G.L. "Skip" Mandolin - Handmade in Tennessee - Any info?

[maxpower]

Taking a look at this mandolin tomorrow off Craigslist. Was wondering if anyone knew anything about the maker and if it's worth the $250 asking price? The seller said it's a super nice piece, just was curious if anyone had any info on it? Hard to find anything on the web.

Supposed to be solid maple all the way around and solid spruce top. The wood looks right from the photos and it's made here in Tennessee.

[Eric F.]

Well, all I've found is from the Nov. 11, 1996, issue of Splinters, the newsletter of the Tennessee Valley Woodworkers:

Skip Baker presented an outstanding program about his construction methods for five different stringed musical instruments. He discussed a variety of learning experiences and experimental approaches to solving the structural, design, finishing, and tonal quality problems. His mandolin, mandola, dulcimer were beautiful instruments in visual and tonal quality.

By Ross Roepke

[MikeEdgerton]

Those tuners are way newer than 1996.

[allenhopkins]

Price for all-solid-wood, hand-made is surely reasonable. But the "proof of the pudding" is when you actually play it.

Not likely to find much Cafe experience with a very small-scale individual builder. Go try it out.

[ollaimh]

looks decent for that price, but hard to judge the tone without playing it. as allen said not much info on tone on a small maker.