Oddball Vintage e-Mando

[Ausdoerrt]

Hiya folks,

My light (for now) form of MAS enables me to browse local listings for interesting offerings, rare gems etc.

Today, I noticed an interesting one - a really odd-looking e-mando, estimated by the seller at ~30 years old - see the photo below.




I must admit that I'm slightly enamored by the odd shape and make. I've initially pegged this mando as one of those odd Soviet experiments in instrument-making, but then the f-holes and the headstock shape would suggest otherwise.

Any ideas as to what this is/could be? Wondering if it's worth the money and effort to get to a playable state.

[PJ Doland]

Today, I noticed an interesting one - a really odd-looking e-mando, estimated by the seller at ~30 years old - see the photo below.

That would put it at the mid 1980's. I'd be shocked if it isn't at least 40-45 years old.

[Ausdoerrt]

Agree, it does look distinctly "seventies" to me.

[mrmando]

Priceless. There was a factory in Yerevan that made some odd-looking solidbody e-mandos in that era; I wonder if this is related somehow. Can't make out any logos in this shot.

[Ausdoerrt]

Yeah, I have heard of that one while doing research. The Yerevan e-mandos are supposedly shoddy (surprise!) and pretty rare. They looked like this (I've seen pics in varying body and pickguard colors, but probably not original):



There's even a detailed review of it in Russian, HERE. From myself I'll add that the "signature" tailpiece is the dead giveaway of the Soviet-make mando in this case.


Not quite so on the example in the initial post. Then again, the depth and breadth of the ugly Soviet guitar world is truly astounding, so who knows?

I wonder what the buttons (register switches?) are for... If those are built-in "Soviet-style" effects, it could be a fun romp :D

[Jeff Mando]

Wow, that looks interesting! I've never seen one like it. What is the scale length? It looks slightly longer than a mandolin scale, but might just be the picture.

It sure would be fun to get it up and running and hear what it sounds like. If the neck is straight, then it would need the normal cleanup, strings and a bridge. Sometimes getting electronics working again can be a challenge if the instrument has sat for a while. Often, a film of tarnish has covered the contacts and needs to be cleaned off before you can get any sound. Sometimes contact cleaner will work, sometimes the contacts need to be taken apart and scraped. Things like the input jack can be replaced easily. Looks like a fun project, depending on cost.

[mrmando]

There's even a detailed review of it in Russian, HERE.

Oh man, this Yerevan factory shot is priceless:

[mandolinstew]

any color as long as it's black (Henry Ford said black paint dried faster)

[vic-victor]

Yerevan mandolins called "Krunk". As most of USSR production IMHO they not worth touching.

Found the actual listing for the mandolin in question. The seller writes that the mandolin was custom built. Looks like that's it.

[Ausdoerrt]

Oh huh, how'd I miss that.

Still, I want some of what the guy who made it was smoking :D


P.S. The quality of Soviet electric instruments is only matched by their impeccable style

[vic-victor]

I initially thought it is Czech Jolanta. Probably some parts were used from it. There are fans of Soviet-made instruments out there, but I think it is nostalgia-driven more than anything else. I remember Ural and Ionika electric guitars I used to play in the high school back in the old USSR days. They were just plain terrible.

BTW, there are acouple of decent bowlbacks for sale in Ukraine at the moment via aukro.ua Salsedo in particular looks very attractive.

[Ausdoerrt]

Nostalgia is part of it, sure. I'd also guess that they make for nice stage props given the outlandish designs. At least I'm contemplating getting this one for that specific purpose

I do want a bowlback, potentially, but don't really need one right now, as I'm not good enough for classical yet and, well, my L&H A is more than enough for occasional escapades in that direction. Now, if a stronger urge ever arises, might as well look on eBay for a much wider selection (with all due respect to your project )

[Verne Andru]

Wondering if it's worth the money and effort to get to a playable state.

I'm kinda liking that. Love all those switches.

Doesn't appear to be a truss-rod adjustment, so the neck will be the deal-breaker. If the neck is straight and doesn't appear "spaghetti-ish" the neck joint is solid [set or bolt-on] and the body doesn't appear to be coming apart at the seams, then most of the rest can be fixed.

[Jeff Mando]

Oh man, this Yerevan factory shot is priceless:

Looks like a young Vladimir P.

[zedmando]

Hiya folks,

My light (for now) form of MAS enables me to browse local listings for interesting offerings, rare gems etc.

Today, I noticed an interesting one - a really odd-looking e-mando, estimated by the seller at ~30 years old - see the photo below.




I must admit that I'm slightly enamored by the odd shape and make. I've initially pegged this mando as one of those odd Soviet experiments in instrument-making, but then the f-holes and the headstock shape would suggest otherwise.

Any ideas as to what this is/could be? Wondering if it's worth the money and effort to get to a playable state.

No idea on your questions--but it would be cool to check it out.

[DavidKOS]

I initially thought it is Czech Jolanta. Probably some parts were used from it.

It has a look about that reminds me of those instruments too.

I'm not so sure it's a real player, though.

[delsbrother]

IIRC an instrument like the one in the factory photo was one of the original instruments in the ebay emando thread. Ahh, the memories.. There's gotta be a similar shot of Indonesian workers with a table full of mando-strats somewhere!

Just like in the ebay thread, the instruments in the photo all have knobs in an unfamiliar positon for us in the West ("in the way" for a right handed player, it would seem). Perhaps they're really e-domras, and those instruments are played differently? Hopefully the domra players in the group could shine a light on that one.

In any case, the instrument in the OP interestingly has the knobs and switches in the "correct" position for a righty. The cutaway kind of brings to mind those mandolin-shaped objects that used to dominate emando searches on ebay before the current onslaught of asian Fender-inspired copies.

[vic-victor]

Domra has either 3 or 4 strings. And it is basically a mandolin variation. Vassily Andreev - the father of balalaika, was thinking of mandolin use in his Russian balalaika orchestra, but didn't want to use mandolin itself, as that would not be Russian. So he has basically re-invented domra ( there was a folk instrument under that name in 15c that was quite different from the modern version) and made it specifically as a mandolin replacement for his orchestra. He was brought some old folk instrument and he based his domra on that. Not to remind mandolin even further, double courses were abandoned and it was initially made 3 strings instead of 4. Later 4 string version appeared, as 3 strings had obvious limitations. Domra became an academic instrument in USSR times in schools of music. There are many thousands of domrists in Russia and former USSR. These days many find themselves sort of stuck, because the popularity of Russian folk orchestras is not there anymore and Solo domra prformances are not that popular either. So many domrists turn to mandolin as more versatile instrument as a result. Mandolin is gaining more popularity in Russia.

But the instrument on a picture is not an e-domra, it is an e-mando.