Amazing mandolin from the 1600s

[bluesmandolinman]

boy check this ebay auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....ck=true

I allways thought Mr. Gibson´s creations were fancy....

[otterly2k]

yeah, I saw that one the other day...
pretty impressive.

[glauber]

6 courses, probably tuned like a guitar(octave above), nylon-strung. Lots and lots of engraving. Looked like a turtle to me.



I'm not sure why he thinks the top has been replaced. This looks like it's carved out of one piece of wood unlike a conventional bowlback.

[Jim Hilburn]

But does it have a good chop?

[ShaneJ]

With that pointy back seam and the apparent heft, it'll probably chop the heck out of something!

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Actually, it doesn't look all the well carved. hmmmmm

Daniel

[Eugene]

This one rounds eBay with great frequency and is discussed every time over in the classical section. #It never sells. #Nope, sorry Glauber; this almost certainly was not tuned an octave above modern guitar; that tuning came in the late 1700s with the mandolino Genovese, and it had a floating tailpiece for stringing with wire. #Also, they had precious little nylon for mandolin strings back in those days; strings would have been gut. #There is some debate regarding whether this would have been considered a mandolin or a soprano lute...or whether it's remotely authentic.

[Tony Burns]

doesnt look kosher to me , would need more than the seller opinion on this instrument , like a professional appraisal , (from a professional ) - even thou the age maybe correct ( or not ) instruments from the early to late 1700's are not as rare as some people believe - tough to prove age !

[chuck.naill]

That's one of them pre war models

I was gonna buy this but bought an F5-G instead....

[woodwiz]

It's definitely not old. The carving is horrible, clearly done by unskilled labor, and there are no signs of age on the instrument. My guess is it was made in India or the Middle East sometime after WWII, probably much more recently than that. I've seen fake firearms from that area that had similar workmanship.

[Eugene]

That said, I've seen authentic ca. 1600 instruments with similar workmanship. A rather coarse approach to aesthetics is nothing new.