Hi
I've just acquired a sad 60s or 70s A-shape f-hole Terada mandolin ('bout the same as a Lyle LM200, a Kent or a Lindell). In a bit of a state .. no nut, tuners, bridge or tailpiece. However no dangerous cracks just LOTS of dents! I have 2 questions, please.
#1 I'm guessing this might be a luthier-reject, maybe having been brought in for a refret. The frets are VERY narrow & quite low, but I guess playable, no grooves; HOWEVER there is a zero-fret. I can fix everything apart from a refret, I have no experience or tools. So, if the zero-fret is too low, & I can't remove it, what would be the possibility of building some (strange) nut that overlaps the fingerboard & sits where the zero-fret is? Is that silly?
If the main frets are no good I can turn it into a slide-mandolin, but I still need to have the correct scale length.
#2 The back is laminate, but the top LOOKS like it's solid un-carved (book-matched wood with two curved braces inside). It's quite a lightweight mandolin - will be I be risking its structural strength by fitting my normal EJ-74s (11 - 40) or should I limit it to EJ73s (10 - 38)?
Many thanks for your help
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