Advice needed..1906 gibson mandola, restore or sell as is?

[DannyBoy Smith]

Hi all, only my second post on the cafe..love this place! I found this at a garage sale here in Arizona. it appears to be a 1906 Gibson mandola. needs lots of attention. I'm trying to work my way up to a nice octave mandolin (already have two great "regular" mandolins). I cannot find a shop here locally who specializes in mandolins, I've already spoken to the guys at the mandolin store. I'm wondering if I should just sell it as is or spend the money and have it done. any advice would be appreciated! thank you
Dan

[MikeEdgerton]

Contact Dennis Vance at The Mandolin Store (www.themandolinstore.com) and ask him if he knows any luthiers local to you that could do the repair work.

[DannyBoy Smith]

Thanks Mike, that's the first thing I did. the folks thry told me about are pretty much guitar oriented and thought it might take six months or more, great guys but kind of hoping to get it done or sold sooner ...I thought I should go to someone who specializes in mandolins.
Dan

[Brian Evans]

It looks a little funky, with that delaminated headstock, but looks pretty repairable. You'd need a skilled luthier to do the work and get the refinish work correct and blended in. What I don't know is the money - how much you have in it, how much it would cost to fix (probably north of $1000 is my guess), what it would be worth as a finished, good looking and playable instrument, if your plan is to own such an instrument as an end game, or if your plan is to flip it to get something else you want. If your plan is to flip it anyway, I'd probably skip the risk and get rid of it as is. If your plan is to own such a beast, I'd fix it. My gut feel is the cost to repair is going to be close to the value of such a repaired instrument at the end of the day, so a little love has to enter the equation.

[Timbofood]

Six months is a very reasonable time frame for the amount of restoration. Well, it does for me at least.
Yes, the "I will enjoy this for years" quotient has to come into play certainly. We're it mine, I'd probably have the restoration done. It's pretty cool.
You may or may not agree but, that is fully in your court.
Not much help, sorry.

[MikeEdgerton]

That's not the kind of repair you make money on when you flip it. That's the kind of resurrection that comes with doing it with the thought of keeping it. These aren't all that rare, they are still available weekly. You might be better off selling it as a project on ebay, depending on how much you have into it. The cost of the repairs would probably get you close to what buying one already playable would cost you.

[DannyBoy Smith]

thanks guys, for me its not a keeper, im trying to trade "stuff" working my way up to an octave mando (that weber cut away has me droolin) I could just buy one but I thought it would be a neat project to document the process of trading up to it. I started this journey with ten dollars and I've traded that up to the mandola as of last week.
Thanks again for your responses!
Dan

[DannyBoy Smith]

I think thats the best route too.
Thanks again.

[dschonbrun]

An instrument that isn't playable is worth very little. You should find a luthier who is experienced with restoration and identify the minimum amount needed to get the mandola back to a playable condition. That said, the work may cost more than the instrument is worth to you, and may be more than it would cost to buy a similar mandola in playable condition. Definitely don't rush into anything... get a few estimates/quotes first before you even start.

In Addition to Dennis, I'd also contact the guys at Elderly's in Michigan. They may have a few good suggestions for you.

[Timbofood]

Talking with the shop guys at Elderly is all well and good but, it's a little like calling Stuttgart and asking what's wrong with your Mercedes. No repair people can make any kind of informed estimate by telepathic examination, or a telephonic one either.
I'm really not trying to rain on any parades but, calling a shop a thousand miles away might be a fun phone call, I don't know what one can honestly expect to learn from it.
Just an opinion.
Some things need to be in hand for proper understanding of the whole picture.

[MikeEdgerton]

An instrument that isn't playable is worth very little....

Actually that's not true. Destroyed Gibson and Martin instruments go for stupid money of eBay weekly. If he gets that instrument repaired it will probably be worth less than the repair will cost.

[MikeEdgerton]

Just to put this into perspective, the last Gibson H style mandola that sold on eBay sold for $1131.00 + $30.00 shipping. It was a 1917 in decent shape with the original case. The fact that this is a decade older isn't going to affect the price. The fact that it's a basket case missing a whole lot of parts will. If you could get that restored to original condition for a grand I'd be amazed. You'd need to find an original tailpiece cover and bridge as well as do some major repairs not even counting a case. Now if those parts are there it makes it a little easier but in the end you're selling a repaired instrument, it's not going to bring pristine prices. It's a player no matter what. As a project it might be bring half or better of the selling price of one that is playable with no additional cash outlay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1917...EAAOSwKtlWslV-

[Steve Ostrander]

Or you could list it here on the Café classifieds.

[Simon DS]

As a matter of fact I'm looking for a basket case to put back together, seeing as i play a 'Stagg' -yeh, I'm not proud. But actually, I'd be interested to find a luthier and learn how to rebuild a mandola.
I'm wondering also if it would it be sacreligious to put inlay on a 1906 fretboard?

[MikeEdgerton]

I believe in hot rods so I would have no problem with anything anyone did to a basket case like that. When done it will be a player's instrument no matter what, in my mind you should have at it and do whatever inlay you'd want to do.

[Jeff Mando]

First, I must say the garage sales in Arizona must be a lot better than the garage sales in Mississippi.................(where I live)!

Second, I agree with Mike. Sell it as is -- it will get restored by someone who loves doing that kind of work and eventually it will get in the hands of someone who wants to play one. Unless you want to keep it for yourself to play, you will never be able to get back the money you put into the restoration. If you keep it to play, you can at least justify the expense. 30 or 40 years ago, every music store in the country had stuff like this in the backroom that was never going to get restored -- thanks to eBay this stuff has come out of the closet. I think you'd be surprised what a 110 year old Gibson mandola might bring on eBay. I usually put something like "Luthier Repair Project" in the eBay title so people looking for projects can find it.

Thirdly, there is a sort of altruism involved when instruments get "moved along" to someone who might better enjoy it.

[Timbofood]

I'm with Jeff on all three of his points.

[DannyBoy Smith]

Thank you all for the advice and opinions! What a great resource the "cafe" is! I will be taking the eBay route. I also bought an 1880's violin at the same time, that will be going as well.... Getting closer to my new Weber octave... Danny Smith

[Timbofood]

Reasonable route to the item you really want! Have fun

[DannyBoy Smith]

First, I must say the garage sales in Arizona must be a lot better than the garage sales in Mississippi.................(where I live)!

Second, I agree with Mike. Sell it as is -- it will get restored by someone who loves doing that kind of work and eventually it will get in the hands of someone who wants to play one. Unless you want to keep it for yourself to play, you will never be able to get back the money you put into the restoration. If you keep it to play, you can at least justify the expense. 30 or 40 years ago, every music store in the country had stuff like this in the backroom that was never going to get restored -- thanks to eBay this stuff has come out of the closet. I think you'd be surprised what a 110 year old Gibson mandola might bring on eBay. I usually put something like "Luthier Repair Project" in the eBay title so people looking for projects can find it.

Thirdly, there is a sort of altruism involved when instruments get "moved along" to someone who might better enjoy it.

thanks... I used your suggestion for "luthier Project" its up now!