Grange mandolin

[Ed Fowler]

I saw in a local paper a upcoming auction with a 'Grange' mandolin with case. I've been searching the Net for any info on this 'Grange' but can't find anything.
Does anyone know about this mandolin?
'Preciate any info
thanx

EdtheSquid

[Jim Garber]

Probably a large, farm implement version of the kitchen mandoline.



Jim

That tunes in the G range...

[jim simpson]

I believe this is the Grange mandolin featured in the auction.

I think I bid on that thing.

Nope, I bid on this one.

[Jim Garber]

That Grange mandolin looks Germanic to me. Sort of Framus-oid with the cats-eye soundholes.

Jim

[8ch(pl)]

That second one has unusual shaped F holes.

[mandroid]

We have Grange Contra Dances around here, Square dances at another one on 101.

[Jemki]

I just bought the same mandolin as the pic shared above from Jim Simpson, however, it does not have a case. Does anyone here know anything about this 'Grange' mandolin. Dave from 'Mandolin Cafe' and I have been communicating via email and he thinks it might be a 'Hoyer' mandolin. Anyone? Anything? Thanks

[allenhopkins]

Could be Hoyer, or Framus; both of them made guitar-esque mandolins. The soundholes look a bit more Framus, but I haven't found a Framus with a slotted headstock.

Does look German-made...

[Jemki]

Could be Hoyer, or Framus; both of them made guitar-esque mandolins. The soundholes look a bit more Framus, but I haven't found a Framus with a slotted headstock.

Does look German-made...

yeah, Dave Hayes thought it looked like a Hoyer as well. I haven't looked at Framus, but since you have and anyone here will have much more experience with mandolins than myself, I will believe that you haven't found a slotted headstock one. This is quite curious! Nonetheless, in addition to trying to learn the background of this, I'd also like to find a hardshell case for it and I'm not finding that either!

[Jemki]

just found the Rosita mandolin on Framous-Vintage which does have a slotted headstock, but that's the only similar feature. good call though, as the vintage ad on their home page does picture one similar to what I bought. However, just like Dave found, the similarities end there.

[Jemki]

UPDATE: my mandolin is made by OTTO WINDISCH, Germany, 1950. They're called a 'mandolinetto'. :D

[MikeEdgerton]

Can you post a picture of the label?

[Jemki]

Dave said, "If it isn't it is ripped off directly from their designs. The name on the headstock looks crappy, as if added later. It may be a marriage. Hoyers had a nicer headstock.

[MikeEdgerton]

UPDATE: my mandolin is made by OTTO WINDISCH, Germany, 1950. They're called a 'mandolinetto'. :D

Is there a label inside that's telling you this?

[Jemki]

can't see inside, I'd need a scope! it's exactly the same as the pic posted by Jim Simpson 2006, however, and unfortunately, not with a case.

[tonydxn]

A lot of information about a similar instrument came to light in a post on the Facebook Mandolin Group. Several people had very similar instruments labelled with the name Otto Windisch.

Otto Windisch (Otwin) was a noted mandolin maker in pre-war Germany. Mandolins continued to be made under this name in post-war East Germany. Jemki's example looks to have been (rather crudely) badged with a stencilled name, probably for sale in the West.

[Jemki]

yes, I posted my instrument on the FB MG page. And as I posted above, Dave Hayes also said, "If it isn't it is ripped off directly from their designs. The name on the headstock looks crappy, as if added later. It may be a marriage."

[Jemki]

found these yesterday with a friend's good eye and a flashlight. posted them in the FB mandolin group and this was the response I received, "... Instruments often have marks inside that don't mean anything to anyone except the company that made them. Could be the initials of the employee who worked on it, or some kind of mark to show the workers which body belonged to which neck (for example). I would guess that the word 'foreign' indicates it was intended for sale outside Germany. The name stencilled on the head (which you showed in your other posts) suggests the same thing."