Really interesting A-style on ShopGoodwill

Stephen Fistor, 1934
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/112428574

There was a Dayton Style B that sold for $687 in the past few days.

Currently there's also a Gibson A-style with an enormous crack in the back for more than $800. Crazy, man, crazy.

I like this part in the description...


This instrument has not been tested for playability or sound quality.
Scuffs,discoloration,cracks and dust on instrument and loose threads and scuffing overall on case.

‘ This instrument has not been tested for playability or sound quality.
Scuffs,discoloration,cracks and dust on instrument and loose threads and scuffing overall on case.’

-ouch. Yup, all of the above.
Couldn’t they just say that this lovely mandolin has had a very eventful life?


Attachment 191158

I have a Regal from the early 30s with those tuners, so it may well be from 1934 and has had an eventful life since then, it seems!

Quote:

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This instrument has not been tested for playability or sound quality.

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All auctions on SGW have that sort of legalese. Everything on the site is sold as-is. That looks to me to be an amateur build with a handwritten label, perhaps a one-off. It is hard to tell from the photos how much arching is on the top. Here are some pics. Hard to tell what is going on with that wood on the rib.

You could always repair that tenor-side rib and the back crack with Bondo or some other quality wood putty!

@John, I’m sure your comment is a sneer, but Bondo and similar polyesters make a very good wood repair material; low shrinkage, high strength, good adhesion, takes finish. I’m looking at a theremin I made in HS ca 1961, and the Bondo patch in one place is still looking pretty good! There are reasons repairers favor other materials, but I note that there is no aversion to things like epoxies and CA in places.
Come to think of it, since I did make that one instrument from the ground up, I may technically be a builder!