curious mandolinetto

[Scot63]

Not sure I'm interested in buying, but I though this mandolinetto on ebay had a lot of peculiarities that make it noteworthy (perhaps in the strange, one-of-a-kind way), not least the bridge. Anybody run into anything like this before? Does the top seem a bit sunk, too?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-No-N...oAAOSwKOJYH9n2

[JeffD]

Wow. Real cool.

It is tempting.

I went for a no-name old mandolinetto a while back, and turned out to be great. I love the instrument and play it often. (Just being encouraging that sometimes these quirky things just work out).

It is tempting.

[Scot63]

Jeff, I remember the thread about your one-of-a-kind mandolinetto and how well that turned out. This one looks rather heavily built, not to say somewhat primitive looking. Though it's obviously been played!

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm thinking that bridge may have been added. I've never seen anything like that.

[mandobassman]

I went for a no-name old mandolinetto a while back, and turned out to be great. I love the instrument and play it often. (Just being encouraging that sometimes these quirky things just work out).

It is tempting.

I feel the same way. I'm always looking out for unusual instruments that sell cheap. You never know what you might find. I bought a $25 Russian oval hole mandolin from a local Craigslist ad about six months ago and it sounds beautiful. I just had some set up work done on it and it now plays as beautiful as it sounds.

[JeffD]

Jeff, I remember the thread about your one-of-a-kind mandolinetto and how well that turned out. This one looks rather heavily built, not to say somewhat primitive looking. Though it's obviously been played!

Remember to budget some money to have it looked / set up / repaired. Subtract that from what you would be willing to spend on this if it were in good shape, and that is your bid.

Good luck.

It looks so cool. I am tempted. But I will give you first refusal on this beauty.

[Jim Garber]

I dunno. Something tells me this one may not be the hidden jewel that Jeff's last one was. For one thing the bridge is very low on the body, unlike Jeff's where it is close to center. I don't know whether the current added bridge would be correctly positioned. In addition, I would think that thicker pickguard plus the super thick guitar-style bridge would not really allow for all that much top vibration.

Here are the usual porpoise pics:



As to the bridge—the seller says:

Unusual to these instruments is the guitar style, 8 pin bridge / saddle. Most that I can find on the internet have tailpieces, and a floating bridge, which this design being less stress on the top, from string tension. Someone must have realized that, and changed this to the tailpiece / floating bridge at a later date.

[Scot63]

I think I'm with Jim on this one—hysterical porpoises seem about right. Jeff, I give up my first refusal privilege—have at it if you dare! And if you do, let us know how it turns out. Cheers!

[Jim Garber]

It looks like this mandolinetto did not sell. Or, am I mistaken? Did anyone make the seller an offer?

[JeffD]

I ultimately didn't go for this one. I was really tempted. (Did I say I was tempted).

[Jim Garber]

I ultimately didn't go for this one. I was really tempted. (Did I say I was tempted).

Smart move IMHO. That one has a lot going against it as opposed to your last one.