Hello.
I am an American living in the arid highlands of Kenya. Today, I was given an old no-name A-type mandolin finished in black. The glue had dried out so the body is literally coming apart at the seams.
This mandolin was handmade in 1939 by a luthier named: F. Elchuk from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Has anyone heard of this luthier? I can find nothing about him on the internet.
It appears to have maple sides and back and solid 2-piece spruce top. There are no cracks in the wood and the neck is straight, anchored nicely into the neck block with no separation. No truss rod though.
I’ve restored guitars with much more damage than this and I feel that perhaps it can be brought back to life.
This appears to be a basic, no-name instrument, not incredibly valuable. So, I would like to remove the black original finish and take it to a natural finish… unless it happens to be valuable- then I would certainly not want to mess with the original black!
I am asking two things: 1. Anyone heard of the luthier F. Elchuk? 2. Would you see any harm in removing the original black finish and taking it to a natural finish?
This will be my first mandolin to restore, so any advice or opinions you have would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
KenyaChip
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