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Thread: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

  1. #1
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    Default Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Hi all,
    this is my first post. Pretty new to mandolin too, though an upright/electric bassist for most of my life so not completely wet behind the ears musically

    I believe this mandolin was in its case for decades, in a room of a big old house owned by a lecturer in a notable college (Trinity, Dublin), so was most likely the first person to pick it up enthusiastically since probably the 70's.

    I sent it off to a popular luthier here in Dublin, Ireland recently to get its first setup in a good while, or perhaps ever. I'm keeping everything original on this, as I feel it would simply ruin it to add new hardware.

    Anyway, if anyone can help me, I'm just wondering about what year and model this Strad-o-lin is. Does anybody have any ideas? And it fetch much if I was to move it on at some stage further down the road?

    Cheers,
    J.
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  2. #2

    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Jim, looks nice and very likely unplayed. Dating precisely is difficult on SOLs, because they were probably made by several manufacturers at the same time. Someone else may offer a tighter range, but I’d say mid- 40s-early 50s based on round f-hole ends and the logo typestyle. Intended to be budget-level instruments and made in large numbers. There are no internal dates or serial numbers. The construction is probably solid pressed top and laminated back, and offers decent sound and no construction weaknesses. If the luthier was able to set the string height properly for a mandolin, playability is fine. The tuners look pristine as well. I’ve seen what looks like olive-drab paint, but don’t know how to date that.
    Valuation is also variable, and I know that there seems to be a shortage of mandolins in GB, and higher prices, excessive tax, so yours may have more value than in the US, but in general, these are plentiful and not pricy at all. Yours is, if not ‘mint’ is extremely clean, which always is worth more.

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  4. #3
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Quote Originally Posted by Richard500 View Post
    Jim, looks nice and very likely unplayed. Dating precisely is difficult on SOLs, because they were probably made by several manufacturers at the same time. Someone else may offer a tighter range, but I’d say mid- 40s-early 50s based on round f-hole ends and the logo typestyle. Intended to be budget-level instruments and made in large numbers. There are no internal dates or serial numbers. The construction is probably solid pressed top and laminated back, and offers decent sound and no construction weaknesses. If the luthier was able to set the string height properly for a mandolin, playability is fine. The tuners look pristine as well. I’ve seen what looks like olive-drab paint, but don’t know how to date that.
    Valuation is also variable, and I know that there seems to be a shortage of mandolins in GB, and higher prices, excessive tax, so yours may have more value than in the US, but in general, these are plentiful and not pricy at all. Yours is, if not ‘mint’ is extremely clean, which always is worth more.
    Just a heads up Richard that Jim looks to be in Ireland, which is not part of GB, and while there does be less places to source mandolins in the UK (what with TAMCO being gone) despite the close proximity of Ireland to the UK unfortunately because of Brexit buying and selling instruments between Ireland and the UK now incurs the rather hefty additional financial burdens of VAT and Duty.

    Re: pricing for this side of the world, I seem to recall seeing a Stradolin posted for sale from a Cafe member who's in either France or Italy awhile back. It was in decent shape and I vaguely recollect a price on it in the region of €600 maybe, perhaps a wee bit more? Ad is long expired now so couldn't dig it up to verify. The one I'm thinking of may have been a bit older and possibly a bit fancier.
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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    While I agree on the 1940's to early 50's timeline, Jake Wildwood had a similar model that he dated to the 1930's - https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...rad-o-lin.html

    Whenever it was built, it's probably got a good sound. My Strad-O-Lin is my go to instrument at home, at jams and even for some gigs, depending on the music.

    Hard to say on pricing. In the US, it might be listed for around $500 and maybe sold at about $400 depending on how motivated the seller was.
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  8. #5

    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    The case may well be original to the mandolin- although it may not. I thought 1940s for its age for the mandolin, judging by its features. Now, the case probably has a stamp on its base and it will probably either be Geib Inc or G & S Co. Geib Inc began in 1937 and the likelihood is, the case was paired with the mandolin but I case might have been in stock for a while. It may not be a Geib case but if it is, this sheds some light on the age.

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    The case could have also been married to the mandolin as a used case decades later.
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    The case seems to be weathered a bit, seems to have taken the brunt of the years supporting the mando. Here are a few images of it, not sure what year those strings in the packet would have been around either. It's a nice having a pretty decent sounding relic from another age. Vintage instruments alway catch the imagination.

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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Thanks Richard. Yes, the luthier said it's a solid spruce top, and pressed bottom (laminate?). Brexit would still cost Brits a few shekels extra to have stuff posted over from Ireland, strangely enough. Ordering anything from the UK seems to be a bit hefty on the wallet, even if I was to order from up North. Not sure if there would be much of a market for them in Ireland, though I'm thinking of buying an Eastman so selling it somewhere like Reverb, etc.. might be an option at some point.

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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Yea, I've been digging a bit further on them since posting last week. Based on the year, quality, condition, etc.. Models similar to mine range from €300 -€800. The seller reckoned it was from early to mid 40's. And from what I've read so far, that would check out with the general appearance/logo. There's a 'model 421' popping around that looks identical, though it lacks the Strad-o-lin emblem. For instruments that were mass produced at one stage, they're elusive little feckers when it comes to getting some reliable background on them.

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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Just because the back is pressed doesn't mean it might not be solid. Can you actually see the grain on the edges of the back through a paint chip?
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  16. #11
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    There are as many if not more Strad-O-Lin genre mandolins, mandolins obviously built by the same company or companies that built the Strad-O-Lin's with no label or a different branded label on them. After a while you can recognize them. Yours has the same logo as mine had before someone rubbed off the paint. You can still see the shadow of the label on the headstock. These were pretty decent with the elevated fretboard.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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  17. #12
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Some Stradolins have a date stamped on the back. Shine a flashlight through the f-holes and look at the upper part of the back, under where the fingerboard sits.

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  19. #13
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    MikeEdgerton, it's really hard to tell as any chips around the edge probably happened back in the day so the 'finish' is pretty smooth. I'll post up some close up images when I'm back home.

  20. #14
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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    If I remember right, there was no dates, or identifiers of any kind when quickly shining a light about when I first got it. I'll have have a look further up the body if I can when I'm home.

  21. #15

    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    I have an old case with the same latches as your mandolin case which I know is not a Geib as I have Geib cases with very different latches from the period. My case is the original case for a 1942 date stamped Harmony Cremona guitar which was brought to the UK during WW2-probably, by an airman judging on where it came from. The latches which are plated and not rusty are stamped Worcester T & S. Now, I don't know how long those latches were in use for- they changed quite frequently over the years but it suggests 1940s for your case- although it could be very late 30s. There does not appear to be much history on Worcester T & S but all their cases I have seen are pretty low end. My Harmony guitar was found locked in a big drawer in a huge wardrobe and had a 1940s label pasted in for its owner in Woodbridge which was where there was a big American airbase until the 1990s!

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    Default Re: Strad-o-lin - year/model?

    Mine has a date stamped inside on the back under the fretboard, by the way, so it's not quite accurate to say none of them was dated. It probably depended on the company that built it. I had thought mine was from the 1930s, but it turned out to be only a year older than I was. fwiw. also, in the interest of playing it, i had the tuners replaced and had a new bridge made -- and it had a neck reset. still a cool instrument.
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