It’s been a while since I posted! Just acquired an old Kay mandolin for very cheap, and while it’s mostly OK, it obviously suffered damage to the tailpiece area — maybe dropped or bumped.
The most obvious complaint is the way the tailpiece was mounted: The top screw holes go right into the seam between the wood and binding — not even touching the tail block. So the first clear solution (to me) to make this playable is a different tailpiece, mounted lower and more securely.
But there’s also a little crushing of the top wood, about 3/16” in from the binding. It should be over the tail block, and I can’t see any defect internally.
The top appears to be solid spruce — I can see the center seam inside and out.
Should I attempt to fix this crushed bit where the tailpiece was bearing down on the top? Or just let it go as long as it seems stable?
Bookmarks