Merrill aluminum mandolin

[allenhopkins]

Just purchased a Merill bowl-back on eBay; it has a spruce top with ivoroid and wood binding/purfling, mahogany neck, rosewood headstock overlay, and an aluminum "bowl," engraved with vines & leaves. "The Merrill" is inlaid in the headstock in aluminum. I would be interested in information regarding Merrill instruments and aluminum mandos in general. Instrument plays nicely, good bright sound, and the price was right (less than $250). I would guess nineteen-teens or twenties for the vintage.

Those are actually pretty neat. I've seen a few, never owned one. There's a mention of the mandolin here. I think there might be some other mention of these in one of the books I have, I'll have to look.

[allenhopkins]

Found some info about Merrill from Mike Holmes ("Mugwumps Online"):Aluminum instrument article

This info indicates an earlier date for the mandolin, as Merrill's company, Aluminum Musical Instruments, apparently went out of business in a flurry of lawsuits in 1898.

[brunello97]

Allen and all:

Here's the link to the Mugwumps article:

http://www.mugwumps.com/aluminum.htm

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Another Cafe member just bought one from Bernunzio. Read about it here.

Jim