Hunt for the mystery mandolin

[mrmando]

Here is a Craigslist ad looking for a needle in a haystack. Actually it's more difficult than that, because the ad won't tell us if we're looking for a needle, a nail, or a napkin ring:

https://semo.craigslist.org/msg/d/ha...555625283.html

Anybody recognize that mandolin? If the person who placed the ad knows it's No. 22 of 23 by the builder, surely he or she also knows the builder's name. So why not mention it?

[MikeZito]

I have never seen one before, but if one popped-up in a shop where I was browsing, I would surely stop and check it out.

To me it kind of looks like somebody mated an F-5 with a Rigel.

[David L]

Here is a Craigslist ad looking for a needle in a haystack. Actually it's more difficult than that, because the ad won't tell us if we're looking for a needle, a nail, or a napkin ring:

https://semo.craigslist.org/msg/d/ha...555625283.html

Anybody recognize that mandolin? If the person who placed the ad knows it's No. 22 of 23 by the builder, surely he or she also knows the builder's name. So why not mention it?

There is probably a marking on the inside that says 22/23, but no builder name.

[mrmando]

There is probably a marking on the inside that says 22/23, but no builder name.

If there were such a marking, it would be open to interpretation. It might mean something else entirely, since it would be unusual for a luthier to determine in advance that he or she is going to build only 23 mandolins and no more.

[Timbofood]

Parts of a failed #22 repurposed for #23?
Not one for me, thanks though.

[Jim Garber]

Martin, it is always helpful to post at least some pics. Maybe would help this person and besides CL ads get taken down pretty quickly. Of course, it looks like he/she just posted pieces of the same image. Here is the most complete one (nothing of the back).

Did you contact the person to see if they have more info. At least we all received a blessing.

[mrmando]

Well, I'm curious about who built the mandolin, but not curious enough to contact someone who (a) won't respond to email; (b) apparently doesn't grasp why it would have been a good idea to post the builder's name in the first place.

[Jim Garber]

Oh, yeah... I guess you would have to call him. So strange and odd that he would not post the builder's name. Makes no sense.

[MikeEdgerton]

Unless that mandolin was stolen and the person that posted the ad is looking to flush it out of the woodwork. This recording will self-destruct in 30 seconds.

[mrmando]

There is a label in the bass F hole, FWIW. But I can't read it in the photos.

[Roger Moss]

There is a label in the bass F hole, FWIW. But I can't read it in the photos.

I'm not sure that is a label. It looks like a spot of light on the inside back. There is a similar spot in the treble side f hole.

[Jess L.]

The ad said:

"Have You Seen This Mandolin or one like it?
It is #22 of 23 by the builder. Would like
very much to find one of them.
If you know the where abouts of one of these"

They're not looking for that exact #22 of 23 mandolin. They're looking for one that looks just like it. IMO that's an important distinction and provides a clue as to motive.

What about this scenario:

1. A person used to own one of these mandolins, regrets selling it, and wants another one but can't find one anywhere. Person searches the internet regularly, looking for that brand name...
2. The person's spouse * knows that the person searches online looking for that brand of instrument. Spouse wants to buy such an instrument as a birthday present for the person. So the spouse runs the ad in an attempt to procure "one of these" instruments. Doesn't matter which one, whether #22 or #7, as long as it looks the same and came from the same builder.
3. But spouse doesn't want to ruin the surprise by having the person discover the ad, since spouse knows anytime that brand name shows up online, the person will likely have found it via Google.
4. So, the spouse runs the strangely-worded ad, to keep it from showing up in search-engine results for that brand of mandolin, so that the intended gift-receiver doesn't discover the ad via Google etc and find out that the spouse is trying to buy one of these mandolins for a gift.

Seems as good an explanation as any, except that such a strategy seems like a long shot if they've posted the ad in only one region (southeastern Missouri, apparently)... unless that's the region that the builder came from... hmm, maybe that's another clue as to brand, a builder who perhaps lived in southeastern Missouri and made only 23 mandolins before ceasing production...

Anyway, I do know people who only search by specific brands (although unrelated to musical instruments), they never go trawling through Craigslist/eBay/etc just to see what's there, instead they limit their search terms to the exact brand they want. A person using that search strategy would not find a want-to-buy ad that didn't specify the brand name, so my little proposed scenario above would be a way of staying under the radar.

Or, maybe it's not even that complicated. Maybe the spouse isn't a mandolin-person and doesn't know what brand it was, and doesn't want to ask so as to not tip his/her hand.

One thing is odd: First impression of the pictures, is that they all look like almost the same picture, just zoomed in to different areas. I haven't layered up the pics in Photoshop to compare them, so I could be wrong. If all the pics did in fact derive from one snapshot, that could fit my hypothesis outlined above, the spouse (or whoever) might have rummaged through a photo album and found the picture of the person's beloved former mandolin. Or something!


---
Footnote:
* Using the word "spouse" for sake of convenience, but could be anyone else close to the person.

[Jess L.]

... Of course, it looks like he/she just posted pieces of the same image. ...

Oops, I didn't notice you'd already mentioned that, until after I posted my other post a minute ago, but yeah that's what it looks like to me too.

[Marty Jacobson]

100%, those are all the same picture, just cropped differently.

[Jeff Mando]

It is certainly distinctive enough that somebody (here?) should recognize the maker. Similar to other builders who have taken a more stylized approach to the basic F style.

[MikeEdgerton]

We can probably identify it by the process of elimination. If nobody knows what it is then lets determine what it isn't. It's not a Shmergel.

[billhay4]

I kinda like it and would also like to know who built it, etc.
Bill

[mrmando]

What about this scenario:

Not exactly Occam's razor, but a plausible interpretation of the evidence. Nicely done.

- - - Updated - - -

It is certainly distinctive enough that somebody (here?) should recognize the maker.

That's what I was hoping. Jason Harshbarger was the first name that entered my head, but I don't think it is one of his.

[Steve Ostrander]

It's not a Shmergel. Otherwise it would say 1/1.