Well, new to me, anyway. This is a 1916 A-4, cherry sunburst finish. She's a perfect match for my 1916 H-2 mandola, one of the main reasons for making the effort. Another reason was the bling - I've been playing plain As for the longest time, and while they sound fine and play well, they just look so ... plain. I wanted a mandolin that proclaimed its identity proudly, with a flourish.
Also, I thought I could get her at a decent price. This was an auction item in an estate sale, being held in a small town in the western hills of Virginia. I hadn't been looking for anything, though in the back of my mind I've been thinking about an F-2 or F-4 for a long time. But I saw this, and thought that it might not attract much attention and it could be had for a reasonable price.
Well, my hunch paid off. Bids hovered around $1300 for days. Then a couple days before closing someone got interested, and it went to $1500 or so. And stayed there. On the final day, I started with small increments, which kept getting matched automatically. I had in mind a hard upper limit of $2000, as there were a couple in the classified for a few hundred more than that, which I knew were from reputable dealers. I had no way of knowing exactly how good this was from the few photos available. I was thinking I'd have done well to get it for $1800 or less, so after it got over $1600 I put in an automatic bid just over $1700. I was pleasantly surprised to get her for ~$1650.
That's not what I ended up spending, though. I knew about the 5.3% sales tax. But I didn't see the 17% online bidding premium. Plus shipping and insurance was another $150. So all told the cost was just under $2200. So my great buy ended up being not so much, but ... well, still a pretty good buy. Not quite on the level of finding something in grandpa's attic, but better than I could have gotten anywhere else. And all in all, I'm very happy to have such a nice instrument to play. I don't think she's going to go traipsing around with me to bar gigs but I expect I'll be playing her at home and with friends a good bit. It's not as though I can really justify such a big expense when I'm hardly playing out any more, but I've been living within my means for so long, I can afford a bit of extravagance. Plus it is just plain worth it, having a really nice instrument to play. I'm sure everyone here can understand that.
After a bit of nail biting and some last-minute delivery tweaks, she showed up today, ready to play. She looks and sounds great - strong yet subtle. And rings like a bell. Just like the mandola, she keeps ringing all the while I'm putting her in the case. (Oh, and it's an OHSC with rich deep purple lining.) There are some signs of wear, though nothing drastic. Could use a cleaning and polish. But the tuners works easily, the frets look good, even the pickguard clamp is tight. There's a bit of fret buzz around the 9th and 10th frets, which hopefully will be an easy fix. Oh, and there were a dozen picks in the case pocket, including my old choice, a black Dunlop 1mm, a couple more Dunlop heavies, and in with the cheapo cheapos, a Golden Gate pick. Go figure!
I'll post some pictures soon. The ones I took in the fading daylight don't do her justice. Here are some from the auction listing.
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