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Thread: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

  1. #1

    Default Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    I was tempted to put this into the "mandolin that will not get a bid" thread because of the price. However, it is very interesting and worthy of a wider audience to view and comment. I see I have spelled its name wrong- should have been Voorhees in the headline which I cannot edit.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Antiqu....c100667.m2042

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    "Probably needs to be restrung" - REALLY?!? But it's got really interesting ornamentation, and I like it, just not the price.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    It is already mentioned in the not get a bid thread already at this post. I did get a notice from ebay that the seller lowered the price $505. Hah! I also mentioned that it resembled Waldo mandolins.
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Jim, I missed that mention and had another candidate for that thread which I posted there. I mentioned in that Wellington thread that I had blundered by typing in Style 80 while looking at the Style 71 -and reading the number from the mandolin above it on the page in the Washburn book!

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    You and I are among the enthusiastic posters here who read and write quickly. Believe me I have done the same many times over. No worries.
    Jim

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Can't make out the ribs in the bowl; does it have them, or is it a one-piece?
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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    From the pictures it looks like the back could be spruce (inside label pic) and then veneered with rose wood?
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    It is already mentioned in the not get a bid thread already at this post. I did get a notice from ebay that the seller lowered the price $505. Hah! I also mentioned that it resembled Waldo mandolins.
    I'm pretty sure that I saw this mando years ago, but only a full-frontal shot. There are a lot of design features that point to the luthiers at the Waldo Co. The fingerboard shape and everything about the headstock except the ornamental carving on the top and the inlay.

    When I looked at the pic of the label, I didn't see ribs, just what looked like one piece of some really straight-grained wood. The photo outside of the the bowl/shell left something to the imagination. I saw no ribs and no grain. Crazy as this sounds, I wonder if the bowl/shell is a one-piece covered with leather.

    Holy Moly - I just did a patent search - Walter J Voorhees - rawhide covered bowl - https://patents.google.com/patent/US...orhees+saginaw

  10. #9

    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Unholy-moly! The cursed issue of a dalliance between a mandolin and a banjo.
    Or, the inspiration for Ovation.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Walter J Voorhees shows up in the Mugwumps index of stringed instrument makers listed as "Saginaw MI 1904." Since, according to the same document, Waldo instruments were also made in Saginaw through 1903, we can hypothesize that Mr. Voorhies may have worked for Waldo, and gone out on his own after Waldo's demise.

    Would say a lot about the Voorhees-Waldo resemblance.
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    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
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  13. #11
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vorhees Bowlback- very interesting

    Yes and this wacky seller of the Voorhees mandolin now bumped price back up to $7500. That is very logical… if something gets little interest then price it higher, right?
    Jim

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