S.S. Stewart

[fflmike]

I also have my Dad's old S S Stewart mandolin. He bought it used in 1955 or 1956 from his barber. I have no idea how old it really is but it still sounds good and the neck is still straight. Any way to tell?

[MikeEdgerton]

Built right around 1900, probably before 1915. Bill Monroe bought his mandolin in a Barber Shop as well.

Somebody may be able to pop up a catalog page. It's a very good chance that it was labeled SS Stewart and built by one of the major builders. One of the resident bowlheads will be along to add to the story.

In the meantime there are many threads about S.S. Stewart instrument here. They put that name on a ton of different instruments over the years.

[fflmike]

Thanks for the info.

[fflmike]

BTW, this one still sounds and plays great.

[allenhopkins]

After Samuel Stewart died (1898), his trademark got passed around a few times; also, his sons' names got put on a variety of instruments. I briefly owned a "Fred Stewart" tenor banjo that looked pretty much like a prewar Epiphone budget model.

Devoid of mandolin content, there's a fairly fascinating article on identifying and dating S S Stewart banjos, on the Mugwumps website. It's neat to trace the twists and turns, and also neat to think that some people care enough to do the research and publish it afterwards.

[Bill Kammerzell]

When I saw this I thought it was a thread about a Steam Ship?