Orpheun mandolin, model number and year

[icecoach22]

I was handed an old Mandolin in fair condition with Orpheum on the headstock. Pick Guard is missing. looking for model number and age of instrument. Thanks Everyone!

[Bill McCall]

A picture would help

[allenhopkins]

A picture would help

It would, in fact, be a necessity. "Orpheum" was a brand used on a wide variety of instruments from different manufacturers. We've seen Kay, Harmony, and Strad-O-Lin instruments with that label. Orpheum banjos were made by Rettburg & Lange around the turn of the 20th century. After WWII it was used on a variety of arch-top guitars, made by Chicago manufacturers in the low-to-mid-price range.

We'd need to see the instrument you were handed.

[icecoach22]

I cleaned it up and did a setup last night. Any help with history or date of this mandolin would be greatly appreciated!

[MikeEdgerton]

Late 1900's, most likely made in Korea, possibly Japan if it's a few years earlier. This brand has been owned by lots of people and has been applied to instruments from several manufacturers and countries.

[Bill Cameron]

Not bad. Got my curiosity up because it doesn’t resemble any of the other “Orpheum” mandos I could find via websearch, which tended to have the 3-cut f-holes. I doubt it ever had a pickguard, which is a matter of personal preference on an archtop. Since it’s good enough to have a truss rod it’s probably at least solid top, maybe all solid. I wonder if that bridge is original. Tacoma was using the Orpheum brand in the early 2000s until Fender bought them, but most of the mandolins they built were unconventional-looking compared to this. How are the tuners? They look like standard upgradable dimensions. I suspect this is a case of “as good as it feels and sounds”, a nice player’s instrument.