In need of some help identifying a Mando which was gifted to me.

[howseitgoing]

Hi there! I'm new to this forum and found it while trying to do some detective work of my own. I have an album with photos of the mandolin here: https://imgur.com/a/eK775OC

The (I think) ebony nut, and steel topped bridge are what I think are pretty unique qualities, but I'm also new to the mandolin world. It has heavy-duty pretty straightforward designed brass tuning pegs, and I think it is solid wood all around. From what I found, it may be an old Regal, but I really have no idea as there are no markings that I can find anywhere on the mandolin inside or out. It also came with that book, which was originally published in 1920 from what I can find.

It certainly needs a little TLC but I hope to get some strings on it in the near future and give it a whirl.

Thanks in advance for your help, if you need more information I'll try to get it.

[Jeff Hildreth]

The book is a keeper.

[MikeEdgerton]

The steel top bridge most likely started life as a nut raiser somewhere and is probably there to help with some top sinkage. That didn't come out of any factory like that. The mandolin was most likely made by Regal in Chicago. It's an entry level mandolin and they are on eBay weekly. Harmony made a similar model but I think yours is a Regal. The tuners appear to be modern spaced worm over A style tuners and can be replaced. The Bickford Method book may be more desirable than the mandolin. These aren't expensive instruments and this one needs some work.

[MikeEdgerton]

For Posterity.

[Ray(T)]

Certainly looks like a nut raiser but it would be too wide for a mandolin nut. (For the o/p’s info - a nut raiser elevates the strings of the fretboard to convert a normal guitar into a Hawaiian guitar played with a slide. They were a common accessory for resonator guitars.) I think it’s simply a way somebody found to raise the bridge. Most people would put a shim between the bridge and the top but it depends whether the top of the bridge has been damaged in some way.

[MikeEdgerton]

I would guess that it was part of a 12-string guitar nut riser but who knows?

[howseitgoing]

Oh wow, thanks for all the responses, everyone! I figured it was likely an entry model thanks to the lack of design features/binding etc. Thanks for clarifying and teaching me some new things. Cheers!

[MikeEdgerton]

This was an instrument built "for the trade" without a label. This way a teacher, school or retailer could sell them as their own brand and label them or not label them. It was a common practice and we see it all the time.