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Thread: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

  1. #1
    Registered User jim simpson's Avatar
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    Default Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Do decals make a mandolin more valuable? I don't know... perhaps a Lloyd Loar with a parrot decal?

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/133918613040
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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    I've been trying to find an artist that could paint that parrot on the back of my F5G since I found out that Dawg had it removed. The other deals were very popular among men in the 40's and 50's.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  4. #3
    Registered User jim simpson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Yes Mike, a painted parrot would be something! I found these that I've posted in the past, My friend Tom White with his old D-18 with rooster decal and an American flag on an archtop that I aquired.

    On a side note, the rooster guitar previously belongs to the John Hutchison, who just passed away after a period of illness. John had written songs performed and recorded by Hot Rize and Tim O'Brien. A huge loss to all who knew him.
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  5. #4
    Jo Dusepo, luthier Dusepo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by jim simpson View Post
    Do decals make a mandolin more valuable? I don't know... perhaps a Lloyd Loar with a parrot decal?

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/133918613040
    If you like that sort of thing then maybe. I find them a bit tacky, so not for me.
    I am a luthier specialising in historical and world stringed instruments. You can see more info at my website.

  6. #5
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by Dusepo View Post
    If you like that sort of thing then maybe. I find them a bit tacky, so not for me.
    The parrot's kind of cool, but the pinup girls are super tacky. Tacky just because of what they are, and also not placed in an aesthetically pleasing manner on the instrument. My brother has stickers on his old guitar, and that looks cool.

    BTW, pinup girls aren't tacky everywhere. They're fine (IMHO) on the side of an old WWII warbird.

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  8. #6

    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    In the alternative universe of the 1960s, a guitar without flowers or vacuous scribbles was hard to find. I think certain banjo players, having obvious white canvases may have started the ‘meme’. Today, in the the highly lithographed world of, especially, ukeleles, the meme continues, and expands. Hello Kitty has now matured into a collectible edition with significant auction valuation.
    Meanwhile, the first heyday of decalcomania, sometime after the Civil War, must have satisfied a basic need for decoration. I have a violin so adorned from the 1880s - black and white florals. My Russian grandmother, in the era of full-color decals, decorated the kitchen appliances wherever there was too much white area, although I don’t remember if pinups were in the mix from Woolwoorth.

  9. #7
    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Avast ye Mateys! I've a story to tell. 249 views to this thread so far and there's not a sailor among you? Well, I'm here to say, there is now. Where do I begin? I suppose I should say, long, long ago, before video games and before all those stickers there were tattoos and the very superstitious sailors who wore them. Each of those tattoos has meaning and sailors worn them to bring them luck, on their long voyages. Here are a few... https://www.military.com/undertherad...sailor-tattoos and yet no mention of the pin-up girl! Arguably the most important. During the various wars, a sailor would get a pin-up girl tattoo as inspiration to what they were fighting for... their girl back home, and now, we're relegated to a sticker for your mandolin. In Jaws Quint states, "So, 1100 men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.”. ...and while Quint nor I were there, 318 men lived to tell the tail. Ya think they weren't superstitious? Crosses Worn on the soles of a sailor’s feet are thought to ward off sharks. Tattoo anybody?
    Last edited by your_diamond; Nov-04-2021 at 4:00pm.

  10. #8
    Jo Dusepo, luthier Dusepo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by Sue Rieter View Post
    The parrot's kind of cool, but the pinup girls are super tacky. Tacky just because of what they are, and also not placed in an aesthetically pleasing manner on the instrument. My brother has stickers on his old guitar, and that looks cool.

    BTW, pinup girls aren't tacky everywhere. They're fine (IMHO) on the side of an old WWII warbird.
    You know I think you're onto something there. I know it's the art-style of the time, but to me this art-style suggests 'pin-up girls' and everything associated with that.
    I am a luthier specialising in historical and world stringed instruments. You can see more info at my website.

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  12. #9
    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Those WWII pin-up girls were plenty tacky. About as tacky as the times would allow. Considering they were supposed to remind you of your girl back home, nobody's girl back home ever wore outfits like that in the 1940's. Today, those outfits are what the girls are wearing to the clubs.

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  14. #10
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by your_diamond View Post
    Today, those outfits are what the girls are wearing to the clubs.
    Well, I think those are more like show girl outfits, but you do have a point. I needed a "cocktail dress" for an event, and my sister in law lent me an assortment to try. I hate dressing up anyway, but one of them felt like I was wearing a bathing suit. Okay, nope.

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  16. #11

    Default Re: Ebay: Kalamazoo mandolin

    Sue, I had a feeling I had seen your Stradolin on Jake's site. It is fabulous!

    https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...e-archtop.html

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