My friend's grandfather passed away a while ago and my friend gave me this mando. There is a 4" crack from the tail piece running up along the left side of the bridge to the pickguard. It is from dryness and is lifted a bit. Is there anybody who fixes these? It does play as is with no buzzing. I've heard little of Brandt but I think this was the model below top of the line. Any info is appreciated.
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MC-denizen Eugene owned (and sold, I believe) one of these. I would wait for him to chime in with his hands-on experience and eloquent prose.
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
Well, thank you Victor...but I would perhaps describe my prose as more mechanically and coldly cincise than eloquent...in most cases...kinda. #Ca. 1900 virtuoso/composer Seth Weeks endorsed Brandt. #I think yours is a few steps removed from top of the line, Tom. #Still, Brandts are well-made enough and just obscure enough to be mighty cool; enjoy it. #I have never seen a Brandt catalog; I don't know if there are any. #I don't know anything about Brandt's models other than personal observations of a handful of pieces. #They are pretty obscure. #I have seen them labeled style 1 (really ugly and graceless), style 1a (similar to yours, Tom), style 2 (identical to yours; this was the one I sold), style 3 (fancier fingerboard but still no scratchplate inlay...as a matter of fact, I've never seen one with scratchplate inlays), and the outrageously fancy (with 40+ ribs, solid pearl fingerboards, and highly figured maple necks). #I've also seen Brandt mandolins and mandolas in the shape of violins/violas with oval holes and a cutaway in the upper bout. #Now everybody knows as much about John Brandt's company as I do.
My opinion is that the best bowlback repair luthier in the business here in the US is Tom Crandall at Umanov's Guitars in NYC. #Be warned, Umanov's shop prices are not cheap. #In spite, my stuff still goes to Tom if I have a tricky job. #He has a Vega of mine right now in almost perfect condition...other than a crack almost identical to the one you describe, long with one surface elevated.
Thanks Eugene,
I'll try to give him a call today or tomorrow and get down there after work this week.
One more thing about these ultra-weird (but still very classy) and narrow scrolled heads. I would ordinarily wind the one e" and one g closest to the nut with the string coming off the post to the outside of the head. This gives a better angle through the nut slot and makes for less rubbing of string on string when tuning.
I had to read that a few times but, yeah, that makes alot of sense. It was already strung up with old strings but I got it in tune to hear how it sounded.
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