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Thread: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

  1. #1

    Default John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin


  2. #2
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    What a phantasmagorical mandolin! I wonder what it sounds like. Someone's going to have something very unique.

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    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Muy coolioso, Nick. Thanks for linking this.
    A very unique and wonderful mandolin.

    Here are some photos for posteriority.

    Mick
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    The case appears to be a top end G & S Faultless- similar to what an F5 would be paired with in the mid-20s. It is slightly different with those two small compartments and makes me think it is original- which would date the mandolin a decade or so later than 1915. I have posted the case on Steve Kirtley's site for his opinion of it. The tuners are probably Waverly units but we cannot see them clearly.

    Edit: Steve Kirtley says it is an early 1900s M & W violin case that has been modified- and those cases have those little compartments. He also points out the "worm over" tuners which do make it later than 1915 and push it well into the 1920s unless they are replacements.
    Last edited by NickR; Dec-28-2021 at 11:31am.

  6. #5

    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Seems appropriate to its current location - Florrisant.
    Anyway, not that anyone should care, but I think it’s a good creative take on the scroll theme, and otherwise not too far over the top.

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    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Pretty nifty indeed!
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    Pataphysician Joe Bartl's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    NickR, You certainly know how to lead someone (like me) into temptation. Stop!

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by NickR View Post
    Edit: Steve Kirtley says it is an early 1900s M & W violin case that has been modified- and those cases have those little compartments. He also points out the "worm over" tuners which do make it later than 1915 and push it well into the 1920s unless they are replacements.
    Yes, I use a very similar M&W case for my Lyon & Healy mandola. Mine was originally a double violin case; my luthier moved and reattached the flexible partition, as has been done with this case.
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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Interesting, historic example of an American mandolin. To me, the scroll looks too much like the garish stuff coming out of Vietnam. I think it would have looked much better as a two point. But that's just me.
    Last edited by Charles E.; Dec-28-2021 at 6:20pm.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    A couple more shots of the sadly maligned scroll.

    Mick
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    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

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    It reminds me of a smiling cartoon-ish crab
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    Full Grown and Cussin' brunello97's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    I think it's a pity this mandolin is being dissed here and elsewhere.

    Certainly a high level of craft here, far from the type of current imported bling encrusted mandolins it is unfortunately being compared to.

    DeJulio had some clear design ideas he wanted to test out and did it in fine style with a high degree of skill...as are the other details on the instrument: the headstock, neck joint, etc.

    I've long thought the iconic Gibson F style mandolin is a dog's breakfast of disparate design elements, but I'm familiar with it.
    That said, a nicely carved Gibson style scroll can be a wonderful thing, but I don't think it is the standard by which any other scroll or design element needs to be held to.

    But I swim against the current with my bowl-head friends here, too, championing the exuberant design work out of Sicily, and Catania in particular, as a breath of fresh air comped with the stately Vinaccia or sometimes clumsy Roman design mishmashes.

    Granted, I'm not referring to the sound of these mandolins...which is a whole other discussion altogether.

    I salute DeJulio for trying something different and pulling it off in fine style.

    Mick
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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    The quality of the build is not a question in my mind, it looks stellar. The design element of the scroll I'm pretty sure was an attempt to look more like the popular scrolled contemporary mandolins of the time and honestly it detracts more than it adds as far as I'm concerned, YMMV. The headstock is pretty normal looking to me and could have popped up on a number of bowl and flat topped mandolins. It was probably a custom order where the customer wanted the scroll (my guess here, nothing more.)
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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    To my eye it looks more like a copy of a Gibson Style O guitar more than an F mandolin copy.
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Late Victorian carved furniture. Most wouldn’t even notice an example of the very best of it, sitting forlornly on a curb or even in a museum. Design elements of the times. Fusty and old fashioned almost everywhere by the 1920s. Even American attempts to crib a little Art Nouveau from Europe…. Washed away by fashion: furniture, graphic arts, fabrics, architecture.
    Those revered Gibsons escaped fashion and persist because of functionality and performer cachet, IMHO, and have entered a category of fixed design where any deviation begins to look ‘wrong’. I suspect that non-aficionados don’t see anything wonderful in the design.
    I’m with Mick on this one.

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    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin


    Certainly a high level of craft here, far from the type of current imported bling encrusted mandolins it is unfortunately being compared to.

    DeJulio had some clear design ideas he wanted to test out and did it in fine style with a high degree of skill...as are the other details on the instrument: the headstock, neck joint, etc.
    I cannot argue with that.
    Last edited by MikeEdgerton; Dec-31-2021 at 12:13am. Reason: fixed quote syntax
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    Certainly a high level of craft here, far from the type of current imported bling encrusted mandolins it is unfortunately being compared to.

    DeJulio had some clear design ideas he wanted to test out and did it in fine style with a high degree of skill...as are the other details on the instrument: the headstock, neck joint, etc.

    I've long thought the iconic Gibson F style mandolin is a dog's breakfast of disparate design elements, ....

    But I swim against the current with my bowl-head friends here, too, championing the exuberant design work out of Sicily, and Catania in particular, as a breath of fresh air comped with the stately Vinaccia or sometimes clumsy Roman design mishmashes.
    I agree!

    And I'd love to play the mandolin in question here.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    I am just curious... did anyone here win this mandolin? Someone was even crazier than me and I assume that I know this person. They won it at $2,628.93.

    Probably not a dealer though because I don’t think there would be any room for profit. Has to be a collector with deep pockets or a museum.

    -------------
    Hah, I emailed a friend and it turned out that he is crazier than me. He was the one who outbid me.

    Last edited by Jim Garber; Jan-03-2022 at 8:55pm.
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  28. #19

    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Jim, I am sorry you did not win it. Perhaps, your friend can tell you about how it plays and sounds when he gets it. I am with DavidKOS on this- playing it will be definitive even if some of its flourishes are a bit wild and not everybody's cup of tea, which I can understand.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    I will speak to him tonight and maybe even get together in a month or two when sensible to do so. We will see. My guess it will be like other rosewood flatback canted top mandolins hopefully with straight neck and decently playable.
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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: John DeJulio Scrolled C.1915 Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by brunello97 View Post
    I've long thought the iconic Gibson F style mandolin is a dog's breakfast of disparate design elements
    Gibson got rid of the scroll on their TOP-OF-THE-LINE guitar (the Gibson Style O 1908 - 1923) and replaced it with the L-5 model because the scroll was considered out of style, due to all the competition from the other guitar manufacturers (of which there were many). Although there was ample competition from other mandolin makers, none competed with the F-5's sound. If any could have done it, Gibson could have developed an A style mandolin that sounded as good as an F-5. Yes, I said it but hey, if anybody could do it Gibson could. If Gibson could get rid of the scroll on their guitars and still make a Top-ot-the-Line guitar, then they could have done that to a mandolin. The scroll has little to do with the soundboard and the small amount of interior space that is increased by the scroll could be easily increased other ways. However, it was a case of "Don't mess with success". Then, Bill Monroe cemented the F-5's existence and any argument that the scroll is strictly ornamental blew out the door, like a fart in a hurricane. So, to quote Roseanne Roseannadanna, "NEVERMIND".

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