It's hard to overstate the place of these Albert Shutt designed instruments in the history of the American mandolin. Although some instruments of this design were demonstrably crafted by the Harmony company, others may have been made by Shutt himself in Kansas.
Some innovations have been recognized through the scholarship of Greg Miner and others. These include aspects that have come to define the American mandolin and distinguish it from European predecessors. Carved top, ff-holes, elevated fretboard. Just as important is the often overlooked dual tonebar placement under the top, something not present in the unbraced, pressed top instruments made in quantity by Harmony - the '2-shoulder' design.
We think of these top braces as 'natural', but they were an original innovation by Shutt, who I believe called them 'dual bass bars' (I need to check his catalog and refresh my memory on that). Of course modeled after the bass bar of the violin, his dual top brace was very likely known, and perhaps copied by Gibson under the direction of Lloyd Loar in the designs for their Master Model archtops. Shutt did advertise in publications that LL would have surely read. It would be interesting to conduct a detailed comparison of the positioning and dimensions of these top braces between the F-5 design and the earlier carved top Shutt Artist models.
THIS ONE is for sale at Vintage Instruments in Philadelphia. I have no connection to the instrument and have not yet examined it in person. It's only the second I've seen with the tortoise peghead overlay which may provide some clue to its place of manufacture.
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