Can anyone tell me the make and year of this mandolin?

[matbar31]

I purchased this mandolin at a yard sale last year and it does not have any markings on it. I was wondering if anyone could give me any information about it? I have attached some photos of it.

Thanks
Matt

[mrmando]

It looks like a custom build to me. I do not recognize it. Someone who's more perspicacious than I am might be able to give you a date range on the tuners and fretboard.

[f5loar]

I was going to say an older handmade from a guy that had lots of birdseye maple to get rid of.

[goaty76]

Don't know who the maker was but if I had to guess when it was made I would put it from 1910-1925. It looks like a fairly nice quality instrument and if I saw it at a yard sale for a good price I would probably buy it too.

Phil

[Marty Jacobson]

Nice find! I don't know of any factories using wood like that, at least not until more modern times -- though it could be a prototype or custom order, I suppose. I'd concur that it's a custom-built, as seems to be the consensus. It isn't signed by Joe Wilson, is it? :-)

[mrmando]

We have folks on the Cafe who know when those 5-screw tuner plates became available, and when one might have been able to buy one of those Chicago-made fretboards with 2 different sizes of snowflake inlays. This board has a 3rd-fret marker, which was not a common sight in the 1920s.

The B/W barber-pole binding was a common sight on fancy Gibson mandolins pre-1910. I doubt this instrument is that old, but its builder may have been trying to make it look as if it were.

[brunello97]

The B/W barber-pole binding was a common sight on fancy Gibson mandolins pre-1910. I doubt this instrument is that old, but its builder may have been trying to make it look as if it were.

Also VERY common on Neapolitan mandolins from '90s to '10s. I've tried to brand it "Sienese" after the black/white marble in the Duomo there, but the palo del barbiere description, while less compelling, is much more likely to stick. I like it.

The maker might have been sourcing/sampling a range of mando-influences. Red is right, some serious birdseye on hand.

Mick

[mrmando]

Which Duomo came first? Siena or Firenze?

[John McCoy]

Which Duomo came first? Siena or Firenze?

Fiesole

[brunello97]

Martin, John is actually right in that the cathedral in Fiesole predated the two, though is much smaller. (Though quite lovely inside.) The Siena Duomo is earlier than Santa Maria del Fiore in Firenze and as originally planned was to be much larger. Only the transept was completed as work essentially stopped when the Black Death ravaged the city. The column layout for the nave (and some wall work) are present on the site. A pretty sobering reminder. The facade on the Duomo in Firenze wasn't actually completed until mid/late 19th C.

Barber poles tend to be red, white and blue, rather than black and white but they do have that diagonal twist to them similar to the classic mandolin binding.

Mick

[matbar31]

Thanks everyone for the information! Would anyone know and approximate value on the mandolin?

[P.D. Kirby]

Matt, one things for sure, it's a custom build from days gone by and that's some of the most beautiful Birds Eye I've seen in a long tome. I bet that is one fine sounding Mandolin. If it were mine I would get it setup by a professional Mandolin Luthier or repair guy/gal and play the devil out of it. Nice Score!!!

[Jim Garber]

The shape is somewhat like Portuguese and Brazilian mandolins. The usual custom is to put a label inside visible thru the soundhole but some makers did not do that or the labels could have fallen out. Makers often sign the insides before assembling so it is possible that there may be some info written on the underside of the top or deep into the back.

Have you looked inside with a mirror? I would also be interested in whether it was carved or a flat, induced arch instrument -- it looks to me to be the latter.

Where are you located geographically? Are you in the US? My guess is it was built by a European immigrant in the 1940s or 50s. I know of a few Italian-American makers in New York who built similar custom-made mandolins in their shops as late as the 1970s.

[MikeEdgerton]

I think it's American made, in a factory, probably a factory that was building banjos as well as banjo mandolins, most likely pre 1930, could have been Chicago, Massachusetts, or even New Jersey, almost anywhere. That neck looks like half the necks on no name banjo mandolins from that era and we've never been able to pin down the name of most of those builders.

[Jim Garber]

matbar31: can you post additional photos? Closeups of the neck joint, back of the neck, tailpiece end and others could be useful.

[Jim Garber]

This did remind me of a maker in Greenwich Village, NY (he died around mid 1970s, I believe) who is related to two folks I know. His name was Fulvio Pardini. Here are a few examples of his work.

[matbar31]

Ok thanks for the information. I will post a couple of more pictures that maybe will help. Would anyone know an approximate value of the mandolin?

[Jim Garber]

Would anyone know an approximate value of the mandolin?

Really impossible to give you a real value. it depends on condition and how much more money it would take to make it playable.

[MikeEdgerton]

As it sits you should do a happy dance if anyone will give you $100.00. Without the tailpiece and the bridge it's going to take some work. Even with the tailpiece and the bridge it probably isn't going to worth a whole lot. Unfortunately the instruments that bring money usually have a known brand name on them.

[matbar31]

Here is a couple of more photos

[matbar31]

Ok I posted a few more pictures up for you

[Bill Snyder]

It would appear that the neck joint has been shimmed.