This weeks mandolin that won't get a bid or buyer

[Jeff Mando]

I love the peghead overlay -- Brazilian rosewood? I know nobody gets excited about 70's Gibsons on this forum, but really not a bad looking mandolin, IMHO.
As far as price -- who knows?

[Bazz Jass]

I don’t see a scam, necessarily. Nevada to Texas three years ago, reuse of the old photos you bought it from, for convenience…try to make some money because a friend said these things are appreciating. I’d just swap a couple emails if interested, ask for specific photos, etc.

Maybe the case. It just seems strange to me that someone would take photos of their computer screen rather than just downloading the photos and posting them. Or just taking photos of the instrument? These aren't screen grabs, the seller has actually use a camera to take photos of the old listing.

[Bazz Jass]

I love the peghead overlay -- Brazilian rosewood? I know nobody gets excited about 70's Gibsons on this forum, but really not a bad looking mandolin, IMHO.
As far as price -- who knows?

The headstock overlays were ebony in this era. This one has a very distinctive striped ebony!

[Jim Garber]

This is an over the top Blueberry instrument with way too much glitz and little aesthetic appeal to me. It has 12 strings but I am guessing guitar scale but has 8 courses. And I love the mixture of bass and standard guitar tuners. This is also a candidate for worst scroll of the year, too. Might contain a few pounds of pearl, too. And only $3850USD. Yikes! https://www.ebay.com/itm/115642473987

[Charles E.]

Well, at least they got the proportions right...snort . Now sometimes a mandolin by a folk artist builder has a certain charm but this is deliberate ugly.

[Sue Rieter]

I feel like the scroll looks like a body builder displaying their bicep.

IMO, this could probably be cross posted to that "worst scrolls" thread.

[pops1]

With all that inlay it has to sound good. Wouldn't you be disappointed after all that work to have made a dud.

[Jim Garber]

I believe Stradivari tapped abalone shells near his house to make sure that his violins had that excellent tone.

[MikeEdgerton]

You have obviously failed to recognize the work of Antonio Tsai's great grandfather.

[journeybear]

Oh my! The listing title - Blueberry Handmade Grand Mandolin Twelve String - Built to Order 90-Day Delivery - intrigued me, especially the last part. Built to order? 90-day delivery? So you can either get this or have one custom-built to suit your druthers with a three-month turnaround? So I looked at the seller's account and ... Oh my! So many instruments, so much bling, multi-colored too. Page after page after page ... And that $3850 figure comes up a few times, as do $2850 and $2450. I suspect one is paying a price per ounce for bling.

BTW, I did want to point out the builder's use of tuning pegs with larger flanges for the four lower strings on this one, the wound strings with greater tension (presumably.) This would help serve the player by enabling greater torque when tuning.

https://www.ebay.com/str/blueberryguitars BTW. 1.4K sold.

[LadysSolo]

And just in case more people want one, it says there are 5 available! Wow!

[jim simpson]

Blueberry guitars is the inspiration of Montreal businessman and musician Danny Fonfeder who conceived the idea to marry outstanding craftsmanship to extraordinary art. Having traveled the globe several times over and joined forces with the industry’s top luthier and educator from Vermont, Danny launched the venture partnering with the world’s finest woodcarvers on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Art is in the eye of the beholder, over the top for me plus the mandolin shapes, details just seem wrong to me.

[journeybear]

Interesting business model, though the results ... well, YMMV. Do you know, are the photos at his store of previously built and sold instruments, so a prospective customer may order another one similar? That seems plausible.

[Richard500]

Now on Goodwill. Demonstrates that it isn’t a good idea to keep your mouse/gerbil/random rodent in your mandolin.

[jim simpson]

Now on Goodwill. Demonstrates that it isn’t a good idea to keep your mouse/gerbil/random rodent in your mandolin.

I have to agree with you. They leave quite a mess and like to chew on wood!

[Jim Garber]

I had that same thing happen to a violin body.

[pops1]

They used to fill my turntable with dog food until it wouldn't turn. Did it twice. They would pack it so tight the motor couldn't turn the platter. I guess they got tired of me removing the dog food cause they stopped after two times.

[mrmando]

Market price for a project instrument!

Is there a rule of thumb for how much an unrepaired heel crack should devalue a mandolin?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374510771228

[rcc56]

It might be worth the current asking price only after all the repairs are skillfully completed.

[dustyamps]

This Tendolin on ebay might qualify as a no bidder.

[Jim Garber]

This Tendolin on ebay might qualify as a no bidder.

Please give us the courtesy of a link to enjoy with you the oddity. We would appreciate the fun along with you! Thanks!

[journeybear]

That's pretty obviously just a wall hanger, right? A piece of folk art, with no attempt to be presented as an instrument. What I find its most curious aspect - even with all the possible candidates for such - is the inclusion of what looks like a real possibly functional neck. Well, the frets might not be completely correctly spaced. Hmmm ... never mind.

PS: I don't see it on eBay nor google. Not "tendolin."

[Charles E.]

Obviously a solid body electric sans pickup.

[journeybear]

I thought of that, but it needs a bunch of stuff besides a pickup. No nut, no bridge, no tailpiece (or other way to attach strings), no electronics nor place for them (unless it's in the back), no knobs - it's got a way to go until it's an instrument. For now it's a wall hanger - or a project.

It sure would be nice to see the listing for context. And to see the price, which is the paramount consideration for inclusion on this thread.

[Jim Garber]

It is also hard to tell what the intent of the instrument is since you can’t tell how courses are arranged. I was unable to find the eBay listing. I guess Dustyamps is no longer interested in providing the info.

Ah, I did find a sold listing of one on Reverb with only a few pics and in the same condition. Or maybe this is the same one with the beginnings of attempted restoration? https://reverb.com/item/15855139-tendolin-mandolin-10-string-1970-natural-cherry

And another one: https://reverb.com/item/66111916-homemade-10-string-neckthrough-mandolin-husk-luthiers-special

I wonder if all these were the beginning attempts of a mad luthier who made multiple 10-string instruments but never finished any of them. None seem to have slots in the nuts or bridges or pickups. Maybe he ran out of money or died in the attempt.

I wonder if Dustyamps bought the one on eBay which may be why he doesn’t want to answer us?