Yeah, but ... free shipping! :cool:
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Yeah, but ... free shipping! :cool:
At that price, shipping should be included! :))
At that price, shipping is part of the price. You can call it free ...
When I was doing Ebay, I never wanted to do the free shipping thing, because you'd have to calculate for the highest possibility, and if the buyer lived close to you, basically they were being ripped off. I'd much rather buy, and sell, with calculated shipping.
If they are in Japan, and charging the same price to ship to the next city vs. ship to the US; I wouldn't want to be the person in the next town.
Here is the very same guitar for sale in New York for $599. It is being sold by Rivington Guitars and presumably, judging by the blurb in the Japanese sale, this organisation sells under various names- certainly two on eBay in the USA and also this Japanese identity as well. I just recognised those old cases and US flag as backdrops to the photos which led me to search for a Harmony tenor guitar and up it came
https://www.ebay.com/itm/19406043451...EAAOSwz7RggykV
It is a pain to post pics on my phone but take a look at this auction. Looks like the top has lots of warpage and the non-original bridge is positioned so the strings are lower. Will this ever okay in tune? I doubt it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-mandolin-luigi-vincentini-napoli-/393553436944
An Antonio Tsai mandolin offered at an inflated price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/8-String-Canadian-Spruce-Mandolin-with-Mother-of-Pearl-Inlay-/163291300329
Jim, this looks to be an example of the very rare 4-1-2-1 tuning arrangement. We don't see those very often any more.
Maybe coming back into fashion?
With a 17.574" scale and those bass guitar strings it should deliver a lot of low end and abundant non-Western dystopian microtonalities.
The "Made in France" stamped tuners are of note, as well.
I wonder how much of that top warpage occurred during the photo shoot for ebay with those boss strings?
Mick
For posterity ... Some very splashy inlay work, for sure. Does it make it worth what the seller is asking? (~ US $1,989.30) You decide ... :whistling:
Attachment 196413 Attachment 196414 Attachment 196415
Ouch!
"Peg head was cracked but fixed by a professional with wood putty"
https://reverb.com/item/44624228-gib...m=Feed%20Email
Yeah, no. Right?
But I wouldn't be too surprised if someone were to shell that out for this. It might be just the thing ... to somebody ... Freedom of choice. ;)
Anyone ever think it would be interesting to visit those Vietnamese shops where the "bling-y" instruments are made. and watch the local craftspeople working on their construction? Seems to be an endless supply of highly figured wood and mother-of-pearl. There's a good deal of skill involved in construction and inlaying, but reaction from purchasers leads one to believe that corners are cut, especially in seasoning the wood, obtaining well-made metal parts, and securing inlays so they don't fall out later.
Which is too bad. The level of intricacy and artistry in some of the inlays is really admirable. But it's so much for "looks," and not for acoustic quality or even durability. We see some of the same emphasis in other Asian-made instruments for sale in the US: banjos with inlays, flamed woods and engraved metal parts that put Gibson and Stelling to shame, but that sound clunky and suffer neck warping within a year or two, et. al. There's a 19th-century poem about a razor seller whose incredibly cheap razors -- "twelve for eighteen pence" -- are worthless for shaving. In the last verse, confronted by an irate customer, the razor-seller explains the situation:
" Friend, " quoth the razor-man, " I'm not a knave;
— As for the razors you have bought,
— Upon my soul, I never thought
That they would shave . "
" Not think they'd shave! " quoth Hodge, with wondering eyes,
— And voice not much unlike an Indian yell;
" What were they made for, then, you dog? " he cries.
— " Made , " quoth the fellow, with a smile, — " to sell. "
So, mandolins made not to play, but to sell?
I've always felt that the day that the builders of the AntonioTsai and BruceWeiarts mandolins figure out how to get the shape and dimensions right and figure out the things can be sold without the bling they will probably gain a lot of market share.
Unfortunately they are dealing into a market where some people are attracted by the bling. How it plays and sounds may or may not enter the picture. Obviously getting the dimensions right doesn't either.
It's kind of like Harmony and Kay in their heydays. I seriously doubt anyone was sitting at the factory saying "Well, if we trim this brace a little and use a different finish it will sound better." I just can't imagine anyone had that job.
I assumed it was referring to this:
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...0z9aqejwo1.jpg
This one really has some issues:
https://reverb.com/item/45937844-191...-budget-f-5-f4
Actually light under the fingerboard here!
https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...7mxnuuruhq.jpg
Aw heck, ain't nothing but what a little super glue can fix. ~:>
I’m thinking that the glue did what it was intended: acting like a fuse to keep the wood from ripping itself up with all those years of climate.
More interesting is the ‘sounds great’ opinion. Will something with a loose soundboard, or back typically sound just the same when glued up properly, or better or worse? Spent part of this morning tacking down perished glue on the latest rescue, a Japanese bowlback that also had a neck problem (one, 1/2”soft dowel and hardly any glue. Fortunately, the part of the fretboard that had to be disconnected also had just a tiny smear, and released easily.)
That's a very nice looking F-4.
Somebody will look at it, and think that fixing it is as simple as going to the hardware store, getting some wood glue and squirting it in there, and clamping it back together with whatever they've got lying around the house. It isn't.
Chances are that besides the loose glue joints that can be seen in the pictures, a large portion of the remaining joints are also in bad shape.
The fingerboard may have to be removed completely, and the surfaces cleaned and levelled before it can be reglued. Then it will probably need a fret job.
I'd say it's 50 - 50 that the back will also need to be at least partially lifted, and the surfaces cleaned and levelled before any new glue joint can be expected to hold.
The right way to do it is with hot hide glue. That takes a high level of experience and skill. Special clamping cauls will need to be made. A temporary mold may also be needed.
And by the way, chances are about 10 to 1 that the top brace is loose, if it is there at all.
And every minute the strings remain on the instrument with that failed fingerboard joint, it increases the probability of a warped neck.
And so on. Not a job for a do-it-yourselfer.
I would expect the repair bill to run anywhere from $500 to $1500.
It could be a worthwhile buy if the seller would take $3000. I wouldn't touch it for any more than that, even though I can do the work myself.
I also think from my non expert look that it isn't just the back and fingerboard are loose, but the dovetail has slipped. Which would mean resetting the neck in addition to everything else listed above.
My own guess would have been $1500 to $2000 to get it into playing shape and a selling price of $2500 before work done.
Again, though, I'm not a repairperson and wouldn't even think of buying it.
I'd like to think it could be done for less than $2000, but I've been known to underestimate the cost of a job more often than I would like to admit.
At any rate, I'm not buying it either. If it were reduced to $2500, I might change my mind. It is a nice looking F-4. It deserves a better looking bridge. And that's another hundred or two right there.