Two Strads 1950-ish

[NickR]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22559614201...Bk9SR6SOy7mNYg

This one has a mahogany top and may have been sold as an Orpheum B.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11581792297...1bc2%7Ciid%3A1

[Jeff Mando]

The second one with the mahogany top shows a weirdness (or maybe just my lack of experience.) That is the second, fourth, and picture of the back of the neck shows an odd scarf joint, which would indicate a repair? Not sure. At first I thought it was just a "speed neck" but the line and angle is too pronounced. I wasn't aware of any companies doing a scarf joint until much later (think 80's Ibanez, for example?) therefore I'm thinking a possible repair. Busted/repaired/replaced peghead? Not sure what I am looking at. Confusing, as it seems too-involved a repair on a cheapie mandolin, IMHO. Thoughts?

[Richard500]

Jeff, how about that: your comment about the scarf joint got me to look at my mid-50s one, where only in the last few years I’ve worn off the finish on the neck, and indeed, there’s the joint! Never noticed it. Had it since new - so factory.
The first one (with the homemade mouse bite for a pickup) is definitely SOL-shaped, but laminated, and the other one looks like it too.
The mouse bite means the guard was from another mandolin, there was a spring mounted pickup, or the top was redone, which might explain what the owner says is “not wood”.

[Jeff Mando]

Amazing! I'm surprised with all the great cheap lumber in the 50's that somebody even thought to save a nickel by using a scarf joint! Talk about frugal!

Come to think of it, back when gas was a quarter a gallon, my uncle drove a VW to save gas....

[Richard500]

Not just the price of wood, it’s how you shape it and where the grain should lie. Except for the headstock, a neck is maybe an 1.5” thick piece of 3” board, with grain perpendicular to the fret side. Easy to cut and shape, but the same grain at the headstock could be a bad idea, would involve that large third dimension, and also is going to be obscured by paint or veneer. Very likely to split at the posts.
The famous ancient bowl backs praised here show lots of material and labor expense, but have that scarf joint too. Seems to work.

[your_diamond]

Two more, though nothing I would fall in love with...
www.ebay.com/itm/145111732267
www.ebay.com/itm/155586424680

If I was going to fall in love (with a Stradolin), it would be this... https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/search !!!
Not as fancy as "The Artist" but likely made by the same company (though I doubt it was Kay, as the seller thinks) solid spruce top, one piece solid flamed maple back, Poplar neck, No Bushings. ...is that celluloid binding top and back???

[Eric Platt]

Two more, though nothing I would fall in love with...
www.ebay.com/itm/145111732267
www.ebay.com/itm/155586424680

If I was going to fall in love (with a Stradolin), it would be this... https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/search !!!
Not as fancy as "The Artist" but likely made by the same company (though I doubt it was Kay, as the seller thinks) solid spruce top, one piece solid flamed maple back, Poplar neck, No Bushings. ...is that celluloid binding top and back???

That's the same model as my newer one. Probably late 1940's to 1950's from my own guess. Yes, real cellulod binding. Mine is rotting in spots. Possibly a solid back as well as the top. A larger body than the early SOL models. Also think it puts out more bass, but the video I made comparing the two SOL models I own doesn't seem to bear that out.

This might be a better link to the ad - https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/202863#202863

[your_diamond]

That's the same model as my newer one. Probably late 1940's to 1950's from my own guess. Yes, real cellulod binding. Mine is rotting in spots. Possibly a solid back as well as the top. A larger body than the early SOL models. Also think it puts out more bass, but the video I made comparing the two SOL models I own doesn't seem to bear that out.

This might be a better link to the ad - https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/202863#202863

Thanks Eric for getting the correct link in there (I don't know what happened). Did you notice his title says "1940-50s Kay Strad-O-Lin Mandolin". KAY ??? Don't think so.

[NickR]

I would date that Stradolin Jr to about 1940 or 1941 with its Kluson tuners. Jake Wildwood features this one which has a 1939 date stamped inside it but has Waverly tuners which is why I think this one is a little newer.

https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...-mandolin.html

[Jeff Mando]

Back to my scarf joint comment: In the last week or so, I have made a point to "look for" scarf joints on Stradolins that I can view online. INDEED, I have seen several from the 40's and 50's with that same scarf joint. Not just on the Stradolin Jr. model, I have also seen it on other "full" Strads, as well. It is a curiosity to me, especially the peculiar rounded tongue/tenon shaped point where the neck wood is jointed to the peghead wood. Sometimes, joint is difficult to see due to being obscured by sunburst finishes on the neck. The natural finished instruments are much easier to see this feature. This scarf joint does not appear to be used on the 3-piece necks, at least based on what online photos I could find. Also, many instruments for sale do not show good pictures of this detail.

Obviously, I just mention this as a curiosity. No one can argue at this late date that the scarf joint method hasn't stood the test of time -- it has! I was simply thinking it might be another (important?) clue as to the manufacturer(s) of these instruments.

[Jeff Mando]

Here is the odd scarf joint detail as shown on the Strad Jr from eBay for posterity. Most I've viewed are not this obvious. Possibly this is a refinished or very worn neck. Note the rounded shape where they joint.

[Richard500]

The “odd” shape isn’t fancy woodwork, but only the consequence of the contour sanded at that point.

[mandopaul]

I would date that Stradolin Jr to about 1940 or 1941 with its Kluson tuners. Jake Wildwood features this one which has a 1939 date stamped inside it but has Waverly tuners which is why I think this one is a little newer.

https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...-mandolin.html

Nice Flame Maple to the back on that!

[NickR]

The flame is probably down to the wonders of silk-screen printing!

[Mark Gunter]

The flame is probably down to the wonders of silk-screen printing!

Definitely painted-on flame and more likely simply stencil

[Jeff Mando]

Definitely painted-on flame and more likely simply stencil

Reminds me of a gimmick Fender had in the 90's called Foto Flame, which was a wrap that looks real, except every neck grain was the same! Fans noticed a repeated figure that looked like the McDonald's Hamburglar. 25 years later, some still look good, while many are peeling up and looking bad.

[Mark Gunter]

I’ve never been a fan of the faux flame painted on the old harmony guitars and others. A really crass affectation IMO

[Eric Platt]

Reminds me of a gimmick Fender had in the 90's called Foto Flame, which was a wrap that looks real, except every neck grain was the same! Fans noticed a repeated figure that looked like the McDonald's Hamburglar. 25 years later, some still look good, while many are peeling up and looking bad.

We always called it the Grimace. https://mcdonalds.fandom.com/wiki/Grimace

Have been seeing more and more of these being sold without the seller knowing what they are.

To bring it back to the original topic - I would say the the celluloid bound SOL has a laminate back. It might be a good flame and look like the inside, but it's almost certainly a ply.

[your_diamond]

Nice Strad, nasty crack. Does the crack extend the whole length of the top? Anybody ever fixed a crack this big, with good results???
Seller states, " I JUST DISCOVERED A TOP CRACK ON THE TREBLE SIDE UNDER THE PICKGUARD".

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26628698298...mis&media=COPY