A classical guitar teacher friend brought an old bowl back mandolin to me yesterday with hopes it can be resurrected to playing condition. It belongs to the eighty-something year old grandmother of his son's girlfriend. The grandmother was born in Greece and trained there as a teacher around the late 1940s. An obligatory part of their training was some proficiency on the mandolin , but when she married and moved to Australia in the 1950s, she did not have time for playing music. This mandolin was bought for her, perhaps in the 1960s, but has remained in a cupboard until rescued recently by her grandchildren. She has expressed a wish to again play the mandolin so I would like to get it working for her.
It is American made and I have found what appears to be an identical instrument in a 1911 Carl Fischer catalog, the No. 5 1/2 on the left of the page. Made most likely by Regal or Harmony. The mandolin is in remarkably good condition. No cracks or distortion in the soundboard, the bowl is solid and the neck pretty close to straight. The bridge is too high but that can be sorted and it needs a new nut. The main problem are the tuners. The cog has been lost from the upper D string tuner post. I am hoping someone out there might have an unsalvageable bowlback with similar tuners, nickel plated with cream coloured buttons, though that is not vital. The posts are at 7/8" centres. The cog was a press fit onto the tuner post and slightly knurled over to hold it in place, so it would seem tricky to try to repair. Another set of tuners would seem easier, if I can find some.
Thanks
Bookmarks