a mandolin and decided to make one with no musical knowledge. BTW it looks like the town she is from is Colebrook. I know of a Colebrook in New Hampshire but it is more likely that it is in the UK.

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    Even stranger: it is being sold by the British Red Cross.
    Jim

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  16. #13
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    The way the strings run over those saddle slots they must be buzzing like a swarm of bees. The sturdiness of the instrument tells me it was built for players on a bigger planet with much higher gravity.
    Bottom line: it's a Klingon sitar.
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  18. #14
    Registered User tonydxn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    I'm pretty sure the name is Jocelyn Aberhardt. Probably an English woman who married a German. Colebrook is a village in Devon, UK, near Cullompton. It looks as if the mandolin has been made of wood reclaimed from old furniture. Pine top (probably from the back of a cupboard), oak sides, mahogany back. Probably Mrs. Aberhardt has recently died and her belongings donated to the Red Cross, to be sold on.

    Anyone buying this to play is probably going to be disappointed, but there is a certain charm about its oddness. Someone has bid on it, anyway.

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  20. #15

    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Quote Originally Posted by NEH57 View Post
    I think this was probably the the prototype .....appeared in a local Auction house near me the other day......

    I don't think some over here should be trusted with Mandolin design......
    Click image for larger version. 

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    That's the Non-Tip version. You just stand it on its end and it stays there.

    Actually it looks like the designer maybe did have that in mind, because there appears to be a bit of relief at the tailpiece/hook area, so the instrument would sit flat on the floor on the outer parts.

    Might be handy for setting it next to your chair/desk/sofa etc, no instrument stand required.

  21. #16

    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Quote Originally Posted by jaycat View Post
    There are round holes, and there are f holes, and now it seems . . .
    best joke in days

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  23. #17
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    Default Re: Unsual mandolin I just came across

    Hey! It has a full NON-contact bridge!
    Don

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