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Thread: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded parts

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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded parts

    Listed on ebay as a... vintage (pre-1950?) unbranded mandolin - MOP inlay headstock - no case https://www.ebay.com/itm/115652664698?

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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    It's also for sale here in the classifieds.

    Looking at the extra holes in the back of the headstock, thinking it's ca. 1942 like Sue's. Same pickguard and tailpiece cover too. (Also like mine which is probably from the '50s).

    Unusual in my mind to have those features and the comma end f-holes Another Stradolin mystery, I guess.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
    https://www.facebook.com/LauluAika/
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Yes, those bendy f holes are seen on some. I would imagine it had Kluson tuners- possibly with those cover plates as well and is now on its third set of tuners with those new ones added.

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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Platt View Post
    It's also for sale here in the classifieds.
    Actually, I think the one in the classifieds is the same one that had the houses head and rhinestones on the headstock.

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    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by your_diamond View Post
    Actually, I think the one in the classifieds is the same one that had the houses head and rhinestones on the headstock.
    So you're saying Mr. Ed has been cancelled !?!

    (I do like the one with the inlays, but am already in the process of resisting another local instrument )
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    The f holes were Strad-O-Lin style but it looks like someone may have de-segmented them in one or two places, it's hard to tell. The headstock isn't original and I think the bridge was replaced as well.
    "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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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by Sue Rieter View Post
    So you're saying Mr. Ed has been cancelled !?!
    Yet again! So sad.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sue Rieter View Post
    (I do like the one with the inlays, but am already in the process of resisting another local instrument )
    Don't tell me. Let me guess.
    How many guesses do I get (3 would be traditional)?
    1) I know! An Accordion. No, too ouchy / pinchy for a girl.
    2) Clues: a) local = something big, b) instrument = non-mandolin
    Lets see, a church pipe organ or piano can't be hidden from the husband...
    Guess 2 is a Harpsichord (throw a rug over it and a lamp on it, he'll never notice). Nah!
    3) Then it's gotta be a Theremin!!!

    I will say this about the STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes... He's Gilded the Lily, but why say it in four words when Shakespeare said it in 50+.

    William Shakespeare (1595), “act IV, scene 2”, in The Life and Death of King John‎:
    SALISBURY. Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp, To guard a title that was rich before, To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue unto the rainbow, or with taper-light to seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    The Stradolin on ebay (and in the classifieds) with the horse head (removed) and Rhinestones (also removed). www.ebay.com/itm/115652660564?

  14. #9

    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    The tortoiseshell tailpiece gone as well- and that looks like a repro cloud. We can see the damage to the finish better now. He is selling that for $90- it is damaged.

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    The f holes were Strad-O-Lin style but it looks like someone may have de-segmented them in one or two places.
    I don't know if that is a new word or not, but it is an excellent word, and I using it in one of the reports I am writing for work! Thanks Mike.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    It never occurred to me that it might not be a word but it was descriptive. I found this. I may not have had to hyphenate it.
    "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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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Mandolin Cafe on the cutting edge of the evolution of english!
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Hello all, I purchased this mando and am trying to sort out the decade it was produced. I know dating Strad-O-lin’s is notoriously difficult but is there any indicators to look for to determine if it is a 30’s 40’s or 50’s. I have searched around and haven’t found much in the way of guidance for making that determination. I am more than happy to provide whatever pictures might help in the dating process. I was hoping it would be stamped inside but no such look.

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    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr.teeth View Post
    Hello all, I purchased this mando and am trying to sort out the decade it was produced. I know dating Strad-O-lin’s is notoriously difficult but is there any indicators to look for to determine if it is a 30’s 40’s or 50’s. I have searched around and haven’t found much in the way of guidance for making that determination. I am more than happy to provide whatever pictures might help in the dating process. I was hoping it would be stamped inside but no such look.
    Mid to late 1930's... maybe even as late as the mid 1940's.

    How do you like her?

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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Those Stradolins have some serious bang for the buck tone, enjoy!

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    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    What Will said

    That's an attractive mandolin. How does it sound and how do you like it?
    "To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar

  24. #17

    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Thanks All, that was more or less what I had assumed based on similarity to other SOLs that shared features, but I wasn’t sure if someone possessed a bit of a “Rosetta’s Stone” so I could be able to affirm that designation with more certainty. I do really like it. It is clear and punchy and woody. I need to mess with it and set it up a little better as there is some fret buzz on the g string as you move up the neck but aside from that for the money it is a great instrument. Was hoping the back and sides would be solid but they are laminate; the top is solid spruce though and she rings.

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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Quote Originally Posted by Dr.teeth View Post
    Thanks All, that was more or less what I had assumed based on similarity to other SOLs that shared features, but I wasn’t sure if someone possessed a bit of a “Rosetta’s Stone” so I could be able to affirm that designation with more certainty. I do really like it. It is clear and punchy and woody. I need to mess with it and set it up a little better as there is some fret buzz on the g string as you move up the neck but aside from that for the money it is a great instrument. Was hoping the back and sides would be solid but they are laminate; the top is solid spruce though and she rings.
    A lot of us wish there was a more definitive way of telling. But part of the beauty of these instruments seems to be the mystery.

    FWIW, of the 3 F hole model SOL instruments I have owned, the two best sounding have laminate backs and sides.

    Also, earlier in this thread, I stated it looked like your new instrument had tuner covers. It now appears I was wrong and that it was holes for the two different styles of tuners that have been on it. The older tuners are identical to what are on my current favorite. That one also has the celluloid bridge cover like yours. I think it's early 1950's because of the tuners, but could be anywhere from late 1940's to mid 1950's.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
    https://www.facebook.com/LauluAika/
    https://www.lauluaika.com/
    https://www.facebook.com/Longtine-Am...14404553312723

  26. #19
    FIDDLES with STRADOLINS your_diamond's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    The first laminated Stradolins (though never called laminated) were mentioned in a 1941 advertisement. Every H-2011 model and lower seems to be laminated.
    Though model H-2011 is called a "new model" in the advertisement it may have been produced for many years... lets face it, most advertisements are lies.
    Since this Stradolin is one of the better laminated mandolins I would think it was earlier, but with Stradolins, you never know.

  27. #20
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    The blonde September 1941 model I owned is laminate back and sides. Doesn't even have painted binding to hide it.

    About the only thing on dating I feel strongly about is the comma shape f holes, along with the narrower body width indicates earlier instruments. Just don't see it as being economical for a builder (or builders) to have two body molds that close in size for a fairly low cost instrument.

    Another point - my profile photo was probably taken pre-WWII, but the SOL he is holding has many of the hallmarks of one I currently have that was made in the 1950's. Again, showing how tough it is to pinpoint when these instruments were made.
    Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Big Muddy M-11, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
    https://www.facebook.com/LauluAika/
    https://www.lauluaika.com/
    https://www.facebook.com/Longtine-Am...14404553312723

  28. #21

    Default Re: Looks like a STRADOLIN with Weird f-holes & many upgraded par

    Two builders - two molds; makes sense to me.

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