Need help with the maker

[Chuck Randell]

Hey,

This mandolin has been in the family since the 40's and no one knows where it came from. No name frames or anything inside. Well made and the inlay is over the top. Thought it might be a Mannello but I'm a optimistic guy. any ideas?

[Chuck Randell]

Put this over on the pic forum too. It's been in the family since the 1940's. Well built and the inlay is over the top. No names or cartouche inside to help. Any idea's. I though it a Mannello but I'm optimistic.

[NickR]

I have a feeling it is a mandolin sold by one of the big mail order retailers- possibly Montgomery Ward but it may be Sears. These companies had a penchant for getting nice Chicago made mandolins but getting as much MOP bling on them as possible. I think that headstock shape is redolent of Lyon & Healy. You have not shown the bowl but I am thinking of one of the higher end Washburn models from that firm as being the basis for the mandolin- Style 175, perhaps but you need to post more photos.

Edit: Here is one on eBay. The end of the board on yours is is different- which suggests a lower level mandolin but blinged up and different tuners and volute so it may be a different maker.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/32491301750...yawHC4qyZUs%3D

[Sue Rieter]

I really like the design on the fretboard. Morning Glories?

[Chuck Randell]

Yep maybe Washburn. sure would be nice to see an exact before I stop looking. Looks a little higher end than a sears special.
Here is the bowl at the end and the back of the neck. Alot of carving and extra wood work. Why would a high end craftsmen sell his wares
at a discount at M.W.?

[Chuck Randell]

I don't know what kind they are but he did it nicely. alot of mother of pearl .

[NickR]

The inlays on the top are typical of the sort you see on the MW mandolins. The actual mandolin looks quote a lot like the Washburn 1125 of 1895- the number of ribs may be the same but they were fluted on that mandolin but the end of the fingerboard is the same on some- unlike that eBay Washburn. However, the inlays on the top of that mandolin are different and it has a fancy tailpiece cover. Your photos do not show the tailpiece cover or the headstock close up. Selling to a company like Wards would be a big order so discounts could be made on that basis. The lower selling price that mail order companies offered was because the retailer was removed from the equation and some of that mark up could be given to the customer as a lower price but without the obvious benefits that a shop might offer which some people want. The inlays were mass produced in Germany and were added to instruments to elicit sales- often on lower quality models although your mandolin is clearly a good instrument with probably 42 ribs. If the mandolin had been sold as a Washburn I am sure the label would be inside so if it has no label it may well have been sold by a third party. If it has been sold by Wards it would almost certainly have carried the Thornward inlay on the headstock.

[NickR]

Here is a lower end and far more restrained Thornward and it also has a label inside but it is still a nice instrument. The seller states it was made by Lyon & Healy and may well be a version of one of their Lakeside mandolins. It appears that the fingerboard extension became a feature on L & H mandolins from 1906- which is why it is not seen on some as they were made before that date.

https://reverb.com/item/5737066-thor...ard-shell-case

[Charles E.]

From the headstock shape and inlays, I would venture a guess that it was made by Lyon and Healy.

[Jim Garber]

From the headstock shape and inlays, I would venture a guess that it was made by Lyon and Healy.

Agree… that has Washburn headstock and pickguard shapes.

[oldhawkeye]

Looks a bit like my Acme. Check out this I posted in this forum.
Estate Sale Bowlback
Follow the link to Jim Garbers information. Mine has the same heel carving and everything else except different inlay on the head stock.

[NickR]

This is one of two threads on this mandolin. There are a few more photos on the other.

[NickR]

Here's that link:

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...-Sale-Bowlback

oldhawkeye tells us at the end which suggests the following and they were sold as mail order mandolins by Sears:

Just did some Google meandering and the consensus is these were made by Stewart and Bauer and sold by Sears in the late 1890's-early 1900's. Jake Wildwood, Bills Banjos and another post on MC all seem to agree. Please correct me if I'm mistaken or jumping the gun. I just love all the help on these forums. Thanks all.
Regards, Dave

[Charles E.]

In both my Washburn books there is a photo of a guitar with the same inlay on the fingerboard.

[NickR]

This is a Bauer as discussed by Jake Wildwood. Although there is a very different style of MOP etc, you can see the decoration on the neck by the nut.

jakewildwood.blogspot.com/2020/10/1900s-bauer-sears-acme-bowlback-mandolin.html

And this one as oldhawkeye stated:

http://www.billsbanjos.com/Acmemandolin.htm

[NickR]

It was made by Bauer:

http://www.billsbanjos.com/Acmemandolin.htm

[Charles E.]

Ah, very good! I wonder if different manufacturers sourced their pearl work from the same place?

[Jim Garber]

OK, I certainly agree that the mandolins on Jake's and posted on the estate sale bowlback thread are Bauers or Stewart & Bauers but the one here and the one on Bill's Banjos site have different pegheads and pickguard shapes. Look closely. They are nearly identical to Washburns. The washburn has a rounded finial and the Bauer is pointed plus the proportion of the neck carving is different. Same with the pickguard. Different shape though roughly similar. To compare:



Also, bear in mind that similar pearl decoration has appears on different makers because they could buy from the same pearl supplier. So that may not be a definite way to ID a maker. I still think the OP's mandolin was made by L&H and also the one on the Bill’s Banjos site as well.

[Dave Greenspoon]

Glad the op got his answer. The thread title had me thinking "bluegrass gospel."

[Jim Garber]

It was made by Bauer:

http://www.billsbanjos.com/Acmemandolin.htm

I dunno. I don’t think there is a label in that Bill’s Banjo mandolin and I don’t know why he is so sure. All the other headstocks on Bauers that I have in my files do not resemble that one. The one you posted from Jake Wildwood’s site looks like a Bauer but has a different headstock shape from the Bill’s banjo one and the one here. I also ask the moderators to merge the two threads. It is annoying to writer everything twice.

[Charles E.]

The mods might want to combine the two threads as it is getting a bit confusing.

[Jim Garber]

The mods might want to combine the two threads as it is getting a bit confusing.

You ain't kidding...

[brunello97]

I'm picking this thread....

FWIW here are some GBauer headstocks I have in my files.

Mick

[MikeEdgerton]

We don't want things to be confusing.

[CarlM]

We don't want things to be confusing.

Why?