The last mandolin Bill Monroe ever performed with ... on eBay ...

[mrmando]

For the low, low price of an arm and a leg.

No details about who built this gem or what that maker's mandolins typically sell for.

I maintain that unless we're talking about 73987, the Monroe mojo doesn't have that powerful of a price tag.

[CWRoyds]

Yeah, unless it was their personal instrument, used for famed recordings or many live concerts, I don't think a star jamming on an instrument raises its price by a penny, unless of course that means something to the person with the pennies.
Eric Clapton played my Taylor for about an hour, and I am certain I am not getting more than current market value for it. I did keep the strings he played on for my personal treasure box, but value... none to anyone but me.

Having said that, who knows what the mandolin is actually worth unless you know who made it, or how good it is. They want the price of a Dude or Gil, so it would have to be a hell of a great mandolin to justify the price.
Something tells me it is a nice sounding mandolin, but doesn't rate the price tag.

Anyone recognize the headstock bull icon?

[AlanN]

And seems Tony Rice is somehow connected to this. Where's Duane Eddy when you need him?

[Don Grieser]

Read the newspaper article attached. Cool story.

[Timbofood]

Very cool story!
The words "Lloyd Loar" were uttered over the bull as it was inlayed so, that's where the value will enter the equation.

[jim simpson]

Is that Bertie Higgins in the photo with Bill? I had to look up the song, Key Largo, that is mentioned in the Ebay auction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_Largo_(song)

This is fun stuff!

[LadysSolo]

Love the newspaper article, no way would I pay that much for the mandolin though.

[Tobin]

That was indeed a neat story in the newspaper article, but the description in the eBay listing may be a bit misleading. They say that this was Monroe's "last concert". Based on the article, it sounded more like an impromptu jam. And they said it occurred on a Tuesday night, with the article being released on Sunday, 3/17/96. So the date of his appearance at this club would have been 3/12/96. Wikipedia says his last performance was on 3/15/96, which was the Friday following his appearance here in this club.

Does anyone know where his actual last performance was on that Friday?

[palosfv3]

I posted the newspaper article on the Monroe Appreciation Society FB page . Several interesting responses from some of those who are very aware of the story. Cant figure how to link directly to the post without posting all threads of the page . Hopefully this copy and paste will work ..



Jamie Neal Holt The last mandolin Bill Monroe ever played onstage was his famous Gibson F5 on March 15, 1996. I was listening that night to him on the Friday Night Opry.

Jim Simpson It's too bad the seller on Ebay doesn't identify who made the mandolin or who owned it on the night it was borrowed in order for Bill Monroe to have something to play. I also wonder who played the mandolin when it was used on Bertie Higgin's "Key Largo".

Murphy Henry My late friend Logan Neill wrote the article as I see in the byline. Great promoter and lover of bluegrass in Florida. And musician himself. Wish he were here to comment. Mike Johnson, you know anything about this show? Bob Higginboth

Murphy Henry PS just noticed guitar great Billy Sandlin named in the picture. I knew him when he played with Front Porch String Band.

Mike Johnson We need to ask some of the Tampa and central Fl survivors to comment ,tag some of them (I see you already tagged Hig).

Michelle Putnam March 17, 1996 is the print date on this...Monroe became ill while playing the Opry on March 15, 1996...I'm old and easily confused....and nearly blind (lol)...is there a date this "event" took place ???

Jamie Neal Holt It mentioned in the article that it was on a Tuesday. Wonder when Mr. Monroe was in Florida? Would it have been maybe the week before his final Opry performance.


Michelle Putnam Dana Cupp might be able to provide the exact date for us...

[jesserules]

according to allmusic dot com, mandolin on Key Largo was played by Norman Blake.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/just-a...201990/credits

[Jeff Mando]

according to allmusic dot com, mandolin on Key Largo was played by Norman Blake.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/just-a...201990/credits

Just for fun I checked the credits on the album that Key Largo appears on by Bertie Higgins. Norman Blake is listed on mandolin as well as Jeff Pinkham, who is mentioned in the article as the club owner where Monroe played. Pinkham is the pictured playing guitar as well as mandolin in the pictures with Monroe in the article. It doesn't say who played on what song. The album was recorded in Atlanta. I'm guessing Norman Blake would bring his own equipment, but maybe he liked the sound of this mandolin and decided to use it on the recording. Just a guess. But the story does seem well-documented enough to be true, however, it still doesn't tell us who made the mandolin and unless it was Gilchrist or Monteleone, it probably isn't worth the opening bid, IMHO. Monroe "borrowing" somebody's mandolin for the night doesn't add much to its value, he played a lot of people's mandolins over the years.

[jesserules]

... Monroe "borrowing" somebody's mandolin ..., he played a lot of people's mandolins over the years.

Not to mention

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEb3-RC2DBI

[mrmando]

It would appear that Jeff Pinkham is the father of mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham, one of several candidates for "the next Chris Thile" who've come along in the past few years:
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/11/Fl..._prodigy.shtml

Jeff Pinkham also operates the Tony Rice Foundation:
https://www.facebook.com/letshelpTonyRiceplayagain/

So that stuff is legit as far as it goes, even if Monroe did play his own mandolin on the Opry a few days after playing a pickup gig with this one.

What Jeff told me when I asked about the mandolin on eBay was that it's a no-name he picked up in a shop in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1972, and no one's been able to determine who built it.

I think "let's raise some money to help Tony Rice" might be a bigger motivator than "Bill Monroe once played this mandolin." You could donate a thousandth of the opening bid price to help Tony Rice and forget about the mando while still doing a good deed.

[f5loar]

Tony Rice needs a GO FUND ME.COM set up for his needs. The mandolin needs to start at it's true value and let them both go to their peaks. The mandolin likely does play okay and may even sound okay, but from it's looks and the poor details on it, it's a $2000 F5 copy at best. Tie in the Monroe story and it could do better. Monroe did more song on the final Opry show than he did on this of the cuff bar gig. No Blue Grass Boys should even put it in there as a concert at all. More like a jam with Monroe heading up the jam for 15 mins.