Ellwood Mandolins

**Tstrings1** · Dec-22-2022, 8:58am

Looking for information about this maker. Any info would be appreciated!

**Darryl Wolfe** · Jan-02-2023, 5:52pm

I have not heard of these. It looks to be quite well made. All of the lines flow smoothly and are very accurate to the original Loars.

**Tstrings1** · Jan-02-2023, 10:02pm

Thanks for having a look Darryl. The mystery continues!

**musicofanatic** · Jan-07-2023, 11:24am

Originally Posted by Tstrings1

Looking for information about this maker. Any info would be appreciated!

Have you contacted TR Crandall with an inquiry?

**musicofanatic** · Jan-07-2023, 2:30pm

Built by a fella name of Jamey Pope, perhaps in MA…it has been suggested that he is not currently active building mandolins

**Tstrings1** · Jan-07-2023, 11:09pm

Mystery solved! With a bit of a leap of faith I purchased the Ellwood F style from TR Crandall in NYC. During my inspection of the mando I found Jamey Pope’s signature pencilled on the inside of the top. I was able to locate him and have since had a nice conversation about the mandolin. Turns out this is the second Loar replica F mandolin that Jamey built. He has also built many clawhammer style banjos and has a batch of F style mandolins in the works. Jamey is an instructor at the famous North Bennet St School in Boston. He is a fine woodworker of the highest caliber and the build quality of this mando is wonderful especially for an early build. I'm having a blast playing this instrument. Its a very faithful reproduction and it sounds like it! Every wood component of the mando was hand made and sports some fine improvements such as the James tailpiece and a set of really fine Alessi tuners. I'm looking forward to seeing what this thoughtful builder offers up in the future! Thanks to those of you who assisted in putting a name to the Ellwood!

**musicofanatic** · Jan-09-2023, 2:34pm

Huzzah and congratulations on taking a chance and coming out on top!! I am shocked that a high-end shop like Crandall failed to recognize it as being worthy of a higher asking price...and they have a 1970s Harmony mandolin at the same price??? Did you mention to Pope what the mandolin sold for? And I cannot help but wonder what he will ask for his next batch of mandolins? You are indeed a fortunate mandolin buyer!

**jim simpson** · Jan-09-2023, 4:57pm

I am not surprised by the reasonable price for this one, glad it turned out to be an exceptional one. I see bargains often by lesser known builders who don't have the name recognition beyond a certain group. I've taken chances on some myself and have been pretty happy with results.

**G. Fisher** · Jan-10-2023, 2:01am

Originally Posted by Tstrings1

Mystery solved! With a bit of a leap of faith I purchased the Ellwood F style from TR Crandall in NYC. During my inspection of the mando I found Jamey Pope’s signature pencilled on the inside of the top. I was able to locate him and have since had a nice conversation about the mandolin. Turns out this is the second Loar replica F mandolin that Jamey built. He has also built many clawhammer style banjos and has a batch of F style mandolins in the works. Jamey is an instructor at the famous North Bennet St School in Boston. He is a fine woodworker of the highest caliber and the build quality of this mando is wonderful especially for an early build. I'm having a blast playing this instrument. Its a very faithful reproduction and it sounds like it! Every wood component of the mando was hand made and sports some fine improvements such as the James tailpiece and a set of really fine Alessi tuners. I'm looking forward to seeing what this thoughtful builder offers up in the future! Thanks to those of you who assisted in putting a name to the Ellwood!

I think you should share a video or sound clip with the MC family.

**musicofanatic** · Jan-10-2023, 1:20pm

Originally Posted by jim simpson

I am not surprised by the reasonable price for this one…

I again must state that I am shocked. TR Crandall is a high-end stringed instrument retailer, operated by experienced, knowledgable individuals. I would think that a couple minutes under their eyeballs, followed by a quick sonic evaluation (presuming it does sound good) would have tipped them off that this was a top-notch, craftsman-built piece. Going by the pricing of the other mandolins in their stock list, the price on this seems a joke!

https://trcrandall.com/collections/mandolin-family

**Stopstop** · Jan-10-2023, 6:25pm

If is sounds as good as it looks I'm sending the buyer a virtual high five. Perhaps the price answers the question posed by the recent thread here: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...rument-instead
that is to say, resale on a mando by an unknown builder is iffy.

**Tstrings1** · Jan-10-2023, 6:26pm

Hi all,

Scott at TR Crandall was very responsive to all my questions and did his very best to describe the mandolin accurately. This was a consigned instrument and the Crandall staff did not get much of any info or provenance from the owner. It could have been a stewmac kit for all we knew. In fairness to the shop, the pencil signature on the inside top was pretty hard to see. Anyhooo… alls well that ends well! I've been asked to post some audio, so here's a link to a quick video I shot today. I'm having some good winter fun with all this mystery mando stuff!
Best,
Tim
https://youtu.be/HHfdr9eteA8

**G. Fisher** · Jan-30-2023, 10:57pm

Originally Posted by Tstrings1

Hi all,

Scott at TR Crandall was very responsive to all my questions and did his very best to describe the mandolin accurately. This was a consigned instrument and the Crandall staff did not get much of any info or provenance from the owner. It could have been a stewmac kit for all we knew. In fairness to the shop, the pencil signature on the inside top was pretty hard to see. Anyhooo… alls well that ends well! I've been asked to post some audio, so here's a link to a quick video I shot today. I'm having some good winter fun with all this mystery mando stuff!
Best,
Tim
https://youtu.be/HHfdr9eteA8

Your video is set to private so we can't view it.