how much is it worth and does it need much work?

[scottish rodger]

A friend of my parents has offered to sell me this and i was curious as to how much i should be looking to pay, it has a few scratches on the front and general wear and tear by the looks of things but the pictures suggest its in reasonable condition as far as i can tell anyway. Any advice would be muchly appreciated.

[billhay4]

I have no idea what it's worth, but it looks like it's in reasonable shape externally. Have you played it? Any buzzing, string slop, muted notes, etc.?
Any label or writing on the inside?
Bill

[allenhopkins]

Thought I'd seen one like it on the Cafe! Recent thread.

[scottish rodger]

havent had a chance to play it as he lives on the isle of man and im near glasgow, im assuming it will at least need a set up done on it which im alright with, i believe it is the same kind as mentioned in the reply by allenhopkins. So long as it doesnt need any major work done i might well give it a go, the action does look like it gets pretty high as you go down the neck but other than that it looks pretty nice i thought.
Ive never tried an old instrument so i am quite curious........

[Ron McMillan]

I think the action does look very high, which makes me think it might not be much of a 'player'. Given the style of bridge, doing much about the action might be a big job.

But it is an attractive thing, and if the price was right, I'd go for it and put some lighter strings on it to see if the action is survivable.

ron (also originally from a town near Glasgow)

[Peter Kurtze]

Very pretty! As to value, one of these recently went for £150 on ebay UK: bit.ly/NR7ykG

[barney 59]

Those things come up here fairly often. There are a couple of different pictures on the back that were offered it seems. Decalmaniacs seem to like them. They usually sell for about $200 in the US. I once knew the name of the manufacturer but it escapes me. They are British made I do remember that.

[allenhopkins]

Here's tavy (John Maddock) playing his on YouTube:



Discusses what he did to rehab it.

Also some discussion of the various manufacturer's labels:

"The Viennese College of Music"
"The Neapolitan College of Music"
"The Neapolitan Patent Mandoline Co."

in the YouTube notes. Interesting, almost "guitar-ish" mid-range.