Anyone heard tell of a Portland-area luthier from the 1930s named Verheuren?
https://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/...424474726.html
Anyone heard tell of a Portland-area luthier from the 1930s named Verheuren?
https://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/...424474726.html
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For posterity
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
If it was built then, someone knew what they were doing/ was there a Gibson employee by that name by chance? The case is different I never seen one like that before, the hardware looks around that time frame. the mando, I don't know??
There was an employee named Willard Vermeulen, worked as a stringer and woodworker "Known Employment Dates 1937-1939?" According to Spann's Book? An H and M could look similar in hand writing?
It never ceases to amaze me what an incredible resource Joe Spann's book is. I use it as a reference mostly for FON but i really have to read it (scan it at least) from cover to cover to see what a wealth of knowledge is in there that was previously unavailable. A big THANKS to Joe for this book.
My first thought was that this was a violin maker and I looked in my American violin maker's book, but nothing in that. BTW the name is Dutch FWIW.
Jim
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Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
yes, "verheuren" is Dutch, but various translators disagree on what it means. Vermeulen is more common as a surname.
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
The person also might have had an F5 available to copy but I like the idea of the guy being a Gibson employee. I just don't know how he gets from Kalamazoo to Portland.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Ok just heard from the seller and no Gibson employee by the name of Willard! He said on the inside its handwritten Victor Verheusen 1932! Well I thought I had a good idea at first-long shot but there it is from the seller named Dan.
Seems like the odds of two mandolin makers having such similar names both working in the 30's on F5 style mandolins would be something like 10 Billion to one.........John Smith or Tom Jones or Joe Blow, sure, but Vermeulen???????????
OTOH, if it is indeed from the 30's and has any kind of sound, it should be worth $700..........shouldn't it? That's the price of a lower to mid level pac-rim mandolin.......for Pete's sake!
My first impression was that it wasn't nearly as old as they claim. When did Gibson start the volute thing?
I say this as a person who routinely writes "Larson Bros" inside old no name parlor guitars before donating them to the Goodwill...
Wish I lived in the area. I'd sure like to see it up close.
Put it in perspective, there is and, was, a HUGE Dutch population in Michigan. Vermeulen is a common name around here. How the mandolin got from here to there might be a more interesting story.
We have VanSwedens, Vredevoogds, Boonzaaijers, Vermeulens, Vanderkloks, Luykx’s all over the place. You name the surname with Dutch roots, it’s here, the furniture industry in Grand Rapids was largely owned and managed by Dutch families. To see something like this come up is kind of cool but, this one is a little rough no matter how cool. And it is very cool.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
For $700 I'd hit it like a shark in a feeding frenzy, if I was a local, and it played well.
Here are threads on a couple of other early F5 copies:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...4-1934-F5-copy
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...-Benko-F5-copy
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
The 34 link above is the F-5 that I remember from a recent thread on something? Someone wanted to know who else was making style 5's other than Gibson, and that is the mandolin! Anyone know where that one dwells, I'd have some interest in her, It was on ebay and went cheap if I recall correctly? I thought it was Joe Stewert but the 34 is a Joe Wilson-I was close? Anybody buy that 32 yet from Craigslist?
I'd buy the Wilson if I could find it, it looks as though it has a H-5 mandola vibe about her? All are KOOL if really that old
Is the name "Verheuren" or "Verheusen?" Shows up both ways above.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
Kalamazoo used to be one of the largest celery producing areas in the United States, fabulous muck land for the stuff. That has mostly gone away, times change, people move. I would not be surprised if the name was VerHuesen or any variation on the spelling.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Unless the case is a re-lined case from another instrument (fiddle, lap steel), the case is for sure old. Mandolin doesn't look to be from the 30's, in my opinion. Might look different in person. Anyone snag this? I'd be interested in seeing more about the case.
Right on Troy, I thought the case may have a bit of the KOOL factor!
KOOL is a menthol cigarette brand, COOL is far deeper. Not to be confused with “Kewl”,
Interesting, is how I’d classify this homage to an F-5. It’s not much of a “copy” but, it is surely an interesting bit of construction. If it sounds good, it’s ahead of some other “copies” I’ve seen.
The case is very interesting indeed.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Posting deleted, so ... SOMEBODY snagged it.
If I were footloose and independently wealthy I'd just drive 3 hours down to Portland whenever I saw something like that. Sadly, however ...
Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
I had this up on a tab and was going to email him, it is deleted now so someone, I hope here, got it.
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!
Based on the volute on the back of the neck, I am guessing that this instrument is a copy of a 70's Gibson F5.
When 'good enough' is more than adequate.
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