Nice high-end example. I could see a four-figure price tag for it, but am sufficiently out of the marketplace to determine which digits to use.
Very pretty, very clean.
4 figures? Yes. If the neck is good, likely at least a couple large.
Mick
Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again. Fail better.--Samuel Beckett
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'05 Cuisinart Toaster
'93 Chuck Taylor lowtops
'12 Stetson Open Road
'06 Bialetti expresso maker
'14 Irish Linen Ramon Puig
I sent a link to a world class expert, I know. He said it looked like a very good instrument but I was surprised by the valuation he gave. However, his view is that many bowl back mandolins sell for very little- and I assume it is supply and demand, so the really good examples command less than one would imagine. There is a seller in Bologna on ebay who has had some very expensive Vinaccia and other make mandolins in the past and they are for sale for a very long time. Whether or not, he gets his asking price, I do not know. So it is four figures in US dollars, it seems.
I think it has a lot to do with the reputation of the seller. There are well-regarded Italian luthiers who sell fully-restored mandolins of this type for several times that sum. Then there are dealers who try to get similar prices for non-restored, or poorly "restored" instruments, but it's caveat emptor. And then there are collectors and dealers, who usually sell for quite a bit less. This looks like a nice piece, but for top dollar it needs to go to Italy for full restoration -- and that's unlikely since the American market doesn't really distinguish between the value of a high-end instrument that's been restored, and one that hasn't.
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
Yes, this expert is a superb luthier- and he has the skills to restore it- if that would be necessary. However, he does not have the time. He did a restoration of a historically significant guitar for me that was probably made in 1842. He really wanted to buy it off me but offered to do the restoration as I did not want to sell. Subsequently, he made an exact copy of it!
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