Likely finish on '30s Chicago mandolin?
My latest acquisition, the one that's labeled an SS Maxwell from Chicago, dates to the 1930s. Her finish, in particular, is in rough shape. What was her original finish likely to be? I'm asking because I'm trying to decide what I might do about the condition of the finish. When I removed the pick guard, the wood beneath it was both darker and glossier and the wood that's been exposed all this time.
Here are two photos from an area along the treble side of the neck and rib where the finish is completely gone, showing the "edge" between finish and bare wood.
Phoebe, my 2021 Collings MT mandolin
Dolly, my 2021 Ibanez M522 mandolin
Louise, my 193x SS Maxwell mandolin
Fiona, My 2021 GSM guitar-bodied octave resonator mandolin
Charlotte, my 2016 Eastman MDO 305 octave mandolin
And Giuliana, my 2002 Hans Schuster 505 violin, Nehenehe, my 2021 Aklot concert ukulele,
Annie, my 2022 Guild M-140 guitar, Joni, my 1963 Harmony 1215 Archtone archtop guitar,
Yoko, my ca. 1963 Yamaha Dynamic No.15 guitar, and Rich, my 1959 husband.
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