Re: Another old bowlback here. What is it?
Originally Posted by
NickR
What I meant was that I wondered if the tuners had been changed from one side to the other of the headstock because they appeared to be "worm over gear" which was not the norm when this mandolin was made.
I noticed that too! However, the position of the tuners relative to headstock looks correct, and flipping the tuners would have meant their position would have been very low on the headstock. In other words, looking at the headstock vertically from the front, the tuning keys are nicely centered, top to bottom. If these had originally been mounted worm-under, the lowest (outer E and G) would have seemed very close to the nut. Functional, perhaps, but seems unlikely someone would have designed it that way. What a mystery!
I also notice that the grain of the top is carefully arranged with wide grain at center, and narrow grain on the edges. And--maybe someone can help me with the terminology here--the grain is not parallel to the strings, but angles slightly inward, toward the tailpiece. Maybe this detail will narrow it down?
The scratchplate looks much like my Bohmann mandolins, but the Bohmann label covered nearly the entire inside of bowl, and this one has been papered. Then again, it's not impossible they could have shipped one without a label. The headstock is reminiscent of the Bohmann look, too.
Does anyone know if any of the early Bohmann mandolins had worm-over tuners?
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
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