Howdy. A couple weeks ago I picked up a pretty beaten up Antonio Grouso bowlback off of fleabay. It was very cheap. It has a few cracks in the back that all link up to a spot where it looks like it was dropped at some point. I ran a few streams of glue along the cracks, but honestly it looks like other than the impact that it experienced not much seems to be moving. I also replaced the tailpiece with an ugly gold one I had laying around, fixed a broken tuner, installed new binding (it was non-existent when I got it), and it is using a temporary bridge that I threw together out of some red oak. It is no looker by any means, but it plays really well.
I have a couple questions for the masses: first off, any idea of the potential age of this mando? any idea when Antonio was active? I couldn't find any sort of number inside the instrument. Are there any distinguishing features on this instrument that could help me narrow it down (out of pure curiousity)? Also, I put on a set of light strings (j73s). Will this work or do I need even lower gauge strings (suggestions??)?
Thanks for your help!!
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