Clifford Mandolinetto ca 1900 or so...
I recently acquired this Mandolinetto from Guitar Tex in San Antonio. It was in sad, unplayed shape when they got it but they worked their magic and put it back pretty close to right. I saw it in a Facebook post and then went in to try it out. I just really dug it. It's so different from the Bighorn, I had to have it.
Despite the heroic effort to get it playable, the bridge wasn't quite right on the G course the lowest string popped loose and would not stay. I took it in and they gladly made the required adjustments. At the same time, I had them change strings. They had put on a set regular light gauge strings that was fine but I had a set of the Jazzmando flatwounds I thought would be better. Boy was I right. Switching to the them took all the plinky out of the tone.
I have it on display in my office on my table of treasures. Most days I take my lunch in my office and practice. All the basics work fine on this little guy and its teaching me some things in its own right. The smaller size and frets are making work harder to get the tone I want. That's a good thing. Speaking of frets, despite the age there is no apparent wear so I may have already played it more than it was played in the first century of its existence.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks