Chance Stradolin Purchase

[Henry F]

I recently walked into a local "string" shop and asked if they had any mandolins, other than the 2 unstrung ones hanging in the back. He went out back and brought out a Stradolin and said they had just reglued the neck, which looked like a quick yellow glue fix. I plucked a few strings and noticed that the G and D strings were out of tune when fretted. I then noticed that they had been strung incorrectly with both courses strung with matching heavy and light guage strings (a la 12 string guitar?) It then occurred to me that they had strung each course with the corresponding G and D strings, so when fretted, the lighter guage played sharper than the heavy guage string. Also, the action was pretty high and the plywood top was a little sunk under the bridge. They wanted $199, so I talked them down to $150 with an old case. When I got it home, I restrung it correctly and manufactured a low bridge (to help lower the action) using the murphy method (murphymethod.com/index.cfm?event=pages.content&contentId=122). Result...a nice sounding mando with those cool Stradolin f holes. I have no idea how old it is as there are no markings inside. The headstock has the block letter stencil lettering. 1950's maybe? Anyway, I'm pretty happy with my chance purchase.

[kurth83]

Coolstory.

Didn't see anything ahout bridge making at murphymethod though, was curious what you did there.

[MikeEdgerton]

You could post a picture or go find a matching mandolin in the Strad-O-Lin social group. We can guestimate the decade.

[Henry F]

Will post a pic tonight.
Note: corrected the murphymethod link in original post.

[Br1ck]

Starting the post with "I recently walked into a string store" completely negates your thread title. Now if you were getting you car fixed and the mandolin was hanging from a tool rack, that would be chance.

[Henry F]

I guess I'm equating "chance" with "low expectations". I wasn't really expecting to find anything. I wasn't really interested in Stradolins. At first site, I wasn't expecting that I would buy it. I wasn't expecting that they would accept my offer. I wasn't expecting that I could fix the problems. So, from that perspective, it was a chance purchase, like buying a lottery ticket. But, yeah, it would be cool if I could have started out with, "I recently walked into a deli...."

[Br1ck]

Anyway you look at it, a nice find.

[allenhopkins]

Cool beans. I love Strad-O-Lins; I'm on my second. The quintessential good cheap mandolin. 'Twas a sad day when the US lost the ability to make good cheap musical instruments –– not the bling-y Asian Gibson clones, but quirky, plain-Jane Harmony Montereys and Regal "reverse scrolls." These Strads are like little nuggets reminding us of a golden past, IMHO.

[Seter]

Good for you for revitalizing a nice old instrument as well.

[Henry F]

My "new" Strad

[Henry F]

I keep going back and forth about replacing the tuners and tail piece, but the current tuners work fine and the scalloped tailpiece with its bit of corrosion is original (I think). I’m leaning towards just leaving it as is. What do you think?

[Jeff Mando]

What do you think?

I think it looks like a heck of a lot of fun for $150!!!

[Randi Gormley]

My headstock logo is a different font, but the body of yours looks surprisingly similar to my 1952 strad. fwiw. I found the year with a penlight in the f-hole looking at the back under the end of the fretboard.

[Gregoryp]

I believe I have the same mandolin. It was my grandfathers. Yours looks like it is in much better condition. I used this catalog page that was posted on the Vintage Ads social group to put the date around the 1950's.
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/a...hmentid=178052

An image elsewhere tipped me off that it was made by Favilla.

Enjoy!

[Henry F]

Looks like your link doesn’t work, but if it is what I think it is , then this is a model 7700 if I remember correctly

[lflngpicker]

I just grabbed a 1930's well worn-- at the bottom edge-- in good playing shape Stradolin. The back shows some burl of maple so it looks to be a solid wood version. I want it to practice fret leveling and re-shaping the fretboard a bit. I am going to take it easy and do what I can. Refurbishment with linseed oil and elbow grease. No major wood working and that is good since I have no experience in that area. Also, it comes with an adjustable saddle with wheels so that is less of a concern. The machines seem to be replacements. It looks to be very playable. The front looks good and the neck joint is strong. I just want the fun of playing it and fixing it up a bit. Knew I couldn't go wrong for $175. Has original finish and pickguard. Legit Painted-on Logo. Any recommendations for those of you who have experience with these?