Some years ago a friend gifted me this mandolin--then in unplayable condition--"for spare parts". Recently I was motivated to put it back into operating mode. Another friend was looking for a better than average beginner's instrument. This one--in playing shape--would meet his needs.
It appears to date from the 1910-1930 period based on workmanship, materials and decorative details.
This was definitely not going to be a conservation project since the instrument had already had some apparent modifications including the addition of newer tuning machines with mismatched bushings as well as some less than perfect body repairs. That old work had resulted in a badly re-set neck which made the instrument impossible to set up for comfortable, accurate playing without some exceptional surgery.
And, maybe more significantly, we could find no indication--inside or out--who had made it and so had no clue what its "original condition" might have been and therefore no conservation target.
Pictured here restored to excellent playing condition again with a new fretboard, new bridge and a number of other structural issues remedied (cracked heel, separated back center seam, loose pick guard, improperly installed tuning machines) we are still left wondering who might have made it.
Mandolin loving friends have noted it has some leanings toward Vega, Martin and Weymann; it seems an odd hybrid with mixed "key characteristics".
After a lengthy search through hundreds of mandolin images the one significant detail I did not encounter is the unusual asymmetric sound hole ring. That area--with the pearl inlaid in black matrix--I saw on no other mandolins and suspect it may be the only real clue to this instrument's origin.
My personal view is that it may have come from the Vega works. The pick guard, for example, if imagined cut in half, almost exactly matches that on a Vega cylinder back mandolin in my collection. The inlays around the sound hole and the hole in the peg head are also very much like those seen on various Vega products.
It really is a lovely little player again that so impressed the original owner he wanted it back. Since he'd treated me very well in an earlier guitar trade I decided I owed it to him. He's been delighted playing it since.
If you recognize the maker please let us know. The suspense is killing us!
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