I have an oval hole A-style mandolin I inherited from my grandfather in 2005. It has mostly sat dusty and unstrung until with the current stay at home situation, I decided to clean it up and make it playable. There had been a split on the soundboard since I had received it and a couple spots where the back that had separated from the sides where they curve into the bottom. I was able to get the cracks to swell shut by placing it in a covered container with a bowl of water beside it. I researched repairing the cracks, used a very fluid CA adhesive to repair the split in the soundboard and Titebond wood glue to fix where the back had come loose. I stripped the very badly worn shellac off with alcohol and applied several coats of fresh shellac, cleaned the tuners and tailpiece, replaced the broken original wooden nut with a Tusq one, and installed new strings. It sounds like it should, but I would like to know if anyone has any idea when it might have been made and by whom. It appears to be mahogany, but there is no binding, only white paint lining the top and sound hole, which appears yellow (as it did when I got it) after applying the shellac. Judging from what I have read (plus being a shellac finish) it appears to have been made in the 20's -30's. Any further wisdom about its origins would be greatly appreciated.
Bookmarks