Just a little unclear about the companies history, year, value, condition etc. if you have info I would love to know! thank you very much.
Just a little unclear about the companies history, year, value, condition etc. if you have info I would love to know! thank you very much.
It looks like an early 1980 Flatiron 1N pancake mandolin, spruce over maple, in the most Spartan version available without binding or rosette. It looks like someone played rather aggressively on it in image 8, and I worry that there are signs of top sinkage in image 5, perhaps from drying out or being strung with too heavy gauges (or both). If it were mine, I’d detune it and take it to an area repair person who knows his or her way around a mandolin.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
I have another opinion. If this is a circa 1980's Flatiron, it's in pretty good shape. I don't care about a few scratches on the surface.
Perhaps it could be set up with a lighter string gauge, as you suggest, but I think most mandolins are strung a bit higher tension than is best.
Many fine flatbacks have a tiny bit of indentation on the soundboard. But the neck looks OK and the string action is not bad, and the bridge could be lowered a little if needed.
Flatirons were Spartan mandolins in design!
Just to be fair - I would never scoop anything...so we have different tastes in mandolins. that's OK.
Neither do I, as you can tell by my Gibson:
Sometimes, aggressive playing is a sign that an instrument simply sounds good!
Perhaps, but these pancakes were built for medium-light strings and, as fatt-dad often describes, suffer from being strung with the standard J74 gauges.
It might be a matter of humidification, it could be strong tension, or it could be an acceptable level of top settling. I’d still have someone look at it.
I really enjoyed my 1984 1N, but that doesn’t change the fact that Flatiron pancakes did also come in Level 2 and 3 iterations with binding and rosettes.
It will come to you as a great relief I’m sure that my User Title is simply a joke on my location in Florida. While I would not refuse a mandolin categorically based on that modification — see my Hester A5 in my profile picture — neither have I scooped one myself.
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
If you have the energy, there's an endless thread about this type of Flatiron
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...se-Flatiron-1N
Mine is a bit later model, with adjustable trussrod (but still from Montana). The earlier ones have a deservedly good reputation but don't have the trussrod.
This thread has lots of information on the company, including a link to an interview with founder Steve Carlson.
Could be a great mandolin. Could be someone's (if not your) forever mandolin.
I had a 1984 Flatiron mandola of the same family. And I loved it.
I have one of the flatiron mandolas that had a bit of top sinkage like that. Took it in to none other than Frank Ford himself, who diagnosed that the transverse brace had become detached at one end (i suspect a prior owner dropped it, there is finish damage at the same point the brace came off). Was super easy to repair with that big sound hole to reach through.
For string gauge - my flatirons all have a sticker on the base of the neck (inside) that lists the recommended gauges. Looking at my 2MC, the recomendations are .010, .013, .024 and .036.
these are awesome mandolins in spite of their plain Jane looks. There is a sticker (likely) inside the mandolin that shows recommended string gauges. The GHS A250 string set matches perfectly.
It's clearly from 1980. It seems original - i.e., with the cloud tailpiece, one-piece bridge and ebony nut.
I rarely scratch my instruments. That said, one night and that all could have happened? I've made my mistakes too!
Chipboard case is also original. There was a hardshell option. That said, I'd use the chipboard case just as is!
Enjoy!
f-d
ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
'20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A
Indeed these are great mandolins! I had one for a short time; thought it was not for me, then regretting selling it after I sent it on to its next owner... so I made one for my first mandolin build... that was quite a story in and of itself.
They have a great and loud tone that is distinctively different from carved top mandos that is excellent for many styles of music.
aka: Spencer
Silverangel Econo A #429
Soliver #001 & #002: A double stack of Pancakes.
Soliver Hand Crafted Mandolins and Mandolin Armrests
Armrests Here -- Mandolins Here
"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage
to lose sight of the shore, ...and also a boat with no holes in it.” -anonymous
Weren't the Flatirons somewhat based on the Gibson Army-Navy mandolins?
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