HELP - More info needed

[dandolin32]

Hi , i came across this mandolin at a boot sale, i have wanted one for some time now i intended to play it but its quite old (1895) possibly and just want to find out more,this is the information from inside the bowl i would be thankful for any information anybody may have.



Many Thanks

[plinkey]

De Meglio (pronounced as "Deh Melyo", and not " Dee Mejio" or some such, because that surname is Italian and not French or whatever else) mandolins are rather common, particularly in UK which used to be the major, if not the sole importer of the De Meglio line of instruments.
One of the most favourite topics amongst the bowlback mandolin crowd on this forum, there have been many De Meglio threads over the years....the forum search function will let you have access to those. Here is the most recent one by Tavy, who has done a number of De Meglio mandolin restorations, therefore he knows them well: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ers-and-lables .

Generally speaking, the De Meglio mandolins "as found" are not particularly valuable, unless they are in exceptional state of preservation, or happen to be one of their top-of-the-line models. What would tend to add good value to them is quality restoration the sources of which are very scarce today, and the cost of such restorations is often higher than anticipated. Therefore, the total investment, i.e., mandolin purchase price + cost of quality restoration, frequently exceeds the market value of thus restored mandolin.

[vic-victor]

Model 2 (as per your label) is De Meglio top of the line model. Post more pics to evaluate the condition. Thanks.

[brunello97]

Model 2 (as per your label) is De Meglio top of the line model. Post more pics to evaluate the condition. Thanks.

+1 on Victor's request for more images.

Count me among the fans of De Meglio mandolins here. I have owned a few and played numerous and find them to be very dependably good sounding and nice playing, particularly given the number of them produced. Nothing to sniff at by any means.

Mick

[dandolin32]

thank you i will have a look at the link ,here are few more pictures

[Steve Ostrander]

What is a "boot" sale? I've never heard that term before.

[Ray(T)]

What's the betting that dandolin32 is from the UK? Boot sales have been around in the UK for some years and take place mostly on Sunday mornings. Groups of people get together on a field somewhere and sell all kinds of junk supposedly from their car "boots" or "trunks" as I believe people call them in the new world. Nowadays car boots have very little to do with the larger sales as they have been mainly taken over by dealers and market traders wo display their wares on wall-papering tables.

I've yet to find a half decent anything at such a sale!!

[plinkey]

thank you i will have a look at the link ,here are few more pictures

Your mandolin looks very nice. Judging by the pictures, it may not take much money/effort to have it restored to its former splendor, although I can not quite see if the fretboard would need work or not.

Either way, if you live in UK, I'd suggest you get in touch with Tavy (from Devon) who could take care of your mandolin restoration needs. (http://jzmaddock.web44.net/restorations.html)

[brunello97]

What's the betting that dandolin32 is from the UK? Boot sales have been around in the UK for some years and take place mostly on Sunday mornings. Groups of people get together on a field somewhere and sell all kinds of junk supposedly from their car "boots" or "trunks" ....I've yet to find a half decent anything at such a sale!!

I've always loved the image of such impromptu sales taking place out of the back of a car. I do enjoy hearing about a discovery of a choice instrument at such a sale or turning up in the attic somewhere.

Not likely to happen to me, but I get a vicarious satisfaction when someone shares their good fortune here.

Mick

[MikeEdgerton]

The image of people selling things out of the trunk of their cars evokes very different images depending on where you live.

[Jeff Mando]

In the last picture, it appears to have an early version of a Wood Nymph, although part of it seems broken off and missing......

[dandolin32]

it has very little damage to be fair part is broken off near the strings the wood on the face looks dry could do with some attention i guess, there is a very small chip on the tortoise shell in the center of the mandolin ,i know very little on the subject, i appreciate all the comments ,as for boot sales they are a good place to find items outside of the internet i and guess i would have paid more if i had not attended a boot sale, a very old man sold me this mandolin he had bought at auction and owed it for 30 years ,i do live in the uk ,i have wanted to learn and play a mandolin for a few years and like things that have age also i thought it was pretty and bought it, should i fix and use this mandolin iv never played a instrument before thank you all also how much is this mandolin worth in its condition roughly ?i hope i did not over pay thats all.

[dandolin32]

thank you plinkey your information is very helpful

[brunello97]

The image of people selling things out of the trunk of their cars evokes very different images depending on where you live.

Brings to mind the scene from "Goodfellas". Yikes.

Mick

[brunello97]

..... have wanted to learn and play a mandolin for a few years and like things that have age also i thought it was pretty and bought it, should i fix and use this mandolin iv never played a instrument before thank you all also how much is this mandolin worth in its condition roughly ?i hope i did not over pay thats all.

Bringeth thy mandolin to Tavistock!

Mick

[plinkey]

how much is this mandolin worth in its condition roughly ?i hope i did not over pay thats all.

Well, each particular eBay auction is different from another, so it is not easy to give you an estimate of how much you'd get for your mandolin on eBay. Perhaps 150 pounds, max 200 ? In addition, I'd be inclined to pay a bit more for the opportunity to physically examine the mandolin before buying it....that obviously minimizes the risk if the mandolin could be reliably assessed as requiring little work.

[dandolin32]

thats good news as i payed £100 for it including the case, im thinking id like to have it restored and use it now, enjoy it and my investment would be safe in years to come that brings me comfort , you all have been very helpful in less than 24 hours iv learnt what i have ,its value,and where i can get it restored thank you mandolin cafe you have been great now i must learn to play
many thanks

[plinkey]

Your mandolin might be playable well enough already. However, if you experience problems with strings buzzing or frets not registering, etc., it is better to get the instrument nicely set up by a pro before you embark on a learning journey.
In addition, it is good to verify the mandolin's structural integrity before you'd load her up with full string tension.

If you are not playing it for a few days, loosen up all the strings by a full tone or two. Also, ensure you obtain low tension strings for it, such as very economical and good GHS "ultralight" set, which would minimize the stress on the mandolin.

Your upper specification mandolin is worthy of a restoration investment as well as extra care dedicated to it.

[vic-victor]

Very nice instrument in much better condition that most old, neglected De Meglios that surface on ebay from time to time. Congratulations on getting a fine mandolin at a bargain price. Do restore it and good luck learning to play.

[dandolin32]

unfortunately the top strings do need tuning so the man told me ,due to the damage at present i worry that i will damage it further fiddling about with it myself so was hoping to find out about the mandolin, that i have thanks to you guys ,im glad that i can restore my mandolin and would be worth doing so,i did have visions of it becoming a ornament in my home and me purchasing a cheaper modern one to learn to play but can not wait to get it checked over, fixed and cleaned up and get going its most beautiful and could not be happier with my purchase from the boot sale, i consider myself lucky and will be the proud guardian of this mandolin for some time ,any ideas on restoration costs based on the pictures would be great ,from what i can see there is damage to the bridge and the end of the part behind the bridge has broken off my only other worry is that the wood on the face of the mandolin looks dry other than these three points it looks fine thank you once more

[vic-victor]

As for restoration costs, it will be several times more than you paid for it, but you'll be better off speaking to the luthier direct. As suggested before, John Maddock, the Cafe member from Tavistock, UK is your best bet. He does the excellent job restoring these old ladies and you won't do better than that.

[plinkey]

As for restoration costs, it will be several times more than you paid for it, but you'll be better off speaking to the luthier direct. As suggested before, John Maddock, the Cafe member from Tavistock, UK is your best bet. He does the excellent job restoring these old ladies and you won't do better than that.

With Tavy, the restoration cost may not be quite as high as "several times the amount paid for the mandolin", unless the major structural work needs to be undertaken on the mandolin such as top lifting, neck resetting or headstock reconstruction. In the absence of major surprises, I guess the mandolin may need a new fingerboard, if it is distorted at present, the bridge repair/string tensioner remake, tidying up the soundboard binding and setup. One way or another, I would not recommend a shim of the original fingerboard in this case, assuming the FB has a sag, however, Tavy could advise you along those lines much better than I can do.

[Tavy]

Hey, my ears are burning from the complements!

That looks one nice instrument - interestingly the side decoration looks identical to that used by Ceccherini... ah found the image, some of it's same and some not. Someone must have been producing job lots of those shapes and hawking them round the makers, I wonder how they managed to cut out all those perfect shapes back in the day? Stamp them out maybe?

[plinkey]

Hey, my ears are burning from the complements!

That looks one nice instrument - interestingly the side decoration looks identical to that used by Ceccherini... ah found the image, some of it's same and some not. Someone must have been producing job lots of those shapes and hawking them round the makers, I wonder how they managed to cut out all those perfect shapes back in the day? Stamp them out maybe?

Well, not quite identical, the Ceccherini binding has a bit more finesse, but similar enough to suggest that both makers used the same celluloid inlay binding and scratch plate source(s).
What is the name of that suburb town of Naples which used to be famous for its MOP inlay and coral crafts ? Torre del Greco ?

Yes, I would also love to know how they made such consistently, perfectly fitting inlays.
And then there is also a remarkable longevity factor of those inlays: have you ever seen one of the intricate MOP elements fallen out ? Or celluloid crumbling ? (A propos "crumbling", just think of a major US mandolin maker's problem with their celluloid pickguards which had no inlay in them.)

[plinkey]

As a matter of general interest, here's an anon De Meglio inspired mandolin which has almost identical soundboard edging to the subject mandolin. (Tavy has not seen this one. The bridge is my own expedient, as the original was missing, and the string tensioner has been eliminated in the interest of a proper setup.) Not one MOP element was missing from that somewhat crudely made, but sturdy and very nicely sounding mandolin.