Futura Mandolin, anyone heard of one?

[Danandkaye]

I have a hand made Japanese Mandolin with Futura on the headstock. I understand it was made in Japan but that is all I have been able to find out about it?

[jim simpson]

This one is new to me. It looks very nice. Can you tell us how you came about to buy it? How does it sound and play?

[allenhopkins]

Tried Googling around on "Futura," a frustrating experience since the name showed up in so many catalogs -- Gibson, Levin, Ibanez, etc. The really useful Spinditty page that lists Japanese manufacturers, and the brands they produced, doesn't seem to include "Futura" as one of the labels. There are probably dozens of nearly unrecorded brands that were special-ordered for distributors and dealers in the US and elsewhere; there might be fewer than a hundred made for a store in Sheboygan or Poughkeepsie.

Your best chance is to have someone recognize its similarity to a better-known brand, IMHO. It looks decently made, and the headstock inlay seems unique. That might provide a clue...

[Jeff Mando]

If you Google search for Future mandolin rather than Futura you will find a similar, but not exact mandolin discussed here last September. That one was for sale on eBay, made in Japan, 1997 year, price was $1800 and the consensus was that it was overpriced.....