a bowlback mystery

[Tomando]

Hello, obscure mandolin afficianados,

I acquired this bowlback thru an unfortunate situation: the passing of a friend. All he ever told me was that it was 100 years old. Any help in finding info on this little guy would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Tom.

[Jim Garber]

Tom:
No need to post a completely new thread for each photo. Hopefully one onf the moderators can merge the two threads.

This is a budget line mandolin probably made by Lyon & Healy possibly. The tailpiece might not be original. The bridge is definitely located in the wrong spot. You can see a ark near the cant (fold) in the top and that is likely where it should be. I can't exactly tell but the pickguard looks like it has some sort of self-adhesive tortoise pattern part of which may have torn or flaked off.

It looks like it is in decent shape. String with ultra light gauge strings like GHS A240. You might post a side view to see if the neck is set correctly.

Here is his other photo.

[Tomando]

Hi, Jim! Thank you so much for that info. I am amazed that an instrument that seems like would be very labor intensive to make could sell cheaply. I did suspect that tho, based on the ‘pickguard’… ;( I will clean it up and restring it, (thank you for the ultralight string tip). Its an amazingly light instrument.