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Thread: Information on this army/navy flat top with no tag

  1. #1

    Default Information on this army/navy flat top with no tag

    Hello all!
    I've been reading the Cafe for a while, and now I'm in the position of asking for some help! I'd like any information on the army/navy mandolin shown in the picture below. I've scoured the internet for pictures of flat tops like this and have not been able to find anything similar. There's a few very identifying features:
    - The asymmetric (almost crooked?) body
    - The absence of the last 3-4 frets on the fingerboard. It looks like if they've never been there, but maybe they fell?
    - The lack of marker dots (there are dots on the side of the fingerboard)
    - The shape of the headstock, which is just straight (almost every mandolin has some curvature)
    - The relatively new tuning keys (almost sure they're not original)


    I haven't been able to get this instruments in my hands yet, but any information that you can provide would be great!
    Thanks,
    JP

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  2. #2
    Registered User
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    Default Re: Information on this army/navy flat top with no tag

    I think “asymmetric” is being kind! I think Stewmac produced kits for these so it could be one of those.

  3. #3
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Information on this army/navy flat top with no tag

    I was wrong, I thought the Stewmac kit was pre-cut but in it's last iteration it was not. Those three screws on the back might point somewhere.

    Another Stewmac article here.

    I think it was home built, perhaps from a kit by someone that didn't quite get it right.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  4. #4

    Default Re: Information on this army/navy flat top with no tag

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    I think it was home built, perhaps from a kit by someone that didn't quite get it right.
    Thanks, that is my suspicion as well, that this is not a commercially built mandolin but a home built one. The lack of details and the shape of the body support this. I'll wait if others have any idea of brands for this one.

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