I picked up an eBay refugee Vincenzo Miroglio & Figli bowlback recently. First off, I understand that Miroglio is not a highly thought-of maker, and I'll probably be looking for a nicer one down the road, but this is what I have for now. I also know that eBay bowlback are a gamble, but I think I did okay with this one. No cracks in the top, no splits between staves in back. The bridge, which I assumed was original, was godawful way too high, but I found someone in Portugal selling replacement Miroglio bridges at just the height I figured I needed, and that arrived today. Last week I removed all the hardware, cleaned and lubed the questionable tuners (probably to be replaced someday, but now they're working), replaced three missing bits of inlay in the pickguard (I used circles cut from red and blue guitar picks, shhhh), and gave it a good cleaning before putting all the hardware back. I fitted the bridge tonight and strung it up, and ended up with an action of 2mm at the twelfth fret on the G strings and just over 1mm on the E side. It's a bit of a mongrel (I mean, it's clear that there wasn't a lot of care taken building this thing, if you look closer than arm's length), but I like the sound.
So, my question is, is there any way to get a rough idea of the age of this mandolin? Even within a decade?
Now I just need to learn to play it. I started two or three weeks ago and can haltingly muddle through "Torna a Surriento" from a Mel Bay book and "Volumbrella" from a John T. La Barbera book, but I'm a bassist, used to a much larger instrument, and these tiny little frets are vexing me!
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