Hi I was hoping someone could tell me a little about this mandolin...age etc..thank you!
Hi I was hoping someone could tell me a little about this mandolin...age etc..thank you!
SS Stewart was a premiere banjo manufacturer based in Philadelphia circa 1900. By the time your mandolin was made it had become a brand that was outsourcing most of their instruments to other builders. You have a 30's era mandolin that is branded SS Stewart but was most likely built by Harmony in Chicago. Are there any numbers stamped inside? You might need a flashlight to see them.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Looks like it says 1886 last number is hard to read
Are there any other numbers? By the way in 1915 the SS Stewart name was sold to the distributor Buegeleisen & Jacobson. B&J bought from most of the larger builders that built for the trade.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
No other numbers that I can find
OK, no help there then.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
The Pearloid headstock overlay makes me think late 1920's to mid 1930's. The "commas" at the end of the f-holes are characteristic of some Chicago builders, including Harmony, as Mike E states. Many of the larger Chicago builders manufactured mandolins for distributors like B & J, and labeled them with the distributors' brand names. You can find "S S Stewart," as well as "Fred Stewart" (son of S S) labels on instruments made by several US makers.
Allen Hopkins
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