Vega Mandolin

[Lyle Lincoln]

Can anyone help me date a Vega bowl back mandolin? Serial number is 273 24 half is on one side of the headstock 273, the 24 on the other
Thank you in advance
Lyle

[nmiller]

There is no known list of serial numbers for Vega mandolins or guitars. There is one for banjos, but unfortunately, mandolins follow their own sequence. However, I do know that Vega stopped building bowl-back mandolins by the end of the 1920s; it was probably closer to 1920 than 1930, but I don't have the documentation to prove it.

[Lyle Lincoln]

Thank you for your quick response, I will keep trying to find out more information

[Jim Garber]

Paul Ruppa of Milwaukee has been documenting Vega cylinderback mandolin family instruments and the earliest he has on his list is 28578, a bowlback tenor mandola which he says dates back to 1912. I have a copy of a catalog showing bowlbacks including my style 3 but there is no date but Jim Bollman (an expert on Vega esp banjos) says it is around that period.

Lyle: post some pics of your Vega and I can probably ID at least the model number. My style three is an excellent mandolin and I also have a couple of the Pettine model Vega bowlbacks.

Here is my style 3: