Unknown maker Bowlback mandolin with moustache logo. Help me ID?

[bintcube]

I picked this mandolin up the other day for £35 on the British version of craigslist. I occasionally build and repair instruments and am planning on building a mandolin in the near future.

The logo is similar to the Martin tulip logo from the early 1900s but there are a few differences to the Martins I have looked at. The logo is more moustache than tulip shaped! The pickgaurd is different but the tuners look similar. The back has 15 sections with thin rosewood strips between them.

Im really not sure what it is and would like some help identifying the maker as i'm not sure whether its worth the money to get the missing parts!

[vic-victor]

This is not a logo. Just the way of a headstock ornamentation. Rosewood/maple bowl was popular with German makers, though enclosed tuners slots may suggest US origin. Looks like pretty plain instrument. IMO not worth putting money/efforts in.

[brunello97]

I don't think this is from a US maker.

A few key observations: The inset tuners were also used on Italian mandolins and don't inherently suggest American-made. The thin fretboard and the contouring of the end of the fretboard is curved to follow the curve of the sound hole was not standard practice for the larger US mandolin makers: L+H, Vega, Schmidt, Martin, etc.

L+H did make contrasting stave bowls in the 1890s but this is not an L+H mandolin. The two circles to either side of the bridge location--maybe location of former ornamental 'dots'--resemble such practice used by some Italian makers, but not seen on US bowls. A spliced neck joint was used by some US makers but gave way to one piece neck-head joints for the bread and butter production such as this example.

This is not to completely eliminate the possibility of it being made in the US by some individual or otherwise unknown company. But one can be fairly confident, I think.

My guess is that this is not of Italian origin though, either, but made in an Italian style somewhere else. Germany maybe?

I agree it is not worth putting money into if that money could be better spent elsewhere.

Mick

[Martin Jonas]

I agree with both of the above -- low-grade German-made, most likely. There are very very few US-made bowlbacks in the UK and I see no reason to suggest that this is one of them. I don't really see any use for this one: it's too battered to be a wallhanger and not worth putting either the missing hardware or the effort in to make it playable. If you want to practice your restoring skills or use it as a template for your own mandolin build, you can find more worthy salvage mandolins for less money on Ebay UK most days.

Martin

[vic-victor]

I suggested US due to a more sturdy look than of most Italians, but it could have been just a wrong impression from the dings and scratches and the general condition of the instrument. Good point on ebay UK and rarity of US-made instruments there. I agree, Germany is the most likely candidate.