# Instruments and Equipment > Videos, Pictures & Sound Files >  Mandolin Oddities

## FolkMusician

Looking at all these builders' renditions of the F-5 sure is awesome, but it has been mentioned on here before that it can get a little boring. Anyone have any little oddities they'd like to show off? There's the watermelon mandolin, but I'm sure there are more. So, post away!

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## mandopete

My favorite.

(A.K.A. the "Bat-Mando")

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## Jim M.

Well, there's the reverse scroll Unicorn&Mustang at Gryphon:



Sounds great, too.

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## Jim Hilburn

Before I started doing this for a job,I did it as a hobby. I liked to do whatever can to mind ,but sometimes the mind got ahead of good design and proper construction techniques. So,#12 was unleashed on the earth, and oddity is the only word that defines it, other than maybe "bad idea".Sounds pretty odd, too, although Steve Stone said I should put a pickup on it and sell it to a jazzer. But I think it will just remain a curiosity on my wall.

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## Jim Hilburn

The photo's don't do justice to it. How asymetric its anyway. I anyone has ever seen Irving Sloane's book on how to build a steel string guitar, you would see the most bizarre method of making a mold for the rim. That's what I tried here, and it's not a good way to do it. This was one way to waste a nice piece of wood.

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## Jim Hilburn

Charlie, don't sue me! I think I had recently been looking at Mother Maybelles L-5,and I really liked that peghead look. Kind of overdid it on this one, though. The inlay is another Gibson rip-off,but I took it off one of those vintage guitar calenders,and could barely tell what it looked like, so this is quite a bit different than the ones you see on those old white A-styles.

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## FolkMusician

Jim, I was thinking about doing something like that, in the spirit of the 60's hollowbody electrics, but never got around to it. I think for my first electric I'm going to try a Tele replica

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## Jim Hilburn

I've got one of those,too. I've got quite a few "oddities" around the house.

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## Harrmob

I found this on the net looking for John Duffey's duck. I kind of like this one....

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## mandopete

Another one of my favorites, the Coleson Flying-V

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## Magnus Geijer

Here's my #1, finished in September of -03. #2, #3, #4 and #5 are currently on the way.

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Bluejay

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## Bob A

No photos, but Neil Gladd did make a few copies of the solidbody Gibson Flying-Vee as an 8-string electric mando. I really wanted one, but no one would sell theirs. Handsome instrument.

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## PCypert

Hey kyswede,
That's a sharp looking mando. What are the specs, etc?
Paul

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## FolkMusician

I love the lightning bolt f-holes on mandopete's V

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## mandopete

> I love the lightning bolt f-holes on mandopete's V


It's not mine (I wish it was), but rather a Coleson built up in Alaska. He builds a real nice F-5.

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## Hoovetone

kyswede, I really like your sound holes. Good work-everybody has f holes. I like the change.

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## neal

That is totally awsome!!!

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## Bob DeVellis

With the possible exception of the hardware store items (which are truly oddities and cool in their own special way), those are some great looking instruments. Perhaps all weren't acoustically successful, but you gotta play to win, as the saying goes. Must be tough finding cases for some of those rascals, though.

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## Jim Garber

Great thread! 

I posted this picture elsewhere some time ago, but I think it bears repetition. This is a OM built in 1931 by an Italian-American named Achilio Puccinelli in Chicago.

Jim

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## Jim Garber

Another oddball. Not sure what the maker intended. Nicely made (with dovetails) box with a mando neck. Lots of soundholes, tho.

Jim

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## mikeomando

(Carnival barker's voice) Step right up, stick and stay and don't go away, one tenth of a dollar! Amaze your friends with stories of oddities that you won't believe...How about you sir, are you MAN enough to see the wonders of the mandolin world?

(great thread, by the way)

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## Magnus Geijer

Thanks for the praise, guys!

They're all Sitka tops. #1 has a mahogany neck, while 2, 3, 4, and 5 will have curly maple. #1 and #2 have poplar sides, whereas 3, 4 and 5 have curly maple. Tips are mahogany and backs are all curly maple, most of them one-piece. Fret boards are all ebony, flat on #1 and radiused on the rest of them. Although the first is not bound, the rest of them are intended to be. TruOil worked so well for me on the first one, I intend to stick with it. I'm intensely happy with the sound, which I think is something a little between an f-hole and an oval-hole, something I'm guessing is due to the sound holes. 

Again, thanks for noticing!

Magnus

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## Hummingbird_Mandolins

I know this does not look very odd style wise. What I am building here is a "mando-guitar". Strings 6th--3rd will be singles and 2nd--1st will be double. Tuning will be standard guitar tuning--I do play in DADGAD but I am not sure what that will sound like w/this instrument.

The scale length is 15 3/4". I did this because the standard mando scale is too close for guitar fingering. Fingerboard width at the nut is 1 7/16" and 1 13/16" at the 12th fret.

I would be interested in hearing your comments.

Matt

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## Jim Garber

Here's one I came across tonight. Well-made but blatantly bad Gibson clone.

Jim

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## G'DAE

Funny how they used "The Gibson", but didn't even put a Flower pot on it.

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## mandopete

> Funny how they used "The Gibson", but didn't even put a Flower pot on it.


Looks like someone just got plain lazy when it came to the scroll work!

Here's some more oddities...

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## Jim Garber

Another oddity from the house of Calace (last posting) is this "turnover" instrument -- half mandolin. half ukulele. I actually owned one of these long ago. Had no sound tho.

Jim

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## Mandopickr

Some time ago on this message board there was posted a pic of the Paul Stanley tripple neck f-style. Does anyone have those pics still available...that was indeed an oddity

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## mrmando

I don't think Paul Stanley has a tripleneck F ... 

You might be thinking of John Paul Jones, in which case you can find the photo at emando.com.

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## Mandopickr

That's it....sorry...rock&roll hasn't always been my first pick. I think that that one fits the category

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## Jim Garber

This one was at Elderly a few months ago.

Jim

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## delsbrother

Hey, somebody on the MC classifieds was looking for one of those..

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## Brain

Did somebody say banjo killer?

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## Igor The Cat

attack of the MandoBass!!! Ah!!!

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## Jim Garber

Here's another odd one described as far as I can determine as a balalaika-like mandolin. This off a Czech web site that a few photos of my mandolins have been pictured somehow.

Jim

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## Igor The Cat

Weird!!

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## Jim Garber

We haven't had any oddities in a few days. here is another one that was on eBay sometime last year. The amazing part is that there is a contoured case that came with this one.

Jim

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## delsbrother

Whoa, check out the multicolored string silencers! Beats ol' grommets any day.  

Stranky o Mandolinach!

Darrell

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## mrmando

Wow -- any Wallace & Gromit fans here? That last mandolin looks almost exactly like Wallace's head.

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## Landgrass

And it has Grommits!

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## Jim Garber

Here is an interestingly-shaped mandolin by a maker named Delucia from the Top Shelf Music web site.

Jim

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## FrankenMouse

Odd but beautiful. Photo credit to 12th Fret, Toronto:

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## Jim Garber

FrankenMouse, That Beardsall is a updated variant of the Kaycraft look. Great stuff!

Jim

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## FrankenMouse

Yeah, love the soundholes in the side!

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## grandmainger

Not a mando as such, but not far from being the weirdest thing I've seen:



There are more photos of the beast available on the site.

Germain

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## AlanN

That thing looks like a cross between a StairMaster and a cranial support apparatus.

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## JGWoods

Mutant_Dan- I looked at your café profile. Any chance the homebrew came first, the barbecue dobro right after? 
That is great stuff, you made my day
 
best
gw

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## Eugene

> Not a mando as such, but not far from being the weirdest thing I've seen:


I am a little reluctant to say it and reveal myself as a human oddity, but this looks like a pretty standard hurdy-gurdy to me.

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Bluejay

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## Bob DeVellis

Eugene took the words right out of my mouth.

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## grandmainger

Mmmhh... Ze poor little french boy doesn't know what _hurdy-gurdy_ is. Can you explain  ?

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## Eugene

A hurdy-gurdy is the thing pictured above. #From Merriam-Webster:



> 1 : a stringed instrument in which sound is produced by the friction of a rosined wheel turned by a crank against the strings and the pitches are varied by keys.


The external strings are drones. #The keys stop melody strings. #The aural effect is the stringed equivalent of the bagpipes (i.e. la musette). #Hurdy-gurdies are kind of trendy for playing dance tunes from the French renaissance.

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## grandmainger

I see! It sounded so bizarre I didn't even think of looking it up. Thanks for the explanation 

Now for another true oddity:

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## Eugene

Yikes!

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## John Flynn

This thread has gone on for three pages and Bill Bussman hasn't waded in yet? It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Bill, where are you?

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## Philip Halcomb

This is my favorite odd mandolin...

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Bluejay, 

Rush Burkhardt

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## jim simpson

flip,
Isn't this the mando the David Grisman has been playing?

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## Philip Halcomb

Yes it is, it's pretty neat... Not overly odd, but odd and interesting... 

By the way I love the little clefs on it...

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## grandmainger

> By the way I love the little clefs on it...


Yes, they are odd.

Have you tried covering them and playing to see if the sound difference is noticeable?

Have a look at this very odd piece on eBay right now... very odd.

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## Eugene

> Have a look at this very odd piece on eBay right now... very odd.


What a beast! #I especially like the claim "Every 8 stringers' dream bragging toy." #It is so baffling as to inspire the reply of "Errrr...?"

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## mandopete

"Put a pickup on it and play with your favorite country, bluegrass, gospel, dixie, or new age band. It's a really neat instrument. Every 8 stringers' dream bragging toy."

I had a dream that it could mounds of julliene fries too!

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## jim simpson

I thought it was one of those Kentucky mandolins with a failed scarf joint!

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## Bill Snyder

This one is on ebay. Built with wormy poplar top and back and cedar sides. Says they are hand made and he has 100 of them. Here is the listing Ebay mandolin

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## Magnus Geijer

That's interesting. It says "One of a kind" in the description, and "100 available" at the top. That's some advanced existentialistic math.

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## Eugene

A classic alluded to above, it slices, it dicees, and entertains at your luau or hoedown. there is a fine Turnover for sale along with plenty of campy, collectible kitsch.

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## mandroid

Cool, the Webbers meet, (page one) and as crossbreeding cousins do, you never know what the combinations will become.

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## mandoman15

Whats up with this beast??

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## Eugene

Mandolin, lute, zither, potato grater...? Naw, it's the rightfully rare and frightfully freakish Stössel-lute. For those with a cat-like penchant for fatal curiosity, Gregg Miner wrote a nice article on such stuff.

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## Jim Garber

This one just came on eBay: another wacko shaped one, part Wandre, part lethal medieval weapon. Go for it!

Jim

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## danb

How about an original vintage F THREE?

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## mandopete

The scroll looks kinda funky.

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## TommyK

> Before I started doing this for a job,I did it as a hobby. I liked to do whatever can to mind ,but sometimes the mind got ahead of good design and proper construction techniques. So,#12 was unleashed on the earth, and oddity is the only word that defines it, other than maybe "bad idea".Sounds pretty odd, too, although Steve Stone said I should put a pickup on it and sell it to a jazzer. But I think it will just remain a curiosity on my wall.


Ya know, I've heard rumblings (I don't know where) that the mando may be the next new sound in Jazz and GODLESS Rock and Roll. That Jazzy mando may have a market.
Of course those rumblings could by my supper not settlin' too well. But that Jazzer with a pickpup might find a bunch of buyers.

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## TommyK

> Odd but beautiful. Photo credit to 12th Fret, Toronto:


ONe of the guitars Django played had a itty bitty oval hole like that. It was a Selmer variant. But, I don't think you can call it a Djangolin.
Notice the bass side side's holes. Are they for pourin' the beer in or pourin' the beer out?

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## TommyK

> This is my favorite odd mandolin...


My aunt had painted on eyebrows like those back in the '60s. Liked to scared me to death!  
Thank God that went out of style! Looks good on the mando tho.

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## TommyK

I've heard of Hurdy Gurdies, but until now have never seen one. I'm haveing a little difficulty judging the size of this thing. Does it take 2 people to play? I'm guessing, if it's a one man affair you crank with the left and key with the right?  ..... right?

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## TommyK

I think Frank's got you all beat. #For those who have never INVESTED in the time to peruse Frets.com. #Here's a LINK to a Mid Mo that will knock your Keds off. #I posted the link because I didn't want to copy/paste his pic without permission.
It's got 8 tuners (they line up and everything) book matched top of CDX. Book matched.. yes. From the same book.... no. #It's gotta be a Mid Mo 'cause Mid Mo is penciled right there on the head stock.


Sorry about monopolizing the thread, but it was so much fun! #I'm gonna go do something else now.

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## Eugene

> I've heard of Hurdy Gurdies, but until now have never seen one. #I'm haveing a little difficulty judging the size of this thing. #Does it take 2 people to play? #I'm guessing, if it's a one man affair you crank with the left and key with the right? # ..... right?


Exactly...almost. Yes, a single player, but the typical technique is to crank with the right hand and key with the left. #The keys face away from the player, and the player reaches over the top to access them. #The keys are analogous to the neck of other chordophones. #They're typically maybe 2 feet long or so.

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## danb

I borrowed a hurdy-gurdy for a while. They're really cool, haunting sound. It's played on the lap, right hand turns crank, left works keys. If it's a bowlback, it's played with a strap stand-up dobro slide style. Personally, I think they make really cool substitutes for pipes or Bombarde in Breton/Celtic music.

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## FrankenMouse

TommyK,

That Mid-Mo "Messterpiece" is hilarious. I especially like the fact that the plywood bridge is compensated -- as if it matters!

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## TommyK

Given the profuse 'bear clawing' and 'quilting' along with the cross grained book matching from different volumes (G and XYZ I think), there needs to be a whole lot of compensatin' goin' on!
 #
I'm gonna have another&gt;  #
Have one on me&gt; #

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## neal

I wonder what the MidMo sounds like....hmmm

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## Bill Snyder

Here is one for you scroll lovers

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## Jim Garber

Here's a better pic of this. It was actually sold on eBay in 2000.

Ther maker is George Seilinshrick, whoever he was.

Jim

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## grandmainger

And now, the Violin-Mandolin:



From this eBay Auction

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## Jim Garber

Ah, thatone is from Antonio Tsai of Taiwan. he has been mentioned a number of times on this board.

Jim

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## grandmainger

> Ah, thatone is from Antonio Tsai of Taiwan. he has been mentioned a number of times on this board.


The front looks not pretty at all to me, but the back and sides are quite sexy, especially the double points. I kind of like the sides.

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## uncle ken

Here is one from ebay today. It looks like it could also be used as a battle axe. You probably wouldn't want to set your strap too low when playing this one.

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## Eugene

On violin-shaped mandolins, Brandt was doing that 100 years ago. Check out this mandola from Top Shelf Music.

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## ethanopia

since we are on the violin shaped mando branch of this thread check this one out, I think I posted this one last year. I kinda like it because it blends F5 design ideas with violin ideas.

I think Todd Phillips built it but I'm not positive. I got the pic from an old MWN

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## mandopete

I kinda like this one, it sort of grows on you. #It reminds me a bit of the one that French Guy (seen elsewhere in this section) built.

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## Strado Len

Another great piece of folk art from ebay: the flying wedge mandola.

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## Strado Len

The "Yoni Goddess" mandola:

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## Strado Len

Close-up of soundhole, er, aperture.

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## SternART

Ethanopia, that one was built by Darol Anger if I'm not mistaken.
Todd Phillips used to build in the back of my art studio & I saw all of his instruments.

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## french guy

> I kinda like this one, it sort of grows on you. It reminds me a bit of the one that French Guy (seen elsewhere in this section) built.


Hmmm Mandopete , I appreciate a lot , that you remember my last construction , and you class it among oddities

Here a pic take just a few minutes ago

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## mandoryan

French Guy,
 That is even cooler than I remember it. I really like the finish on it. Very good work.

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## danb

I can't even begin to speak about how (in)appropriate to "mandolin oddities" this is..

update: oh well, the eBay listing expired. The soundhole was.. well.. sorta Female-looking..

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## mandoryan

That mandolin would be nice if it didn't have that "rosette" or whatever you want to call it with the little jewels on it....as Dale says..GAK!!!

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## danb

The brand name gives a clue to what's going on with the soundhole..

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## Jim Garber

> I can't even begin to speak about how (in)appropriate to "mandolin oddities" this ebay listing is.


Dan:
So... what is up with this mandola.. you seem very mysterious about it. Do you know the maker. He sounds like a character.

Jim

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## neal

Jim, think on the feminine side for a moment. #Think about the name "Yoni Goddess". #I think Yoni is an eastern name for a body part, I believe I've seen that name in an Indian book of love. # I could be wrong, though, someone more familiar with tantric relations will chime in. And the soundhole certainly does represent it.

I think it's great. # Most of his work is really interesting, even #that checkerboard mandolin, that took a long time to sell on ebay, if it even sold. # But pretty time consuming work at any rate.

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## Jim Garber

I figured that much from the "goddess". His web site -- what of it there is-- is pretty entertaining also. A real character.

Jim

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## mandopete

> Hmmm Mandopete , I appreciate a lot , that you remember my last construction , and you class it among oddities


Well, it is, how should I say it? ....different?

And I mean that in a good way!

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## mandopete

> The "Yoni Goddess" mandola:


Oh! I thought we were talking about Joni Mitchell again - sorry!

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## tzigan

Here's my wife's first mandolin -- we understand they gave these away as premiums at feed stores in Oklahoma in the '30s if you bought enough feed. #When she showed up for her first mandolin orchestra practice it was politely suggested that she buy a "real" mandolin.

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## Jacob

A 1914 Pablo Picasso

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## John Bertotti

I love those Hurdy Gurdies. If they didn't cost so darn much I'd try to get one. Oddly enough in most other countries the Hurdy Gurdy is just as the picture but most Americans call the crank box thing that you see the monkey around a Hurdy Gurdy. John

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## Jim Garber

Here is an oddball that just came on eBay: a Vietnamese masterpiece. Not sure if the top is double-layered or just for decoration. nice finish right?

Jim

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## neal

Here's one from ebay, kinda cool

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## Mando Medic

Well, let's not forget this one. And Pete, don't say it! Kenc

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## Jim Garber

Hey, for another heart-shaped instrument, check out my 1930 Puccinelli OM on the first page of this thread (scroll to the very bottom of this page. 

Jim

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## mandopete

> Well, let's not forget this one. And Pete, don't say it! Kenc


Now Ken, you know that I wouldn't dream of commenting on that one!



(at least you have your pants on!)

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## Keith Newell

Ken, I know you didn't have that down there this weekend because the mando's are hanging different then the way you do now or I woulda loved to have seen that one.

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## jasona

Ken I swear that is the same mando the maker in Toronto was showing me photos of when I was in the 12th Fret getting some work done. I later saw it on a wall at a pawn shop. Funny looking bugger, that's for sure.

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## Jim Garber

Here's an oddball by the German Gotz Company. Hey, you gotz any mandolins shaped like fiddles? :-)

Currently on eBay, should you need such a thing.

Jim

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## Jim Garber

Here's a pic for after it is long gone. Enough soundholes for you?

Jim

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## mandolooter

semi odd w/great tone

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## Steve Davis

Available at the Vintage Fret Shop
http://www.vintagefret.com/pages/11881.html

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## Jim Garber

> Available at the Vintage Fret Shop
> http://www.vintagefret.com/pages/11881.html


Here's the description:



> 11881 Musikalia Mando-Bizzaro (used, date unknown) This very strange and large mandolin is a mysterious product of the misty Mediterranean. It has a WIDE neck, and its elongated body is very resonant; decorated with metal putti and filigree. This would be a great choice for anyone who needs a mandolin with a wide rosewood fingerboard. $595.00


Musikalia makes tons of inexpensive instruments. I believe that Lark in the Morning sells quite a few of them.

Jim

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## Steve Davis

Thanks Jim for the info on the company. I particularly like the "Gybson" model.

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## Austin Clark

> semi odd w/great tone


Semi odd?  

That one is REALLY odd! Thanks Jeff,I like the tone too!
-austin

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## Jim Garber

Do you think that these can be confused with Gibsons?

Jim

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## delsbrother

Ok, I know there's been discussion of Antonio Tsai's work before, but did anyone notice the double-soundhole beast in this photo? 



Whoa.

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## Elem21wed

I purchased a bowlback mandolin at a local flea market with a faded label and green canvas carrying case. #My hope is to restore it and learn to play it at the local folk music school. #I would like to be able to learn some certral european and Italian music. #The label as mentioned is very faded and in the shape of a rectangle with stamped letters. #Using photoshop I was able to pick up "JUP..., TRADEMARK, and REG US PAT NOTICE." #The faded ink looks like it came from a simple oval shaped rubber stamp. #I think the mandolin is a Jupiter by Lyon and Healy, but the stamp dosen't look anything like the diamond label with the stylized LH logo. #Is this an earlier label for the Jupiter Mandolin, if so does someone know the age of this instrument? #If anyone has any information on this mandolin I would very much appreciate it very much

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## Eugene

Click here and here and read in a bit, maybe search for the text "Jupiter."

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## Jim Garber

Elem21wed,
Can you post a photo of the instrument itself? That would help id it.

Probably more appropriate in this thread.

Jim

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## Jim Garber

Does it look like this one? 



Jim

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## Elem21wed

It looks exactly like the one pictured in the B&W ad. Thanks to everyone who has emailed me privately and posted on the message board.

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## Elem21wed

Since I don't have a digital camera, I had to go out on the web and find a mandolin that looked like the one I purchased. I found the image I posted above at Ederly Instruments' website, although the label inside this mandolin does not look like the one I posted earlier.

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## Jim Garber

Elem21wed,
Do you have the link to that Jupiter page at Elderly? I would like to see the other pics they have of it.

Thanks
Jim

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## Elem21wed

Here is the link to the page on Elderly Instruments website.

vintage jupiter mandolin 1910

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## Jim Garber

Accompany yourself on this one.
Jim

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## duuuude

Weren't those successfully separated awhile back?

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## Jim Hilburn

Now that has been a fantasy of mine for a long time, only with the mandolin on top. Ideally, you'd take a 44 'bone and cut a hole in the shoulder just the right size to accept a Loar so the f-hole was inside the guitar. Then you rig some 14/20's with wingnuts and washers to hold them together.

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## JEStanek

Didn't Jimmy Page play that on MTV unplugged?  
Jamie

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## Jim Garber

This one is on Palm Guitars (Netherlands) site. It is a triple-strung, double top (like Gelas) mandolin by Garozzo.




> ca1910 a rare and beautifull patent model, triple course mandolin,made by garozzo in catania ,the secondary top pierced by a star shaped rozet,and with inlaid wooden scratch-plate,the high bride standing on the inner primary top which is painted gold.neck and back look like they are walnut.




Jim

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## Jim Garber

Here is a frightening one from the inventory of Marc Silber Music



Jim

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## mandoman15

one might wonder what the luthier was smoking when he carved that....  
then again, it looks like it would be a blast to play

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## Professor PT

Just add a melting clock and call it "The Dali."

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## delsbrother

More Tsai..

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## wmferg

> Here are some real strange bluegrass instruments...


Is it a Weber...?

Sorry....I couldn't resist.

WmFerg

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## Jim Garber

> Here is a frightening one from the inventory of Marc Silber Music
> 
> Jim


Here is that one ... seems to have lost the link...

Jim

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## Arto

Jim´s Frightening one is lovely! Would love to see it offered at eBay as "vintage Gibson mandolin"! # 

Interesting construction, really. It seems to have been made in 1945. Maybe large wood planks were rationed at wartime, too?

 Arto

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## Jim Garber

Speaking of triangular, balalaika-like instruments. This one by John Abrossimoff circa 1985.

Jim

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## Arto

By the size of the soundhole, it looks like Clarence White model balalaika!

 Arto

...in fact, it think it´s really cute! What kind of back does it have?

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## Jim Garber

> ...in fact, it think it´s really cute! What kind of back does it have?


Here's the back. BTW I don;t own this one, just got the jpegs off eBay some time ago. I have pics of another one just like it, so this maker liked the style.

Jim

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## van

Here is my oddity.

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## Jim Garber

Van,
That is wonderful. Who is the maker? It looks like there is a label. Does it actually play and sound like anything? Any more pics of, say, the headstock.

Did it come with a case that fits?

Looks similar to a maker named George Seilinshrick. (Pic below)

Jim

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## JEStanek

It looks a little like a decapitated Duck like the Duck in F5Journls posts of Festivals from way back.  The Norma Blake Photo a little over 1/2 way down on page 1. That's a cool looking mando. More info and photos, please.

Jamie

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## van

Thanks for the complement Jim, I made It. It is entirely cedar except for the aspen binding around the headstock and fretboard. It sounds great. It was my first archtop and including the time I spent on creating the design, it took three months to build. I am curently working on two new concepts, one is an old kay style and the other is a modified F5. I have posted other picks in this section under the title, *JM-75 Mandola*.

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## Jim Garber

Van:
I love the off-the-beaten track styles. I have been wanting to build a Kay style and a regal reverse scroll. 

Keep up the good work.. and have fun.

Jim

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## LeonEvans

Here's my Holst C-5, otherwise called the "Pointless F5"

Leon

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## JEStanek

I really dig the look of those Holst mandos. Yours is really cool.
Jamie

----------


## Jim Garber

EBay: the endless source of oddities... feast your eyes on this one.

Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

Radio six mandolafrom Harry and Jeannie West's site

Jim

----------


## jasona

That's hideous.

----------


## Jason Kessler

...looks like mando road kill...

----------


## PaulD

> ...looks like mando road kill...


 Couldn't have said it better! That tailpiece cover is interesting, though.

pd

----------


## Tom C

The hilarious part is they are selling that but-ugly folk art thing for $2,800. It looks like Andrei The Giant sat on his mando.

----------


## Dave Gumbart

Hey, holy cow! I don't know that Richard Levens, a builder from Scotland has been mentioned yet. He's on the Cafe's list of builders, in Scotland(web site http://www.dicklevens.co.uk/). Found him just by browsing the builders section, wondering who's building what and where. Now some of that stuff is original. Case in point...

----------


## Darryl Wolfe

check out this beast


<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Mandolin-Italian-Old-Carlo-Giuseppe-Picino-de-Napoli_W0QQitemZ7363724559QQcategoryZ10179QQ
rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">link</a>

----------


## delsbrother

Ooh, I want it! I have a bunch of other photos of this style of mando (Gregg Miner calles them "Wappen" (shield style?)). The form is found on a lot of german harp-guitars. Ebay links seem to be kaput today; got an item number?

----------


## Eugene

> check out this beast
> 
> 
> <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Mandolin-Italian-Old-Carlo-Giuseppe-Picino-de-Napoli_W0QQitemZ7363724559QQcategoryZ10179QQ
> 
> rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">link</a>


Wow. I wish the instrument rather than the founding of the shop was dated. It looks suspiciously like some "wappenform" guitars of the mid 1800s.

----------


## Eugene

Oops, in my excitement over potentially pre-Lyon & Healy wappenform mandolins, I wholly missed that you had already replied to this very image, Darrell. Try 7363724559.

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is another one of that ilk.

Jim

----------


## delsbrother

Thanks Eugene.. Link works for me now (must be something on my end). I have an old photo of an old mando-orchestra player with a "wappen" mandolin, but with rounded points insteade of sharp ones. Did L&H make these?

Darrell

[edit] On second look maybe it's exactly the same model as the eBay one after all..

----------


## Eugene

> Here is another one of that ilk.
> 
> Jim


That looks of a slightly more recent vintage somehow. Is it dated?

----------


## Eugene

> Thanks Eugene.. Link works for me now (must be something on my end). I have an old photo of an old mando-orchestra player with a "wappen" mandolin, but with rounded points insteade of sharp ones. Did L&H make these?
> 
> Darrell


Not really. I was equating the two-point thing to wappenform.

----------


## Jim Garber

> Originally Posted by  (jgarber @ Nov. 04 2005, 17:06)
> 
> Here is another one of that ilk.
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
> That looks of a slightly more recent vintage somehow. #Is it dated?


It is on the mandolin page of Pamela's Music in the UK. They just say "Wappen mandolin early 20thc".

While we are on that page, take a look at this contra bass mandolin.



Jim

----------


## glauber

Oooh Mama! And paired strings too!

----------


## Jim Garber

Simultaneous cross posting on that 2-point wappen here.

Jim

----------


## Martin Jonas

Hmm. These are not what I know as Wappenform. Normally, the German word Wappenform is used for something like this mandola below (from a recent Ebay auction which in restrospect I regret not bidding on). "Wappen" means crest in German, and this shape is distinctly more crest-like than the ones posted above. It's also very similar to the shape of a Vega cylinderback.

Martin

----------


## Steve Davis

How about This

----------


## Jim Garber

> How about This


That one is a product of the Musikalia factory in Sicily. Not the highest quality, at least the few I have seen. Lark in the Morning sells a few models of that brand.

Here is one of the originals that Musikalia copied from, cerca 1930 by Monzino & Garlandini.

My favorite from the Monzino shop:


Jim

----------


## Capstoner

Here are a couple odd ones!

----------


## Jim Garber

This ostensible Gibson F2 (tho called an F4) is really odd in that at first glance it looks normal. Then check out the fact that the headstock is backwards and the scrtoll is wrong,. It looks tho that it was made by someone who knew what they were doing, sort of a mandolin joke.

Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is a photo from the eBay posting (for the historical purposes of this thread).

Jim

----------


## mandopete

Here is a photo from the eBay posting (for the historical purposes of this thread).

----------


## Jim Garber

mandopete:
Who made that "holy" mandolin?

Jim

----------


## glauber

> mandopete:
> Who made that "holy" mandolin?


James Condino, from Portland. It's on eBay, and being discussed in another thread.

----------


## Jim Garber

Here are a couple of B&D's that have somehow escaped my clutches. I was negotiating a trade for this Ramona and was about to conclude it -- the dealer actually agreed to it -- when he found out that it had been sold while we were going back and forth. Grrrrrrr...

Did any Cafe member buy it out from under me??? If, so I forgive you.

I think these were carved top variations on the Regal reverse scroll flattops. They may actually have been made in the Regal factory in the 1930s for B&D. I don't think that B&D actually made their own guitars.

Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

This one is labelled Sultana and is a little fancier than the Ramona. Same body shape tho. I inquired of the dealer but never got a reply. Now it is off the site. I thought I had a full shot but only parts.

Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is the headstock of that Sultana.

Jim

----------


## MML

Jim,


 That Ramona was pretty cool. It had a little more going for it.

----------


## Jim Garber

I also think that both the condition and the photography was better. I have played some B&D guitars of the period and they are pretty much mid-grade instruments. I still like the look.

Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

This is a 1964 Ray Matty Electric from Banana's site. For those who love scrolls.



Jim

----------


## Jim Garber

Lots of butterflies were inlaid on bowlback pickguards but have you seen a mandolin body that was shaped like one?

Jim

----------


## JEStanek

Looks like a folk version of the Warlock mando.

Jamie

----------


## van

Here is one for the odd pile.
This is my #11, I wanted to see what a mandolin made entirely out of construction grade Yellow Pine would sound like so I built one. To my surprise it sounds great. This is a regular size mandolin body with a 17.5 inch scale with only four strings and it has that authentic bluegrass sound. I put a modified Virizi thing inside and it works but it is quite subtle. On the next one I will try a new Virizi modification that I am sure will work better.

----------


## Michael Lewis

Bluegrass sound? 4 strings, non F holes, loooonnnng scale. You may be on to sumpn.

----------


## mrmando

Love the fret markers, but the one on the 9th fret belongs on the 10th fret.

----------


## mrmando

Here's one from Nick Carpenter, an Australian builder I just learned about**:

----------


## JEStanek

The perfect e-mando for a Klingon Bluegrass band.

Jamie

----------


## van

> Love the fret markers, but the one on the 9th fret belongs on the 10th fret.


I was thinking guitar frets instead of mando frets.

----------


## mrmando

> The perfect e-mando for a Klingon Bluegrass band.


I was thinking, since it's Australian, maybe it's supposed to be a boomerang. Maybe after the gig you can go out and kill a wallaby or something for supper.

----------


## Jim Garber

Yes, you can own this long horn oddball.



Jim

----------


## mandolooter

found this F/oval hole a days back...ok no oval but its got a hole.

----------


## stevem

Arman Mandoline

----------


## stevem

another...

----------


## glauber

> another...


I think this is the one Picasso painted.

----------


## Paul Hostetter

Here's a bizarre little piece of detritus. It's said to be a mandola:



The dealer hawking this lovely thing informs us thus:

Radio Six Mandola    
Radio Six is in the Mandolin Family. Unusual item,by an obscure maker. Larger then average Mandola. c. mid late thirties? Unique, good sound. 
Our Price: $2,800.00

----------


## Antlurz

Looks like it's got a bad problem with Twinkies and Little Debbies......

 

Ron

----------


## JGWoods

scroll on the tailpiece- I like it!

----------


## Jim Garber

> Radio six mandola from Harry and Jeannie West's site
> 
> Jim


Sorry Paul, I beat you to that one on page 7 of this thread.

Jim

----------


## Paul Hostetter

What page are we on now?? Gad. How could I have missed it? Perhaps my mind was numbed from so much beauty.

----------


## Jim Garber

Ain't that the truth!  
Jim

----------


## jefflester

> Harry and Jeannie West's site


Also from there... this one should be painted red and have some white lettering on it.

----------


## JEStanek

Eight Strings sound so nice
Eight sided makes me think twice
He should have stopped.

Jamie

----------


## Martin Jonas

Some strange soundholes (from <a href="http://cgi.ebay.de/Alte-und-seltene-MANDOLINE-wohl-um-1900-Top_W0QQitemZ6602839092QQcategoryZ21591QQrdZ1QQcmd
ZViewItem" target="_blank">here</a>.

Martin

----------


## stevem

Eba* specialty

----------


## stevem

Close up...

----------


## Jim Garber

Steve:
 How is that bridge constructed?

Jim

----------


## stevem

billkilpatrick found it and posted it on another thread. I just put the pic up for posterity sake and don't know anything else...

----------


## Paul Hostetter

I think the real question is "why."

----------


## Mental Floss

In the builder section there is a guy that makes a mandolin out of a bedpan from the hospital.:p

----------


## Bill Snyder

From Mervyn Davis.

----------

Jan Viljoen

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

If Peter Parker picked a mandolin...


(Link to auction with more pics)

----------


## Martin Jonas

Probably worth putting a link to this thread in the Builders forum in the oddities thread, for the byzantine construction shown in the plans below.

Martin

----------


## Christian McKee

Here's my Alembic inspired mid 70's Flying V from Micheal Dolan. It plays and sings just like a dream.

Christian

----------


## Bill Snyder



----------


## Jim Garber

Bill that is a hybrid bowed zither with 8 strings instead of the usual 4, I believe. They often can be seen with heart shaped bodies.

Violin shaped one:


heart-shaped one:


Jim

----------


## Bill Snyder

Jim I suspected that it was to be played with a bow, but it was listed with several other unique mandolins on a website so I posted away. 
How about this mandola?

----------


## Keith Miller

another from ebay

----------


## Keith Miller

and the back

----------


## Jerry Byers

Did you guys catch this one on eB@y? It's a true Kentucky.

----------


## Jim Garber

Guitar and bowlback combo from Gregg Miner/Harpguitars.net

----------


## JEStanek

That looks like something Stanley Jordan would play...
Jamie

----------


## delsbrother

At $95 + shipping, you could outfit a whole orchestra!

----------


## Jim Garber

> At $95 + shipping, you could outfit a whole orchestra!


Yes, but think of the cost of the protective armor you would have to supply. "Ouch, my eye" "You stabbed the conductor!!" 

Jim

----------


## mandopete

Now that's just plain UGLY!

----------


## big h

U.G.L.Y.You ain....uuu.....uhhhhhhhhhhmmmm.........ghuuuuuu...  .... duuuuuuuhhhhhhh.... ..... I forgot the words to the song, but what I am trying to say is it is ugly.

----------


## danb

The scroll on this one doesn't pass the laugh test..

----------


## JEStanek

Looks like the lollipop swirl in the headstock would plug it nicely...

Jamie

----------


## danb

I think the two "eyes" on the front under the fingerboard are the other sides of the bolt on neck!

----------


## JeffD

> Guitar and bowlback combo from Gregg Miner/Harpguitars.net


I can't imagine a comfortable way of playing either side of that beast.

----------


## cooper4205

that orpheum looks rode hard and put away wet- sides of it look like it was used for a hammer (from the ebay pics)

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is a new oddball to keep this thread alive:

Roast Duck mandolin:



I am not sure if this is tongue-in-cheek humor or real -- it looks Photoshopped):


> This one-of-a-kind mandolin was made for a baroque performance at a beer festival in Munich in 1992. The body was carved from a pork roast, the neck was made with the skin of broiled duck and the headstock of baked Peking goose. It was eaten by the performers after the show.


Also take a look at this real vintage instrument from a maker in Bologna Italy prob 1920 or so.

Jim

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Well heck, I'll add my mystery mandolin as well (even though I sold it a few weeks ago)

----------


## Sitka

Sorry, I can't see the roast-duck mandolin

Micah

----------


## Martin Jonas

> Also take a look at this real vintage instrument from a maker in Bologna Italy prob 1920 or so.


I think it needs the side view as well to get the full impression of this peculiar instrument. Both this photo and the one posted by Jim are from <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/MANDOLINO-PARTICOLARE-LIUTAIO-ALFREDO-MONTANARI-1919-88_W0QQitemZ110114922745QQihZ001QQcat
%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EegoryZ10179QQssPageNameZWD  VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">this</a> Ebay auction.

Martin

----------


## Bill Snyder

Here is Jim's roast duck mando. The website it is posted on is Worth1000.com. A photoshop showcase site.

----------


## Jim Garber

> Well heck, I'll add my mystery mandolin as well (even though I sold it a few weeks ago)


Mike!! You were supposed to give me right of first refusal on that one!!! 

Jim

----------


## MikeEdgerton

You refused the last time.

----------


## Bill Snyder

Currently for sale at shopgoodwill.com.

----------


## MikeEdgerton

That is one ugly mandolin.

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

Here smile seems to say, "I can't believe you are actually considering bidding on me"...

Mona Lisa smile

----------


## JEStanek

Jim, If that thing's shipping was only $30 I might bite. I bet there is a codex in there that could lead me to the holy grail. Imageine, my search for the holy grail solved by a mandolin instead of a search for the mandolin holy grail!

Jamie

----------

Interesting??

----------

Item number: 330119495246 on E BAY UK by the way.
It could be yours..

----------


## Jim Garber

Trapezoid... nuff said.
Jim

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Hey, I had one of those a few years ago. I'm pretty sure it was made by Regal. I always assumed they were aimed at some ethnic group that had similar instruments.

----------


## JEStanek

Euclidians from a parallelgram universe.

Jim, do those trapezoid mandos share any relationship with Russian balalaikas?

Jamie

----------


## Jim Garber

No I think they were just cheapos sold by the dozen to various wholesalers. just a way to make the equjiv of a cigar box instrument.

Jim

----------


## MikeEdgerton

I've actually got a cigar box I've been holding onto for years looking for the right mandolin neck.

----------


## Jim Garber

> I've actually got a cigar box I've been holding onto for years looking for the right mandolin neck.


Soeaking of which, I just go this in a email from Elderly.

Jim

----------


## MikeEdgerton

I found a cigar box uke from the 30's many years ago in a second hand store in Oregon. It's in the Cigar Box Guitar Museum in York, PA if it's still open. Fun stuff.

----------


## Martin Jonas

Here is one from this Ebay auction. Looks a reasonable enough, if slightly off, F-style at first glance, until you realise it has nine strings in five courses, and (unlike, say, on a waldzither) the single string is in the middle, i.e. the string configuration is 2-2-1-2-2. Any guesses as to how this was meant to be tuned, or why?

Ozark is the house brand of Stentor Music, the biggest wholesaler in the UK, so this would appear to be an Asian instrument that they were contemplating distributing to music shops.

Martin

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

Uh, wouldn't the 10-string neck <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC-8-AND-10-STRING-NECK-MANDOLIN_W0QQitemZ190145264939QQihZ009QQcategor

yZ10179QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">on this</a>, make the 8-string neck superfluous?... #

----------


## Bill Snyder

> Uh, wouldn't the 10 string neck on this make the 8-string neck redundant?... #


I guess you could use a different tuning on each neck.

----------


## james condino

I'm not sure how I missed the previous 11 pages of this post, but I've got to say that it is one of my favorites. Special thanks to Mandopete for adding my green "cricket" mandolin to the list.

I'll add the following images of a nicely hand engraved early 1890s Merril aluminum bowlback mandolin (and Springer violin). You can read all about them in the spring issue of American Lutherie.
__
j.
www.condino.com

----------


## james condino

Here is the top profile....

----------


## JEStanek

Those are great photos of those aluminum instruments. I love the look of the fiddle in the second photos.

Jamie

----------


## james condino

Jamie:
'Glad you enjoyed the photos. If the fiddle stands out to you, you should see my aluminum standup bass from the same era!
_
j.
www.condino.com

----------


## JEStanek

Gawd! Talk about making a galvanized washtub bass feel inadequate.  
Jamie

----------


## james condino

More not so heavy metal can be seen on my website...

j.
www.condino.com

----------


## Jim Garber

Monster 16 string mandolin.

----------


## Sonomabob

Not so strange. But I have never heard of any other one. #002 from Arron Hammond, Fairfield Ohio.

My apologies if these photos don't work.

Bob

----------


## Sonomabob

Oh well, I will have to try another way.

Bob

----------


## mrmando

Try this. The headstock's a little funny, but I wouldn't call this mandolin exceedingly odd.

----------


## Sonomabob

Hey Angry young Mando:

How did you do that?? Thanks. Its only odd because I have never seen another one. I would like talk to anyone else who has one.

Bob

----------


## markishandsome

Well there must be at least a #001, but there's a good chance Mr Hammond held onto it. You could try posting in the "Looking for Info" section.

----------


## croonerexpress

the dingulator

----------


## Jim Garber

> the dingulator


What is that?  

Oh, wait... I see all about it here.

I think.....

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Somebody else posted a link to this guys site a few months ago.

----------


## Neil Gladd

Siamese Mandotwins

----------


## Bill Snyder

This one can be found at <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Mandolin-hand-made-F-style_W0QQitemZ170158622252QQihZ007QQcategoryZ1017  9QQssPageNameZWDVWQ
QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">this</a> ebay auction for a few more hours.

----------


## Antlurz

One would hope he has a very narrow thumb if he intends to play very far up that neck.

Maybe a "RESTRICTED ACCESS" sticker on the "scroll" would suffice...

Ron

----------


## jefflester

Not mandolins, but some very odd guitars.

Ugliest guitars #50 to #30
Ugliest guitars #29 to #10
Ugliest guitars #9 to #1

#40

----------


## Jim Garber

Must be about time to revive this venerable thread...

Here is a real winner... not sure what the maker was intending but he/she also built a form-fitting case for this one. From a German super collector at http://www.banjoworld.de.

----------


## Jim Garber

Double-necked tenor(?) / mandolin banjo from the same site.

----------


## mandolooter

those are cool Jim! Nice to see this thread back in action!

----------


## Jim Garber

Yes, we will have to come up with a few more weirdo mandolins. I will keep you posted.

----------


## Jim Nollman

jim,

is that mando with wings one of yours? i almost think the case is weirder than the instrument. I'm curious how it sounds.

----------


## Jim Garber

Hi Jim:
No, not one of mine. I came across both those oddballs on the site of the German collector linked above. Check out the site. He is more insane than I am BION!!! :Laughing:

----------


## Jim Garber

Ah, yes... yet another mandolin from Bizarroland. Looks like a Lyon & Healy neck on a homemade body.

----------


## Phillip Tigue

nm...

----------


## Bill Snyder

Here is a bit of an oddity.
It has a soundhole in the back.

----------


## delsbrother

That is a tahitian ukulele (aka a tahitian banjo, to cover all the bases, LOL). They're basically solidbodies with a conical soundwell, topped by a softwood disk upon which the bridge is placed. They're also usually strung with neon green fishing line. They're quite fun to play - though very tiring! Nonstop (syncopated) strumming. Sound is kinda bandurria/charango...

----------


## Jim Garber

Well, I didn't want to post this because I wanted to win it. Since it was won with some backroom bargaining by someone else (anyone here?)...

Anchor mandolin

----------


## JEStanek

Wow.  I bet it has a deep tone.  Deep to the bottom.

----------


## Jim Garber

What is esp odd are those extra two tuners in the headstock. The bridge only has 8 notches and the tailpiece has 8 pins. Maybe the luthier changed his mind. I did ask the seller how wide the fretboard was at the nut but never heard back.

----------


## Jake Wildwood

Some good ones in this new batch...

The double neck banjo... oh my I'd hate to tune that thing. Oh my, I'd hate hate hate to tune that. Especially with a skin head on it in humid weather.  :Wink:

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

> Wow.  I bet it has a deep tone.  Deep to the bottom.



Yeah -- an instrument like that could really anchor a band's sound.

----------


## JEStanek

Jim, I thought those extra tuners were just there to look way cool.  I just re-looked at the frontal photo and am struck by the pick wear on the treble side of the fingerboard.  Either someone spent the _extra_ money to have that mando-anchor distressed or it was _actually_ played a lot.

Wow!

Jamie

----------


## mandomania7923

I love these two

----------

Bluejay

----------


## Bill Snyder

> I love these two


I would hardly call those oddities.

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is another one for your entertainment:

Tortoise backed mandolin (sorta) actually more of a Tortoise Tamburitza (a turtleritza?)

----------


## journeybear

Perfect for playing "Turtle Blues" - slowly, ssslllooowwwlllyyy ... :Wink:

----------


## mandomania7923

> I would hardly call those oddities.


They definitely aren't an F5 but i still love 'em(more than an F5)

----------


## Jim Garber

I downloaded a bunch of Levin-related catalogs from a Swedish site. This was evidently made by the company at the turn of the last century. It would be great to find one of these. You could accompany yourself, if you had a few extra hands.

----------


## tnbluegrasser

We went to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN this weekend.  John Rice Irwin does a great job with this museum and has an interesting exhibit of musical instruments.  Here are some of the Mandolins he had on display...

----------


## tnbluegrasser

Go back to the bottom of Page 12 for the first set.  Here are just a few more...

----------


## Jim Garber

I like the toilet themed instruments. Very nice!! That tradition goes back a long time a does the cigar box one.

----------


## markishandsome

I like the "Gibson look-alike" label on the Regal.  I wonder which Gibson model they thought it looked like.

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is a good excuse to bump this thread. I love this odd shaped mandolin. Seller says it has a handwritten name on it. I would go for it tho it looks pretty crude.

----------


## brunello97

> Here is a good excuse to bump this thread. I love this odd shaped mandolin. Seller says it has a handwritten name on it. I would go for it tho it looks pretty crude.


Quasimodo's mandolin? Bowlback, Boatback, Bulgeback, Humpback.  Not very PC, I know.

Mick

----------


## JEStanek

Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days.  If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.

Jamie

----------


## Jim Garber

Here's some pics for our future generations.

----------


## Treblemaker

You can't mention Mandolin Oddities without mentioning Bill Bussman (Old Wave Mandolins).
I have played Juicy (the watermelon mando) and it was, and I am not kidding, one of the best sounding and playing mandolins at a Norcal Mandolin Gathering at David Crumney's Inverness, CA family vacation home.  And this was alongside dozens of other mandolins, several of which were 1st tier luthiery....

----------


## Treblemaker

Whoops - forgot the attachment....

----------


## Treblemaker

Here's an odd one..... no origin known.

----------


## Jim Garber

> Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days.  If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.


Man, Jamie, I haven't a clue what you are talking about... I must really be out of it.

----------


## Jim Garber

That Cullen oddity is creeping upward in price. I would not be surprised if it goes above $100. I guess there are some people out there who like folky/funky designs.

----------


## JEStanek

D8 = 8 Sided die (dice) from Dungeons and Dragons role playing game.  See, Jim, you're not so (D&D) dorky!


Jamie

----------


## Ed Goist

> Man, Jamie, I haven't a clue what you are talking about... I must really be out of it.


Jim, you know! D8...The hit die for a Cleric, or the damage done by a long sword verses man-sized creatures...
_(Jamie, what adjustment does that get me on my saving throw vs dorkiness?!)_  :Grin:

----------


## Paul Busman

Might as well add my own home made oddity:


This is a little 4 string travel mandolin I made, shown with my Fullerton Gloucester for size comparison.  I got a bolt-on neck from an electric mandolin maker.  I bandsawed the body from a piece of 1" Maple, leaving side walls about 1/4" thick, thicker at the neck and tail ends. The top, back and headstock trim are Purpleheart 1/8" sheet stock.
Acoustically, it's terrible. It doesn't sound like a mandolin at all-- more like a banjo with a really thin sound.  However, it's durable as hell--I took it on a trip to China, just wrapping it in clothing in our suitcase and it survived two 13 hr flights and numerous bus trips.  It's surprisingly fun to play, and certainly better than having nothing at all to noodle on.

----------


## Ed Goist

Paul, to be honest, I don't think your travel mando is much of an oddity at all.
I think it's one of the more attractive travel mandolin designs I've seen.
I really like the body shape, the oval hole configuration, and the balance the large paddle-style peghead provides...
Lots to like there!
Nice job.

----------


## JEStanek

Good job there, Paul.  
Ed, you're at least a level 7 Mando-Bard-dork.  Well done, +4.

Jamie

----------


## mrmando

> Here's an odd one..... no origin known.


It's from Rice Custom Guitars in Illinois. Whatever you do, don't watch the video.

----------


## mrmando

Terrifying but true: a two-headed beast from Cripple Creek Mandolins...

----------


## KristinEliza

Yep - forget about playing above the 12th fret on that one - guess the rest of the FB is just for decoration?

----------


## Jim Garber

I got in trouble for saying this a few months ago, but nothing is really new under the sun -- a 1912 Shutt Professional model 3 (from Lowell Levinger):

----------


## brunello97

Nice looking Shutt, Jim.  Those twin scrolls kind of remind me of a double-barrel shotgun blast.  :Wink: 

Mick

----------


## JeffD

While not odd in the sense of an offense to our aesthetic sensibilities, this mandolin has some different features.

I love the rollers at the nut, and the strap button on the back of the peg head. And I have played it, this fellow as a bright sound.

----------


## Jack Roberts

Here is my oddity.  Actually, I am quite proud of this.  It was hand made by a music teacher in the 50's who used it to teach music classes at an elementary school in Los Angeles.

----------


## Jim Garber

Jack, that is wonderful. Was that masking tape inlay original? Does it actually play? (The mandolin, not the tape!)

----------


## Jack Roberts

> Jack, that is wonderful. Was that masking tape inlay original? Does it actually play? (The mandolin, not the tape!)


I play it almost everyday at work.  The custom inlay was done recently.

I lament that we seem to have lost the ability to make our own things nowadays.  I tried to make my own fiddle and really horsed it up....

----------


## Jim Garber

> I tried to make my own fiddle and really horsed it up....


I love this horse fiddle...  nice hat, too.

----------


## Jack Roberts

Er hu, Brute?

----------


## Jim Garber

> Er hu, Brute?


Here's _Liuqin_ at you, kid.

----------


## Dobe

> Whatever you do, don't watch the video.


You HAD to say that;  I almost watched it all just to hear the mando solo    :Grin: 

Can't....look.....away !!!    :Disbelief: 

New screen saver of that flowerpot Gibsun headstock. Someday I'll own one, I can dream.

----------


## Mandoviol

> Looks like a D8 from my old D&D days.  If you got that reference you had a +2 on your save vs dorkiness roll.
> 
> Jamie


Dang, Jamie, you're right, it is a d8.  I think acknowledging this just caused me to lose a few points on my Charisma score, though...

Aw, heck, I'll run with it.  Waiting to see one that is icosahedronal (a d20, that is).

----------


## mrmando

> Here's _Liuqin_ at you, kid.


If we pun any _morin khuur_-ing a fine is the likely result.

----------


## Dobe

BanjitarDolin, that's my best guess. For all you pickers that need to throw your instrument around your head like Victor Wooten, give it a half twist, and go seamlessly from Banjitar to mando, without the hassle of actually grabbing a different instrument; this one's for you !
Won't let me download pics so go here, pt-2 is the mando side:

http://www.banjoworld.de/Odds1a.htm

Love the Portugese style tuners, I was wondering how that would be done !

----------


## Jim Garber

Dobe: That is a real winner for this thread.

----------


## mrmando

Three-pointer, a little Duck-ish but not quite as extreme:

----------


## Bill Snyder

Here is a better photo of that mandolin.

----------


## Jim Garber

Hmmmm... sharp points and dull f-holes.

----------


## Jim Garber

As usual, I was searching for something else and this wonderful mandolin came up. Built in the 1940s by Giovanni Cera an Italian immigrant to Australia. A combination of Gibson and Mozzani influences.




> Mandolin made by Italian migrant Giovanni Cera during the 1930s, with timber from an old bass violin. Giovanni used to visit second-hand furniture depots or music stores to seek out the timber for his instruments. He also built guitars and zithers. Giovanni played this instrument at many special broadcasts for radio stations 3LO and 3AR, and appeared with Peter Piccini, Frank Zaetta, Giovanni's brother Guerino [Rino], Angelo Candela, Domenico Caffaro and Ezio Giannaccini at musicals events staged in town halls, theatres and restaurants from 1945 to 1975.

----------


## JeffD

That is a real beauty.

----------


## Larry S Sherman

I love that. I bet Brian Dean could reproduce that...at least visually. I bet it would sound amazing too.

Larry

----------


## Bill Snyder

> I love that. I bet Brian Dean could reproduce that...at least visually. I bet it would sound amazing too.
> 
> Larry


I suspect that most if not all of the professional f-style builders that post on the Cafe could reproduce that. I would suspect that if Mr. Dean where to do it though that it would reflect some of his own style. He can not be called a copyist.

----------


## Andrew B. Carlson

I just want more scrolls all the time. 



I should really try to add a couple points to the bottom too.  :Grin:

----------


## Jim Garber

Hey, it has been awhile on this thread. Here is a new on for you oddity-o-philes, currently on eBay.

I am thoroughly unclear on what the design concept was on this one. Maybe the luthier and friends were gathered at the local drinking hole and one friend got really hammer and said, scribbling on a napkin, "Here... build this." And then another guy said, "and make the soundhole shaped like a leg of lamb, yeah!!!"

----------

Dusepo

----------


## brunello97

> Hey, it has been awhile on this thread. Here is a new on for you oddity-o-philes, currently on eBay.
> 
> I am thoroughly unclear on what the design concept was on this one. Maybe the luthier and friends were gathered at the local drinking hole and one friend got really hammer and said, scribbling on a napkin, "Here... build this." And then another guy said, "and make the soundhole shaped like a leg of lamb, yeah!!!"


I'm definitely seeing some Larson 'traits' on this one, Jim. I think.

Mick

----------


## Tavy

It's a mandolin Jim, but not as we know it!  :Smile: 

Quite the ugliest thing I think I've ever seen...

----------


## Jim Garber

> I'm definitely seeing some Larson 'traits' on this one, Jim. I think.


Yes, indeed...

----------


## Jake Wildwood

Jim, I immediately did NOT press the "watch this item" button on eBay when I saw that for the first time...

As for the soundhole -- does anyone else see a pipe?

----------


## frshwtrbob

Please forgive me, but it kinda reminds me of:

----------


## journeybear

Sanctuary!  :Laughing: 

Yes, closer to a pipe than a lamb chop, I suppose. Sort of a paisley with the tail going the wrong way. I think the builder was trying to do about everything differently as possible, and also had some notion of thematic continuity. Certain curves are repeated at different points on the instrument. FWIW, natch.  :Wink: 

Have to wonder about the acoustic effect of the two-piece back. I imagine that renders this more furniture than instrument.  :Frown:

----------


## Ed Goist

> ...snip...As for the soundhole -- does anyone else see a pipe?


I'm thinkin' it's supposed to be a partial profile of The Loch Ness Monster.

----------


## journeybear

Or a kigmy or a shmoo (tip o' the hat to Al Capp).

And I think the _builder_ might have seen a pipe, or two ...  :Whistling:

----------


## Jim Garber

> Yes, closer to a pipe than a lamb chop, I suppose. (


Not a lamb chop! A leg of lamb. It does resemble a pipe, for sure.

----------


## Jim Garber

> Or a kigmy or a shmoo (tip o' the hat to Al Capp).


Now you are talking...

----------


## journeybear

You're quite right - you did say leg of lamb, not lamb chop. I had the shape of a lamb chop in my mind. Not Lamb Chop, mind you. That's a whole 'nother somethin'!

Hmmm ...  Suddenly noticed it's getting close to lunchtime ...

----------


## Jim Garber

Yummmm...

What I also can't figure out is what that piece of clown barf is on the bass side -- looks like there are some plastic pieces on it.

----------


## journeybear

Yes, that has me puzzled, too. I thought it might be attached to the second back, as it seems to be floating there, but I don't see any screws, as I would expect from the way the back is attached. It could be glued in, though ... and bedazzled ... Interesting color choice, too. :p

----------


## JeffD

The more I look at that Giovanni Cera (post #338) the more I am really really liking it. You accoustical luthiers would know if it has a chance of sounding good. But I think it looks really cool.

(In this case cool means you would look forward to being seen playing it.)

----------


## Tavy

> The more I look at that Giovanni Cera (post #338) the more I am really really liking it. You accoustical luthiers would know if it has a chance of sounding good. But I think it looks really cool.


I agree - I have a soft spot for harp-guitars/mandolins - and would love to see/play one in person one day.

I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the _style_, and never added the extra harp strings?

With regard to sound... I can't help thinking that the body-extention would render the body cavity too large, and the Helmholtz too low in frequency, for the instrument to "work".  But then again you can probably make any design work if you experiment for long enough  :Wink:

----------


## Jim Garber

David Newton, who posts here sometimes, has built a few of these. I would love to get one someday.

----------


## Jake Wildwood

> I'm thinkin' it's supposed to be a partial profile of The Loch Ness Monster.


Well, at least we've figured out what this mandolin was titled...  :Smile:

----------


## journeybear

> I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the _style_, and never added the extra harp strings?


I'm puzzled by that, too, in this case. If you're going to add all that, why not include some strings? Does that serve as a resonating chamber? I wonder whether there are any recordings of it.

----------


## Bertram Henze

> I can't help wondering though why harp-mandolins only ever seemed to do it for the _style_, and never added the extra harp strings?


Many years ago, I had a construct like that which I had built myself, and I can answer that question: 
It earns you puzzled looks and questions from the audience, but condescending smiles from other mando players and especially from harp players. It is a bit like running a marathon with a surgically fitted third leg. 
As for playing technique, you have to decide if you want to play the mandolin part with a pick or the harp part with your fingers - both cannot be done synchronously unless you are Zaphod Beeblebrox.

If you have to have a combination, try this:


b.t.w. this guy is real - I see him sometimes turn up at our sessions.

----------


## Barry Wilson

I am a huge Andy Mckee fan, Don Ross too. Love the sound of harp guitar. So is that called a harp mandolin then?

----------


## journeybear

No, it's just as the title says - double-neck mandolin-guitar, or however you want to recombine those terms (within reason), though it seems the convention is to name a hybrid instrument with the more unusual instrument's name first. A harp-mandolin would consist of separate set-ups for harp and mandolin on one body. So the Cera really isn't a harp-mandolin, since there are no harp strings. A harp-mandolin would have to be able to function as either and both. That's my line of thinking, anyway.

----------


## journeybear

- duplicate -

----------


## JeffD

> I'm puzzled by that, too, in this case. If you're going to add all that, why not include some strings? Does that serve as a resonating chamber? I wonder whether there are any recordings of it.



There are (were) some with strings. That was probably the original design.

I have heard Jess Youngquest play his harp mandolin, and it sounds pretty cool in his hands.

----------


## Jim Garber

> A harp-mandolin would have to be able to function as either and both. That's my line of thinking, anyway.


From Gregg Miners site:



> For the layperson looking for the short answer of "What is a Harp Guitar?," here it is in a nutshell (from Definition 10 below):
> 
>         A guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with any number of additional "floating" unstopped strings that can accommodate individual plucking. 
>         The modern harp guitar must have at least one unfretted string lying off the main fretboard; these unfretted strings are played as an open string. 
>         The word "harp" is a specific reference to the unstopped open strings, and is not specifically a reference to the tone, pitch range, volume, silhouette similarity, construction, floor-standing ability, nor any other alleged "harp-like" properties.


Same for the harp-mandolin which has it own page here. There do seem to be some older versions that do have harp strings. So I think you use the unfretted strings to complement your melody on the fretted ones. You can certainly pick them or play the fretted ones with your fingers. I would prob do the former.

----------


## Dan Margolis

This probably has already been posted, but I'm not looking at 350+ posts to check.  It's a Porako--not mine.

----------


## journeybear

Geez, Dan, that is Picasso-esque! It's as if the bass side had been flipped 180°. Looks like a yin-yang.

Yes, indeed, Jim - the third paragraph from the Gregg Miner quote really nails it - "unstopped open strings," and the long list of unnecessary "harp-like" properties in the disclaimer - very smart going.  :Wink: 

Now, _that's_ a harp-mandolin!  :Mandosmiley:  The best way to play it would be with three hands, but, well ...

----------


## Jim Garber

I recall that Porako... I think it was at Dave Colburn's shop in NH originally. Very cool.

----------


## Bertram Henze

> Now, _that's_ a harp-mandolin!  The best way to play it would be with three hands, but, well ...


Where do you fix the strap on that?  :Grin:

----------


## Tavy

> Where do you fix the strap on that?


I think you put it around your belt and hang yourself from the instrument!

----------


## Randi Gormley

Well, if it's anything like a real harp, you'd sit in front of it and lean it against your shoulder, which should make it an interesting experiment in finger picks since you'd need to pluck the harp and pick the mando ... aiee!

----------


## jerrymartin

What's the function of the thingie behind the bridge? Damping harmonics, perhaps?

 :Coffee: 

Jerry Martin

----------


## Tavy

> What's the function of the thingie behind the bridge? Damping harmonics, perhaps?


Looks like a "string tensioner" similar to one seem on some bowlbacks - it increases the string break angle over the bridge - no doubt since this instrument could have neither an angled neck, nor a canted top it would need something to help the strings bare down on the bridge.

----------


## journeybear

Just noticed - rather odd neck placement. It joins the body at the tenth fret  :Disbelief:  and even though the neck goes to 16 frets (on the florida), with no cutaway reaching them would be difficult. I don't see why the fretboard wasn't placed a bit further out.  :Confused:

----------


## world_of_mandolins

Flat mandolin with floor and sides. Set on neck, pegbox angeschäfteter. Fingerboard with 17 proposed a brass federations. 3 Neck tags mother of Pearl. A total of 20 strings, arranged in 4 reeds

Theodor Zels/ Danzig/Poland

Copyright: Museum für Musikinstrumente der Universität Leipzig"

----------


## Bertram Henze

> Flat mandolin with floor and sides. Set on neck, pegbox angeschäfteter. Fingerboard with 17 proposed a brass federations. 3 Neck tags mother of Pearl. A total of 20 strings, arranged in 4 reeds


The description is the real oddity here. Looks like an automatic scramblation... ("Angeschäfteter" - is that like an "Aufgesetzter"?)  :Confused:

----------


## Marty Jacobson

17 Brass a federations, too! 
I wonder what the intended tunings were for those 4-string courses? I can imagine some wicked _Get Up John_ type foolishness on this thing with each course strung to a triad plus a fifth... or something.

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> The description is the real oddity here. Looks like an automatic scramblation... ("Angeschäfteter" - is that like an "Aufgesetzter"?)


Yes, you are right and I agree that the translation is oddity but itis not my work!

----------


## Jim Garber

I cannot imagine that that thing was ever playable. Definitely an oddity. I assume that those 10 on a side tuners were cobbled together from a few smaller sets. If 20 strings arranged in four "reeds" (courses?) that would be 5 strings per course. I have seen a 16 string (4 strings per course) but this takes the cake for sure.

----------


## journeybear

Oh, I think it's playable - just not tunable!  :Laughing:  Looking at the nut (I mean the one _on_ the instrument, not the one who _made_ the instrument), it looks to me like there may actually be five reeds of fours strings each. My screen doesn't have the resolution to tell clearly, but it looks like there are five groupings at the nut. I assume these pictures and description are from the museum's website, (which is hard for me to navigate, being in German) so I would like to believe they have it right.

----------


## Bertram Henze

Thanks to JB, I have been looking for the German description and found it: 

_Flachmandoline mit Boden und Zargen. Angesetzter Hals, angeschäfteter Wirbelkasten. Griffbrett mit 17 eingeschlagenen Messingbünden. 3 Griffbrett-Markierungen Perlmutt. Insgesamt 20 Saiten, 4-chörig angeordnet_

My attempt at translation goes like this:
Flat top mandolin with back and sides, bolted neck, scarfed headstock, fretboard with 17 fixed brass frets. 3 fretboard markers MOP. overall 20 strings in courses of 4 each.

This confirms several of our theories:
- JB's about there being 5 courses,
- mine about the automatic translation: the German word _Bund_ describes both an organisation of people (federation) and a fret (in medieval times, frets were gut strings *bound* around the neck, and the members of a federation are *bound* by a contract), that's how the algorithm got confused; how it arrived on "reeds" remains a mystery.

Those who wonder about playability might consider widening their fingertips with a hammer  :Grin:

----------

journeybear

----------


## Jim Garber

Great work, Bertram! I could not find that mandrioliolia (is that a good name for it?) on the museum site. I have to ask Christian where he found it.

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> Great work, Bertram! I could not find that mandrioliolia (is that a good name for it?) on the museum site. I have to ask Christian where he found it.


http://www.mimo-db.eu/MIMO/infodoc/g..._ULEI_M0004311


*Explore Europe's cultural collections*

----------


## brunello97

Interesting description of the instrument.  But is it perlmutt or Klobrillemutt?  Hard to tell from the photo  :Wink: 

Mick

----------


## Marty Jacobson

I keep coming back to this really strange intrument. Looks like the peghead has one set of 12-string guitar tuners with a set of mandolin tuners on top of that.

I have toyed with the idea of building a cittern with some sympathetic strings that might end up with 20 strings total, but 20 plucked strings is a little crazy.

What does this phrase  "Wanderglück Mandoline" mean... ? A backpacking mandolin? Bushwhacking mandolin? Hiking Luck mandolin? Just curious. From the Web site it looks like that's how it was identified on the instrument's label.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Oh, maybe the "wandergluck" is the scene on the front?

----------


## Bertram Henze

> What does this phrase  "Wanderglück Mandoline" mean... ? A backpacking mandolin? Bushwhacking mandolin? Hiking Luck mandolin? Just curious. From the Web site it looks like that's how it was identified on the instrument's label.


That's correct, the label says that. A better translation than "hiking luck" would be "hiking happiness". I also like "bushwhacking mandolin"  :Laughing: 

_Um das Schallloch herum Abziehbild mit "Gruß an Danzig" und Musikanten in einer Landschaft_

means: decal around the soundhole with "Regards to Danzig" and musicians in a scenery.

----------


## Tavy

OMG, I want one!  But not for too long....  :Smile:

----------


## world_of_mandolins

http://www.mimo-db.eu/MIMO/infodoc/g..._ULEI_M0000658



click on it to get it larger!

Description about an exhibition in Vienna 1892

----------


## Bertram Henze

Should be easy to create that from any bowlback mandolin with the help of approx. 10 beers...

But what is the difference between a Napoli mandolin and a Milano mandolin? Tuning? Fretboard width? Wait, one of the headstocks has 3 extra pegs - triple courses? Which is which?

----------


## Martin Jonas

Bertram,

A Milanese mandolin has six courses (usually singles, sometimes doubles), tuned in fourths.  So, the right-hand neck on this hybrid is the Neapolitan one with eight strings in four courses and the left-hand neck is the Milanese one with twelve strings in six courses.

Martin

----------

Bertram Henze

----------


## journeybear

It sounds as though a Milanese mandolin is almost a half-neck 12-string guitar (not sure how its tuned exactly, but it seems it would be in the ballpark). Electric versions of these get used occasionally these days by guitarists who want a mandolin sound for a particular song without having to learn the instrument. This seems rather like a forerunner to the electric guitar-mandolin doublenecks played by Jimmy Page, Robbie Robertson, and others. Robbie's was actually a factory issue, believe it or not - not that Gibson made that many of them, but it was in the catalogue (this is from another thread). This is an intriguing example of luthiery. It looks as though the maker was trying to maintain as much symmetry as possible, arranging the tuners in the headstock in three rows of four, rather than extending the length to accommodate two rows of six. 

Here is one being played by one of our members. I hope he doesn't mind. BTW, if I am reading accounts right, at some point in the late 19th century these became single string instruments. That may help date this instrument.




Curious as to how this was tuned, my research turned up this. I hope it is correct:


The string sounding length on the Milanese mandolin (as of its predecessors) was about 30 cm, and the tuning was g b e' a' d" g". Since the highest comfortable pitch a gut string of this length can be tuned to is f" (at a'=440 Hz), this tuning was apparently at a tone low pitch standard. At modern pitch this tuning would be f a d' g' c" f". If one tuned the 1st, 2nd and 6th strings a semitone lower, one would have e a d' g' b' e", an octave above the standard 19th century guitar tuning. This would be an appropriately familiar tuning if the musician had strings made for the tone-low tuning but had to play at modern pitch. A different set of strings would be needed for the tuning g b e' a' d" e", which apparently was for playing permanently at modern pitch. When the strings were in paired courses, the reduced open-string range of this tuning made it possible to use all-gut bass strings supported by octave companions. The octave guitar tuning (at modern pitch) has been popular with those who pick up playing the instrument without the benefit of being trained in its original tradition.

----------


## Jim Garber

Jake tunes that one in the video to octave guitar tuning. Read more about it in this thread. Standard tuning would be GBEADG.

----------


## journeybear

Thanks for that!  :Mandosmiley:  I had been searching for relevant threads and turned up this, which is more general in nature. FWIW, there is a major third in there, but we'll just let that slide. The practical approach beats the pedantic one, usually ...  :Smile:

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> This one was at Elderly a few months ago.
> 
> Jim




Easy to see which kind of the star mandolin it was, but the advertisement about Catania, Italy is from 1909, so they have been earlier but does someone have any idea where the other one is coming from??? Sold by Bruno! Does someone has a catalogue description?  Copyright for the last picture by mugwumps: http://www.mugwumps.com/ad_list.html Michael Holmes is/was looking for one!

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> Here's one from ebay, kinda cool


From my collection! Here are additional pics:

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> Here's a pic for after it is long gone. Enough soundholes for you?
> 
> Jim

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> Hmm. These are not what I know as Wappenform. Normally, the German word Wappenform is used for something like this mandola below (from a recent Ebay auction which in restrospect I regret not bidding on). "Wappen" means crest in German, and this shape is distinctly more crest-like than the ones posted above. It's also very similar to the shape of a Vega cylinderback.
> 
> Martin


I am sorry that you have not been the lucky winner Martin! Some pics for remembering!

----------


## world_of_mandolins

> Lots of butterflies were inlaid on bowlback pickguards but have you seen a mandolin body that was shaped like one?
> 
> Jim


Yes Jim, I did! This butterfly mandolins come from France made by luthier AUDINOT Eugène Emile in 1926

Coprights by all pictures hold by: Musée de la Lutherie et de l'Archeterie (Mirecourt)

----------

Dusepo, 

hank

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Yeah, that's cool! Move over, Bill Bussmann!

Look at the side view... the way the soundboard sweeps back like that is fantastic. Wonder how it sounds?

----------


## Bertram Henze

> Wonder how it sounds?


I guess we're trespassing into an area here where sound does not really matter any more. Once the old form/function connection is broken, everything is possible...

----------


## rb3868

Has anyone ever seen a mandolin with sympathetic strings, like a Hardanger Fiddle?

----------


## Tavy

> Has anyone ever seen a mandolin with sympathetic strings, like a Hardanger Fiddle?


Yes, there's some discussion on Hardanger mandolins made by Harald Hougaard here.  Unfortunately he seems to have dropped off the web so I can't find any decent images.... JG will no doubt have some, Jim?  :Wink:

----------


## Jim Garber

Somehow I must have missed this request for more pics. Here they are.

----------

hank, 

Marty Jacobson

----------


## Jim Garber

This unlabelled "treasure" certainly belongs on this thread.

----------


## Jim Garber

I would have gone for this harp mandolin if I had had Internet access (down because of hurricane Sandy) and some loose cash after buying the other oddball above. From what I can tell the maker's name is C. Lozano. It looks like he/she was a fan of Monzino instruments but those tiny F-holes I would think would have stifled the sound. Interesting and odd, nonetheless.

Did anyone here win this beauty? I would love to see what the bracing is like inside.

----------


## Jim Garber

Here is a Monzino harp mandoliin from Gregg Miner's site for comparison. The Monzino is a little bit more gracefully designed.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

I tried searching to see if these had been posted before. 

Behold, just what everyone needs. A combination cane and mandolin! Perfect for those walking bass line blues! Ahem.

They look to be thoughtfully designed and nicely made, despite the quirkiness of the concept. The seller also has uke-canes, taropatch-uke-canes, and the travel mandolin is one of the best I've seen. Though tuning it might be a bit of an ordeal.



http://www.etsy.com/listing/93277264...-mandolin-free

----------

Bluejay

----------


## Jim Garber

BION there is a long tradition of walking-cane instruments. There are a good handful in the Metropolotan Museum collection including: Flute/Oboe and Violin

Also: Older MC thread

----------


## JeffD

> I would have gone for this harp mandolin if... .



That is real cool.

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Interesting... the woodwind/cane combination is pretty logical.

----------


## Charles E.

> This unlabelled "treasure" certainly belongs on this thread.


So Jim, how is that beast? Have you had time to hear it?

----------


## Jim Garber

At the moment, it is sitting next to me here, but not really playable. It need some work, tho the body is surprisingly resonant. I hope to work on it in a few months. it will surprise me if it is actually playable. The upper frets look like they were not put in correctly.

----------


## Raider rider

Found this one but isn't the one I was looking for.  Was talking to a friend and he said he was looking for a pandolin.  This is what I thought he was talking about.

http://blueridgeluthiers.com/members...%20382x225.jpg

Instead this is what he was talking about http://www.appalachianinstrumentsusa...s/dsc00018.jpg

----------


## Jim Garber

Here are the pictures...

Frankly if I wanted something like that I woud get a Commodium.

----------


## Bertram Henze

That pandolin reminds me of something I built decades ago: a wooden banjo resonator for a back, a stainless steel cake platter for a top and the leftover neck of a former banjolin. The sound wasn't exactly that rich complex experience you're searching for...

----------


## Harrison Withers

Surprised no one has mentioned the offset teardrop that wishnevsky makes

----------


## Bertram Henze

> Surprised no one has mentioned the offset teardrop that wishnevsky makes


Isn't that what Jim Carrey finds in "The Mask"?

----------


## Harrison Withers

I have one of his offset teardrop mandocellos and it really does have a lot of bottom end.

----------


## Seppo

Greetings from a museum in Rome, Italy...

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Whoa! Attack of the siamese bowlback guit-cittern.... thanks for posting those.

----------


## mrmando

Gotta love the mini-theorbo!

----------


## Marty Jacobson

Mandolins built by Brent Ewing of Montana, from a number of years ago. (The Web site was on Geocities, so pre-2000, possibly mid-90's). 
Looks nicely made and there are definitely some interesting ideas. I wonder if he is still building?


http://www.oocities.org/ewingmandolin/

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## Jim Garber

A lovely f-style *on eBay*.

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## MikeEdgerton

That is lovely. Just lovely.

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## jim simpson

I shouldn't have looked at this so close to bedtime. I know I'm going to have nightmares.

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## Charles E.

Huh, four bids, went for $71.00. Jim, I hope you did not get this.......whatever it is.

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## Jim Garber

No way, Charley! I know it appears that I have bottom-of-the-barrel taste...

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## Charles E.

Gotta love the headstock on this one..... :Wink: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-MAND...f#ht_837wt_917

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## Bertram Henze

> Gotta love the headstock


It was made to be a wallhanger.

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## Jim Garber

> Gotta love the headstock on this one.....
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-MAND...f#ht_837wt_917


I was following that one but final bid was too much for my blood. I like the general 2 point style and the headstock is certainly silly but the soundhole looks way too large.

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Dusepo

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## oldwave maker

Always thought the melondolin was 'normal', at least at Farmers Markets, and the F5 a true oddity!

----------

Charles E., 

JEStanek, 

TheMandoKit

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## Jake Wildwood

> I was following that one but final bid was too much for my blood. I like the general 2 point style and the headstock is certainly silly but the soundhole looks way too large.


I loved the look of that in general but didn't like all the separations I was seeing... and was curious about the big soundhole and neck stability if the neck block wasn't big enough to do the job (like on those funky 2-point lyre-shaped Harmony 20s mandos that ALWAYS die).

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## Marty Jacobson

This just cropped up in this thread, and is for sale here. NFI

I think it's awesome.. look at that pickguard.. Jim, are you going to buy it? :-)

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JEStanek

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## Marty Jacobson



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## Tavy

Marty: those are the standard mandolinettos that show up in the UK quite often with various makers names - usually the "Neapolitan school of music" or something similar - all completely fictitious of course!

I had a more conventionally mandolinetto shaped one of these a while back and it actually sounded quite nice, I dare say this one would as well.

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Nevin

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## brunello97

I love the shape of these....

Mick

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## Graham McDonald

I would very much doubt if these oddly shaped mandolins are British made. German I would suspect, especially with that scratchplate (and the German tuners).

The mandolin with strange head that Jim has posted the pics in Post #433 of could quite possibly be a New York made instrument from the 30. If you go to this site there are several pictures of a mandolin built in the shop of Guiseppe Nettuno, a guitar and mandolin maker in New York in the 20s and 30s, probably one of the people who made the A. Galiano labeled instruments for Oscar Schmidt.

cheers

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## Bertram Henze

Not all ugly things are German  :Wink: 
This instrument might look much better if the neck had been attached to the other end. As it is, it looks like a viola da gamba met with an accident.

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## Jim Garber

> I
> The mandolin with strange head that Jim has posted the pics in Post #433 of could quite possibly be a New York made instrument from the 30. If you go to this site there are several pictures of a mandolin built in the shop of Guiseppe Nettuno, a guitar and mandolin maker in New York in the 20s and 30s, probably one of the people who made the A. Galiano labeled instruments for Oscar Schmidt.


Thanks, Graham, for pointing out the similarities with the Nettuno/Faruolo mandolin. it is quite possible that this was an earlier version of the one pictured in the link above.

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## Jim Garber

Wow! Four years since the last posting on one of my favorite threads. Time to bring it back especially for *this beauty for sale on eBay*.

I would love to go back in whatever time and speak directly to the maker to see what he/she was thinking. 3/5 tuner arrangement, asymmetrical headstock, fanned-out tailpiece, strange carved-out(?) back with smooth neck joint, ultra-funky workmanship, etc. Enjoy!

----------

billhay4, 

Dusepo, 

Mark Gunter

----------


## Norbert Feinendegen

Thanks, Jim, for reviving this wonderful thread!

Here's another mandolin oddity built by the German waldzither producer C. H. Boehm: the so-called "walddoline"!

It's actually a flat-back mandolin with Boehm's usual glass bridge and Preston style tuning mechanism. 
The walddoline was introduced in 1904 and built until 1941, when the Boehm factory was sold to the GEWA Company.





For more about these fancy instruments see here: http://boehm-waldzither-page.webnode.com/walddoline/
In my opinion, they even sound quite good, especially the rare Nr. 2 model with rosewood back and sides.

Norbert

----------

Charlieshafer, 

Dusepo, 

Jacob, 

Jim Garber

----------


## Joey Anchors

Here is something odd I'm having build.

----------


## Jim Garber

> Here is something odd I'm having build.


Single course, five-string acoustic flattop/pancake mandolin? Not so odd really. Kind of cool, in my estimation.

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## Norbert Feinendegen

Ah I forgot, Dave Hynds has one to sell (if anyone should be interested):



http://www.mandolinluthier.com/mando...or_sale_04.htm
I'm sure he is open to offers with regard to the price ...

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Dusepo

----------


## Nigel Gatherer

A Milanese mandolin with a woman's head.

----------

Dusepo

----------


## Nigel Gatherer

From a museum in Milan. When you break a string, just move on to the next neck.

----------

Dusepo, 

Jim Garber

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## Jim Garber

It is way time to wake, mandolin-oddball fans. 1-1/2 years! We must have missed some good ones. 

Here is a finely-crafted mandolin, alas unfinished. It is neck, headstock, sides, top, and bracing all carved out (more or less) from one chunk of wood. All you need is to add a back and you'll have yourself a dandy planter... er... mandolinI think. *Here it is on eBay*.

And some pics:

----------

Charles E., 

Dusepo, 

JEStanek

----------


## Charles E.

That's about as odd as it gets.

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## Herman Munster

> Whats up with this beast??


its a tuna fish LOL

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## MikeEdgerton

For anyone unaware that was made by luthier and cafe member Bill Bussmann and is on the Cafe several times. His user name is Old Wave Maker. *Here's* one thread where it makes a brief appearance. It can also be seen on Bill's website at www.oldwavemandolins.com under Photos and Styles/Fun Creations.

----------


## mandotool

> its a tuna fish LOL


I just got this image from the metropolitan museum of art's new musical wing which has just opened after several years of renovation..

----------


## Jim Garber

I love that fish-shaped Portuguese machete at the Met. I once asked a luthier friend of mine if he would make me a mandolin version of that.

----------


## allenhopkins

I'd buy Bussman's fish-shaped mando, but I'd swap out the tunas for Waverlies.  I'll bet it has a great bass response!  I'd love to see it perched on a stand in my music room, where I'd have a whale of a time playing it.  Probably costs too much, so I don't have a ray of hope of getting it.

Well, time to clam up...

----------

Bruce Clausen

----------


## Jim Garber

Something is very fishy about Allens post. Shell we all ignore it and go back to playing our scales?

----------

allenhopkins, 

David Lewis, 

JEStanek, 

OneChordTrick

----------


## Charles E.

I would like to play it just for the halibut.

----------

allenhopkins, 

David Lewis, 

Jim Garber, 

MikeEdgerton

----------


## eightmoremiles

Stop it!
I am getting a haddock reading these inane posts!
It is so bad I might have to see a sturgeon!
(Continuing the Marxian direction of the thread)

----------


## V70416

didn't Bill Bussman make a fishy-lookin mandolin called the Lloyd Lure?

----------


## MikeZito

Play it too much and you might get hooked!

----------


## buckhorn

thought that I posted on here a while back.. started out as a real cannon, but the body just wouldn't support the neck..  now it's a wall hanger..   maybe I'll find a better way to them up....

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## MikeZito

How could we forget that one!

----------


## JEStanek

> thought that I posted on here a while back.. started out as a real cannon, but the body just wouldn't support the neck..  now it's a wall hanger..   maybe I'll find a better way to them up....


Have you looked at the Commodium.  Same idea with bed pan but uses a hospital food tray cover for the top plate and has resonator holes in it.



Jamie

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## Charles E.

Pheffernan turned me onto this Woody Williams, um, "mandolin".....

https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/prod...mandolin-45823

Nfi

----------

Jess L.

----------


## Steve VandeWater

> I'd buy Bussman's fish-shaped mando, but I'd swap out the tunas for Waverlies.  I'll bet it has a great bass response!  I'd love to see it perched on a stand in my music room, where I'd have a whale of a time playing it.  Probably costs too much, so I don't have a ray of hope of getting it.
> 
> Well, time to clam up...


I bet it doesn't sound crappie!

----------

allenhopkins, 

Marty Jacobson

----------


## Jim Garber

> Pheffernan turned me onto this Woody Williams, um, "mandolin".....
> 
> https://shop.gryphonstrings.com/prod...mandolin-45823
> 
> Nfi


"c 1948 Woody Williams Mandolin Handmade Folk-art Mandolin" only $365Folks, that is a mere $1 per day for a year to own this beauty.

I better post some photos, because it will be gone soon...  :Smile:

----------

Jess L.

----------


## jefflester

On L.A. Craigslist:
https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...846399715.html

_It needs strings . I have the bridge . Its built well , built to play . Its a acoustic instrument . Semi hallow . Different woods . See pictures for condition , its in good condition , darkening of finish , probably vintage . $425 obo_

----------


## Jim Garber

> On L.A. Craigslist:
> https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...846399715.html
> 
> _It needs strings . I have the bridge . Its built well , built to play . Its a acoustic instrument . Semi hallow . Different woods . See pictures for condition , its in good condition , darkening of finish , probably vintage . $425 obo_


That is a Tahitian ukulele. Read more *here*.

----------

Dave Fultz, 

DavidKOS, 

JEStanek, 

Randolph

----------


## Steve VandeWater

I'm surprised that I haven't posted this one to this thread before, but here it is...again....my 4 stringer that I made out of concrete. It's recently been signed by both Gibson's David Harvey and the great Mike Compton.  I lost Don Julin and Billy Strings' signatures when I re-topped it awhile back and put a pickup in it.

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Actually, I remember the original thread you posted about this mandolin.  :Cool:

----------


## Charles E.

I don't even know where to start with this one, I am speechless.........

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Man...ry!32080!US!-1

Never seen a backwards fret job.     :Disbelief:

----------

Cobalt, 

Jess L.

----------


## Jim Garber

Especially a "Vintage Mandocello Guitar 8 String".

Dig this label—"Grey neck guitar"?:



Here is another photo: 

 

I assume that it is just painted with gold Krylon rather than made of brass-colored metal.

Actually the best part is the headstock:

----------

Jess L.

----------


## Baron Collins-Hill

Makes this infamous instructional video as close to correct as it will ever be (start at 47 seconds):

https://youtu.be/BccifzVxQwk?t=47

Thanks,
Baron

----------

Charles E., 

Cobalt, 

MikeZito, 

Ranald

----------


## Mike Buesseler

I love the frets on that Grey Neck beauty. Easier to play the farther up the neck you go!  Nice color, too. Great for noodling around in the duck blind. 

Baron, that video is a revelation.  :Disbelief:

----------


## John Soper

At least the instructor in the video is right twice on each string!

----------


## Baron Collins-Hill

Three times if you count the tritone, still not a great success rate.

----------


## Charles E.

That just proves that one should never do bong hits before recording an "instructional video".

----------


## Jess L.

> Never seen a *backwards fret job*.






> 


Y'all are overlooking an important advantage... Acccording to the seller: 

_"There is no fret wear."_
Imagine that!  :Laughing:  "No fret wear", almost like it's brand new & never been played, hmm I wonder what could possibly be the reason for that?  :Wink:   :Grin:   :Laughing: 

Seller further states:

"...would *play perfectly* with a *fret level*." 

Oh, well heck if _that_ is all it needs to "play perfectly", someone better buy it quick, wouldn't want to let such a golden opportunity get away.  :Wink:

----------


## Cobalt

It might be fun to learn some weird fingering to get just one (specially chosen) tune out of it, then hand it to someone else to play.

----------

Jess L.

----------


## Jess L.

> It might be fun to learn some weird fingering to get just one (specially chosen) tune out of it, then hand it to someone else to play.


 :Grin:   :Popcorn:   :Mandosmiley:   :Cool:   :Smile:

----------


## MikeZito

I can now safely relinquish my long-held title of '_World's Most Useless Mandolin Player_' . . .  that 'instructor' has me beat my a mile!

----------


## Jim Garber

Time to bring another oddball instrument to this lovely thread. This on French eBay. The French are especially creative in the oddity department, the most famous of which are the Gelas instruments. *This one* is by a German who lives on the French border and had some interesting ideas. This is his fretted 6-string version. According to the seller, "These came in several varieties  some had six strings, others eight, some with frets, others unfretted. He called the unfretted versions Violins and the fretted type Mandolin Violins."

----------

bbcee, 

Charles E., 

DavidKOS, 

Dusepo, 

JEStanek

----------


## Jim Garber

I found the site that had the photo of Engelbert and his wife playing plus the catalog page for these instruments. There are other variants on the wall behind them. He plays the 8-string violin version and his wife the mandolin.

He is listed in my Henley violin book as only "Resident at Völklingen (Saar). 1924."

----------

Charles E., 

DavidKOS, 

vic-victor

----------


## AndyV

Somebody must already have made the point that F styles must have been out of the world oddities when they first appeared.

Yeah, I didn't read the entire thread

----------

DavidKOS, 

vic-victor

----------


## vic-victor

The idea lives on: Grand concert mandolin by Brian Dean:
https://reverb.com/item/5964228-gran...-by-brian-dean

----------


## Jim Garber

Just what I don't need, another oddball, but lucky I did get outbid. Anybody win *this beauty* on Shopgoodwill.com? Workmanship is a little dodgy but interesting. Hard to tell if it is playable or even sounds like anything.

----------

Denny Gies

----------


## Dusepo

> Somehow I must have missed this request for more pics. Here they are.


That design of f-holes where it's on two levels (not sure how else to describe it) reminds me of the Hardingfele or Hardanger fiddle from Norway. They often have this same design of f-holes:





> Just what I don't need, another oddball, but lucky I did get outbid. Anybody win *this beauty* on Shopgoodwill.com? Workmanship is a little dodgy but interesting. Hard to tell if it is playable or even sounds like anything.


That's a nice citole shape!

----------


## Jim Garber

Jo: yes that mandolin was made by a Norwegian to imitate the style of a hardingfele and has sympathetic strings.

----------

Dusepo

----------


## Dusepo

> Jo: yes that mandolin was made by a Norwegian to imitate the style of a hardingfele and has sympathetic strings.


That explains it! 

Here's another star-shaped mandolin-banjo that's similar but in less playable condition than the one previously posted:


Here's a 5 string fretless mandolin:

----------


## Dusepo

> I'm surprised that I haven't posted this one to this thread before, but here it is...again....my 4 stringer that I made out of concrete. It's recently been signed by both Gibson's David Harvey and the great Mike Compton.  I lost Don Julin and Billy Strings' signatures when I re-topped it awhile back and put a pickup in it.


Concrete? :O Is it as heavy as one might assume? I'd love to hear how it sounds too.

----------


## Dusepo

Another star-shaped one I just saw on wikipedia:

----------

