Information about this "Amy" mandolin?

[Mikaelea]

Hello! I just got this mandolin as a birthday gift. My brother bought it at a flea market in Sweden. It seems to be of decent build quality but there is no information on, or inside of it other than the name "Amy" on the headstock. Anyone who knows about its origin?

[Bob A]

Central/eastern Europe.

[Seter]

The D.R.G.M. on the tuning gears is Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster, so you could likely narrow it down to Germany.

[Ray(T)]

Yes, definitely central/eastern European; slotted headstock and zero fret are a give-away but I've never seen one with a name on the headstock. Does it say "Army" or "Amy"?

You can still buy an almost identical model today. I'd say yours dates from the 1960's give or take a decade or so.

[MikeEdgerton]

Looks like Amy to me. I would have taken it for Germany as well.

[Mikaelea]

Thanks a lot guys! I remember hearing about zero fret being a German thing when I come to think about it. Apparently the D.R.G.M. patent stamp was used on products manufactured up until 1952. Tanks again Seter for great info from your link!

[MikeEdgerton]

The zero fret isn't exclusive to Germany. You may have some trouble finding a matching tuner button.

[Mikaelea]

I'll have to replace all tuner buttons. Four were missing from the start. As soon as I started tuning one of the remaining ones it broke! Some lube is definitely needed to! :-) There is also a crack in the top that I will glue together. I have some experience with guitar repair and a friend who has a string instrument workshop so it will be playable soon!