Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.
Notorious: My Celtic CD--listen & buy!
Lyon & Healy • Wood • Thormahlen • Andersen • Bacorn • Yanuziello • Fender • National • Gibson • Franke • Fuchs • Aceto • Three Hungry Pit Bulls
That's a sad looking mandolin. I hope somebody can take it home and nurse it back to health.
It needs more than a nurse unfortunately.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
With the rare cat's-eye soundhole! Oh, wait...
Wow, that is really sad. Looks like it was crushed under something.
Kit
Guitars, Mandos, Violins, Dulcimers, Cats
It looks like someone accidentally sat on it. It needs to be re-topped. Do-able, but a lot of work. Since the cost of the repair would exceed the value of the repaired instrument, it's a good learning project for an aspiring young luthier.
Same people that took care of the fireplace poker induced damage on that F5, available?
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
Oddly, for once in recent history, not tempted. Believe it or not, since I have an A (two, actually,) an A-3, and an A-4, one might think I should also have an A-1, an A-2, and an A-5. But nope, I'm good. I'm a player, not a collector, despite having more than I need. Honest!
This reminds me more of the one that got a bunch of laughs around here a couple months ago, the one someone's son sat on. People got to be more careful!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I think they are just pricing the parts: tuners and tailpiece. Other than that I think if anyone wanted this they could bargain with them for a lower price.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
From what I can see in the pictures, the tailpiece cover doesn't look like it has any engraving on it, so then it wouldn't be original, yes?
(she said, as someone who could potentially use an old Gibson tailpiece cover and lives fairly near where this is.)
Last weekend there was a Gibson A in better shape than this advertised in Vermont for $150. It went for more than asking price.
I think the engraving is there, but I can't tell what kind of shape it's in or whether the pattern is right. Lousy pictures. I wouldn't waste the gas without making a phone call first. But . .
$300 is high for the condition. Even if the tailpiece is correct, you probably wouldn't be able to sell the tuners for more than $60 - $80. Unless you know someone who would give you $100 for a crashed Gibson, you would be stuck with the instrument.
Eh, I don't need a tailpiece cover that badly.
You can buy a modern "The Gibson" engraved replica tailpiece from Greg Boyd's for $40 plus shipping.
http://www.gregboyd.com/product/pruc...son-logo-gold/
Although the link says "gold," it is available in nickel, which would be right for your mandolin.
One of the nicest mandolins I have is a 1923 Gibson A that came to me in 5 pieces. To RCC56's point, this instrument took me from "aspiring luthier" all the way to "more experienced aspiring luthier", lol.....I am no expert, but I have done quite a few repairs from a damaged back all the way to completely rebuilding most of it on old Gibsons.....all because I tackled that one instrument. May not be worth $299, but to find a project like this one can be a huge education....
Cam
Maybe it would sound great, maybe awful. We have no way of knowing whether it sounded any good before the accident.
Observe the damage around the soundhole, the ribs coming loose at the shoulders, etc. The instrument is a wreck.
The string tension on a mandolin is much higher than on a violin. That has to be factored into the decision.
These mandolins left the factory with only one brace, running crosswise directly below the soundhole. The brace is "back-loaded," and its purpose is to maintain the arch under string tension. The design works well on instruments that are intact. But on an instrument such as this, I don't know if it would be sufficient to hold the instrument in shape by itself.
If everything could be pulled back into shape, new wood grafted in where it is missing or chewed up, glued up, and the cracks reinforced, it might hold together for 100 years. Or only 100 hours. A pretty touch-up job on the finish would be darn near impossible. The instrument would have to be opened to execute the repairs.
A lot of work to save that top. There's no guarantee that the structural stability of the instrument can be maintained without sacrificing tone. It's not a high-end model or an instrument with an important history.
If someone wants to save the top and cross their fingers, have at it. It would be a great learning project. But I would rather re-top it, turn it into a good looking instrument, and rest easy that it will be structurally sound for the long term.
Last edited by rcc56; Nov-18-2021 at 12:39pm.
If the top were realigned and re-glued expertly it would most likely sound very much like it did before the damage. As rcc56 said, we don't know what it sounded like before so we don't know what it would sound like repaired.
With a new top (less work, less chance of failure later) it would probably sound similar to the way it sounded before, but the person doing the repair might opt for a different arch, a different system of graduation, different bracing etc.. Those things might make it sound different from it original sound, but we would never know.
BTW, violin repairs are often done on instruments with crazy market values. Preserving original wood and appearance is paramount to that market so sometimes heroic repairs are done when a new top would be the best repair from a structural standpoint, and since the market value is so crazy, the crazy repair price is considered justified. This is a different case entirely, and having a pro repair done would exceed the market value regardless of how it was done. It's a case where the purchase price and time spent on the repair could be considered tuition for the advanced repair student, and while re-topping would be a good learning experience, perhaps realigning and re-gluing would be even more of a learning experience.
John Hamlett
www.hamlettinstruments.com
For the hysterical porpoises:
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Have someone check the case for the pickguard clamp
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Thanks for posting the easier to see pictures, Jim.
Any lingering doubts I may have had are gone. If you try to patch her up, she'll struggle just to get out of bed in the morning. Give her a new top and she'll dance for another 100 years.
If they'd sell and ship her for $150, I'd probably take her and develop my carving skills.
Bookmarks