Favilla bowlback

[morgan]

Here are some photos of my new Favilla bowlback. I bought it cheap from an antique dealer. It had no bridge or nut, a good sized crack in the back, a general layer of grunge, and the soundhole marquetry and one of the tuner plates were hanging off, but the neck was straight. I made a nut out of a scrap of rosewood, found that a bridge from a wallhanger tiple was just the right height so used that, screwed the tuners back on and oiled them, glued the back crack and the marquetry, gave it a general cleaning, buffed the metal parts lightly with steel wool, and used an emery board to remove most of the unsightly tobacco-colored staining on the fretboard binding.

It sounds pretty good and I've been enjoying my entry into the fellowship of the bowl.

I'll include photos of the label. There is no manufacture date or serial number. Any info about the age or origin would be appreciated

[DavidKOS]

That's a nice basic mandolin, have fun playing it. I love seeing old bowl backs returned to life.

[morgan]

More photos, including label, homemade coffin case, and detail of pickguard inlay. I like how the stems are a darker color than the leaves/flowers

[morgan]

Trying again with the photos

[brunello97]

Fair play to you, Morgan.

I have had a few Favilla mandolins, both flat backs and bowl backs. I think they are one of the 'sleepers' in the US mandolin world.

From my experience, their bowlbacks are midway between the heft of the L + H / Washburn mandos and the light very responsive Boston / Vega mandolins. Some of the best quality-per-$$ we're apt to find these days.

My Favilla is one of my main go-to bowls. A real hybrid of Italian and American tonal sensibilities, I think. Truth be told I must say I prefer the more Italian, more responsive Vega sound in bowlbacks but I have often found their neck profiles a bit thick for my hands. The Favillas have had a great neck profile for my hands and have been a delight to play.

They came out with a line of flatback mandolins in the '20s to compete with Martin, I am guessing. Those are a great score if you can nab one.

Tom Favilla, scion of the family, is still alive and well and living in Upstate New York. Gentle Giant of a man and very interested in the family luthiery tradition. We exchanged some nice emails a few years back. PM me if you are interested and I can send you the email address I have for him--though I'm not 100% it is still viable.

I dig the coffin case. Nice work!

Mick

[MikeEdgerton]

Big Tom is a decent guy.

[morgan]

Mick - have been away from the cafe for a while and just found your post. It is comfortable to play, although the neck is a little narrow. I like the tone, and my wife, who has a jaded but probably accurate perception of my fine carpentry capabilities, was quite surprised when she told me that it sounded nice. A funny thing about the mando is that it has very little dynamic response. It seems to play at close to the same volume regardless - perhaps consistent with your comment about the more responsive Vega sound. I have GHS ultralights on it now - didn't want to start with $25 strings on a $50 mando - but will probably try some Calaces next time.