Old Resonator Mando

[adauria]

Hey folks, my sister-in-law got this from an estate that was clearing stuff out. I've searched for "Erwin" mandolins and resonator mandolins, but can't find a darn thing on the Googles. Not sure it even says Erwin.

Any ideas on what this is and what it might be worth?

Whole mandolin:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tS...-NcyUOsRcrWYoH

Headstock close up:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cv...OifsVVudJOozpJ

Thanks in advance!

-Andrew

[DavidKOS]

It looks like "Ervin" to me, but I still can't find out much. It may be one of these rebranded and with different finishes:

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...act=mrc&uact=8

https://shop.guitarpoint.de/en/Natio...nator-Mandolin



https://www.tuneyoursound.com/collec...ter-lippincott

[Roger Moss]

That looks more like "Ervin" than "Erwin". The internet seems equally silent on them, too.

[nmiller]

It's a National Triolian, early to mid '30s. Someone painted the fretboard and put some decals on the headstock.

[NickR]

It is probably Gruin- not Gruhn!

[adauria]

Thanks folks.

Wow, I really hope it is a National Triolian from the 30s with a repaint and sticker! That would be amazing (and a shame that someone did all that to it). I'll take a closer look at that headstock when I see it in person to figure out if it's been stickered, not to mention check out the paint job and see if it's factory or some dude named Ervin with a sprayer .

-Andrew

[adauria]

Here's what the top of the headstock looks like:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f3..._hZ4_1rnlo1vQV

-Andrew

[Jess L.]

It is probably Gruin- not Gruhn!

I agree - Gruin. And *not* Ervin, IMO. See my quickie lettering-style comparison chart picture below. As I don't currently have access to medieval documents to refresh my memory as to old writing styles (I dabbled in calligraphy many years ago but have forgotten most of it), so I've made do by rummaging through the medieval font category at DaFont.com . Below are samples of screenshots of two of those fonts ("English Towne" and one of the "Germanica" fonts) that seem very similar to the lettering on the mandolin. Probably have to click the pic several times to make it full size:



From the above, I see enough detailed difference between an oldstyle "G" and an oldstyle "E", to convince me that the mandolin logo starts with a "G".

The 3rd letter, "u" (or "v", whichever; I'd say it's probably a "u" but I could be wrong), is different though - the left side of it sticks up higher. I haven't looked online enough to find a match for that one, but I vaguely recall occasionally drawing impromptu variants like that by hand years ago (until I decided that such decorations were more fun to *do* than to actually *read* later, lol).

It's a National Triolian, early to mid '30s. Someone painted the fretboard and put some decals on the headstock.

That's what I'm thinking too.

My guess is that someone with the surname Gruin owned that mandolin at one time, and they put those letters there as a customization.

It would be more interesting to me if the logo was hand painted - that's not outside the realm of possibility, as there are people with steady hands and a fine eye for detail who are good at that sort of thing, but I can't tell from the photo if it's actually painted or some sort of decal. Whichever it is, it does have the effect of making the mandolin unique.

(Technical mumbo-jumbo with regards to my lettering-comparison chart: I'm aware, of course, that modern font designers do not necessarily have a desire and certainly no obligation to exactly copy old lettering styles, so the fact that I've found what seems to be a close match between the mandolin's first letter and a "G" in some modern interpretation of a medieval lettering style on some website, isn't necessarily conclusive evidence of anything one way or another. But I'm still betting it's a "G" and not an "E". Anyway, that site lets you type in any word or phrase to see what that word looks like in any font they have there, via the "Preview" section then the "Type your text here" field (type whatever word you want to see) and click the "Submit" button to see that word displayed in all the fonts on that page. NFI, and I think their fonts are all free anyway.)

[allenhopkins]

Per Brozman's book, "W" suffix Triolians were manufactured 1930-34. If the entire serial number is 300 W it would be from 1930. If there's another digit before the "300" it could be later. The camera flash reflection makes it hard to read the other lettering, but there seem to be parts of the word "Export" visible. That might be a clue to the non-standard labeling and finish.

[adauria]

OK, thanks again for all the help here. I took it to a local resonator expert and repairman (this guy: http://www.reso-dude.com/ ). He is absolutely convinced it's a 30's National that "had a hard life." He agrees that the National float decal was scratched off and painted over. The fretboard (which is some wild plastic thing with pink sides) is definitely not original. Unfortunately, the neck needs a fair amount of work so it will play with proper intonation. This, of course, is a pre-adjustable truss rod situation.

Thanks again for everyone's help. This was a really fun mystery to to delve into.

-Andrew