R. Mason & Co. Mandolin (More Pics)

[MandolinFWB]

Wondering if anyone else has one of these. From what I have found out, he built mostly violins but also built a few guitars (Martin copies) and mandolins. He built instruments from about 1930-1987. My mandolin is #3 built in '87 (probably one of the last ones). This is an awesome F-5 copy. This mandolin is the real deal, and sounds better than most Gibson I have played. Just wondering if anybody else has seen one or maybe owns one?
R. Mason & Co. - Rt.1 Norwich, OH.

[MikeEdgerton]

Is this the third copy of this message posted? You only need to post it one time.

[MandolinFWB]

Sorry, I wanted to post it again with better pics.

[billkilpatrick]

beautiful looking mandolin - let me guess: was he a christian?

[MandolinFWB]

Actually, for some reason the headstock was left blank. I think the builder passed away in the late 80's. A few years ago I had a new radius fretboard put on the mandolin, and a local luthier added the inlay on the headstock for me(I pastor a church).

[billkilpatrick]

it's a beautiful instrument - looks really well made; lovely color, beautiful looking, fine grain wood - bet it plays and sounds like a dream ... a glorious example of creation, for man and nature.

thanks for sharing the photos, but simply as matter of taste and a secular inclination, i think it's a shame the mandolin was turned into something else.

[DougC]

it's a beautiful instrument - looks really well made; lovely color, beautiful looking, fine grain wood - bet it plays and sounds like a dream ... a glorious example of creation, for man and nature.

thanks for sharing the photos, but simply as matter of taste and a secular inclination, i think it's a shame the mandolin was turned into something else.

I agree. Although it seems to make sense if you are involved in a certain area, to put a 'logo' on a headstock, that act seems to discredit the builder and draw a little too much attention to something else. This is not the first mandolin with a individual 'stamp' from the player or builder. In 90 years someone will say 'too bad' it has that headstock, it's a good mandolin.

Also I wonder about the Mandolin Cafe policy of not including religion or politics in the posts? Sure seems to blur the edges of the rules...

[Mike Bunting]

I agree. Although it seems to make sense if you are involved in a certain area, to put a 'logo' on a headstock, that act seems to discredit the builder and draw a little too much attention to something else. This is not the first mandolin with a individual 'stamp' from the player or builder. In 90 years someone will say 'too bad' it has that headstock, it's a good mandolin.


Also I wonder about the Mandolin Cafe policy of not including religion or politics in the posts? Sure seems to blur the edges of the rules...

I don't think so, the question would have been the same if the OP had put his initials or a palm tree on the headstock, does it in some way devalue the integrity of the original instrument. Personally, if the mandolin as shown excited me with its sound and playability, I wouldn't give a hoot what was on the headstock.

[MandolinFWB]

Even though I am in no way ashamed of the inlay I had added to the headstock or of what it represents, the main reason of posting my question on here was in the hope of finding someone else who had a mandolin made by Robert Mason. I would like to see what kind of inlay he put on the headstock of others, so I could have mine made to look like the other originals he had made.

[allenhopkins]

As a committed secularist, I see no problem with picturing a mandolin with a religious symbol on the headstock. Trinity College instruments now have "Celtic crosses," I believe -- and we know where the "Trinity" in "Trinity College" comes from -- and they're made in China, presumably by non-Christians. Stelling makes banjos called the Crusader, Golden Cross, and Master's Cross, with Christian symbols inlaid. I believe the Weber logo includes the "fish" symbol, which goes back to St. Clement in the 2nd century as a Christian design. Gibson makes a "Gospel" model guitar with a dove -- another Christian symbol -- inlaid on the headstock.

Now, if someone were to advocate inlaying crosses on all mandolins, to consecrate them as "Christian instruments," that would be well outside the guidelines. But I see no harm in someone individualizing his/her own instrument with a religious, philosophical, or political symbol. When I bought my singing partner Bonnie Abrams a guitar strap as a present, I had the leatherworker carve a Star of David on it. Personal expressions of religious or political belief are one thing; proselytizing and/or arguing about them -- something else, and not for this forum.

[billkilpatrick]

re: unwarranted head stock inlay ... didn't the father of us all (bluegrass) set a precedent?

[joshua collum]

I believe the question was weather or not anyone else has a mandolin built by R. Mason & Co. Seriously, get over it.

[MandolinFWB]

I believe the question was weather or not anyone else has a mandolin built by R. Mason & Co. Seriously, get over it.

Well said.

[MikeEdgerton]

Also I wonder about the Mandolin Cafe policy of not including religion or politics in the posts? Sure seems to blur the edges of the rules...

I don't see it that way, it's a picture of the inlay on the headstock and not any kind of statement other than that. If that's the case we can't show ANY Weber mandolin headstocks at all.

By the way, if the OP checks one of the other several posts he posted about this I gave him a link to one of the the builder's family members looking for people that owned these instruments. He'll probably have better luck finding other owners that way than here. We don't really have any past posts that I can find on this builder.

[DougC]

We need to do a better job of finding another R. Mason & Co mandolin. And THEN we can talk about the other stuff. This mandolin is quite a conversation piece and it looks like a good instrument worth the effort to learn more.

[MikeEdgerton]

It's not that hard to find another one, follow this link and contact the builder's nephew. I'm sure he can point you to more of them. This link will tell you how to read the serial number to determine when it was built and also contains the nephew's phone number.

[MandolinFWB]

I found the website with Robert Mason's nephews phone number on it before I ever posted it on here. I talked with him for quite some time, thats how I found out what info I know about the mandolin. The only problem is, I am the only person that he has been able to identify as the proud owner of one of uncle's mandolins. There are still more out there somewhere, and I thought by posting on this site I might be able to find one. I would really like to see another, because mine is really an awesome mandolin.

[grassrootphilosopher]

I found the website with Robert Mason's nephews phone number on it before I ever posted it on here. I talked with him for quite some time, thats how I found out what info I know about the mandolin. The only problem is, I am the only person that he has been able to identify as the proud owner of one of uncle's mandolins. There are still more out there somewhere, and I thought by posting on this site I might be able to find one. I would really like to see another, because mine is really an awesome mandolin.

Spice up this thread with a little soundbyte and/or a video of the mandolin playing some music. Other than that the little critter looks nice.

[MandolinFWB]

Spice up this thread with a little soundbyte and/or a video of the mandolin playing some music. Other than that the little critter looks nice.

I will try to do that soon.

[Jubilee]

Hi I Have one I just ran across and it is 1978 #2 I would love to find out a little about it ? It plays as good as any Gibson mandolin i ever had in my hands .
the serial # is 78002 I can not find anything on it other than what is on this site.
Thanks