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Thread: Can anyone help with some info on this mandolin?

  1. #1
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    Hi, all... I've wanted a mandolin for a LONG time and finally bought on off eBay. It arrived yesterday (I LOVE it!) and I'm curious as to how old it might be, or really any other info I can find. The seller told me this:

    "I have to plead ignorance on how old. My guess would be atleast the '60's and may be even as old as the '40's. It was given to me about 20 years ago by a family friend and it has made for a nice decoration."

    The only writing at all that I can find are on the tailpiece and the cross-piece just inside the soundhole. Stamped into the metal of the tailpiece, it says "PAT'D OCT.26 - 86", and carved into the wood inside the soundhole it says "URANIA" with a square around it.

    Here are some pictures from the auction - does anyone have any clue about this instrument?





    I can also get ahold of a camera and post some more pictures if there's a certain area that anyone wants to see.
    Thanks a lot!




  2. #2

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    Congrats and enjoy. On the surface, it looks remarkably healthy. Is it playable? How's the action?

    This is an American bowlback. Such things lost popularity by the 1920s, and yours is almost certainly of that vintage or older: probably ca. 1910-'20s by the looks of its style and tuners. I'm not familiar with a maker by the name of "Urania." There is a somewhat obscure classical record co. by that name; I think their operations were in NJ and NY. I don't know much about their history, or how long they were in operation, but if they functioned as a publisher or retailer in th early portion of the century, it was rather common for such entities to commission instruments from mandolin mass producers for their own house-brand labels. This looks like a simple, entry-level instrument and, in spite of its age, won't be worth too much money. I like the tasteful herringbone rosette.

    I'd recommend you use extra light strings on this, as low as 0.009" on e". You could use GHS's "Classical" set. I'm more fond of Dogal's "Calace" carbon steel or Lenzner's "Consort" strings, but the latter two are a little harder to track down in the US.

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    I like the action. The only experience I have is with guitars, but it feels good to me, and sounds good (even with strings that probably haven't been changed for 20 years.) I'm going into NYC tomorrow and plan on picking up some strings; I'll look for some of the ones you mentioned. Does anyone have any tips for cleaning this up some? Any particular brand of oil for the fretboard, or something to clean the tuners, tailpiece, etc with?

    PS: It's amazing to me that an instrument that's so old isn't worth much. It's not that I'm disappointed, it's just that vintage guitars, etc. command thousands of dollars, when mandolins and so on that are over 100 years old can be had at very reasonable prices.

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    Registered User bradeinhorn's Avatar
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    mandolins in that era were much more popular than guitars and a ton were produced. also it is not all vintage instruments that reatin or appreciate. only certain select brands. that goes for guitars too. some vintage mandos do well also- see recent loar in classifieds....`

    i have a jam in brooklyn tomorrow if you'd like some help changing strings. pm me for details.
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Unfortunately, you will unlikely find those GHS Classical strings in any store that I know of. In fact, even in New York's music street (48th Street) I counted maybe two kinds of strings available for mandolin in the bigger stores. Other stroes in the city might have more mandolin string but still not extra-lights which I can only find on juststrings.com.

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    Well, I'll see what I can find in the stores on 48th so far as extra-light strings go. I'm not at any skill level where the brand of strings is likely to matter that much, but I do like the idea of light strings.

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    Quote Originally Posted by (jgarber @ Nov. 11 2006, 21:54)
    Unfortunately, you will unlikely find those GHS Classical strings in any store that I know of. In fact, even in New York's music street (48th Street) I counted maybe two kinds of strings available for mandolin in the bigger stores. Other stroes in the city might have more mandolin string but still not extra-lights which I can only find on juststrings.com.
    That's odd. I find them on the shelves of a fair number of shops in my neighborhood.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    On the subject of "amazed that an instrument so old isn't worth much": most instruments made in any era are inexpensive models aimed at the amateur/student market. Turn-of-the-20th-century mail order catalogs were crammed with banjos, guitars and mandolins that sold for $4-25. Many of them are around now. You don't hear much about them because they don't often get into the higher-profile "vintage" market, but visit the corner antique store and usually you'll find some hung on the wall or stuck behind the counter. Often they're unrealistically high priced, because antique dealers who don't know a great deal about musical instruments, also think that "old" equals "valuable."
    Many of these are decent instruments, the equivalent of the lower-end imported mandos that take up so much of our discussions here. Fixed up for a reasonable price, they can give years of good service. Lots of them are solid wood, rather than plywood, since wood was easily accessible at more reasonable prices before we cut down so much of our forests. But if you hope to find an undiscovered treasure in the attic, you need to locate one of the "brand names" that commands value in the vintage market. Your old Bruno, Regal or "no name" probably won't do -- but it might give you lots of pleasure as an instrument rather than an "investment."
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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by (allenhopkins @ Nov. 12 2006, 12:34)
    Your old Bruno, Regal or "no name" probably won't do -- but it might give you lots of pleasure as an instrument rather than an "investment."
    The high-end mandolins by the first incarnation of Regal in Indiana actually were very fine instruments...although not worth much, perhaps in part because bowlbacks, even the good ones, simply are undevalued by the American market and the name is mostly associated with the Chicago mass producer.

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (Eugene @ Nov. 11 2006, 23:35)
    That's odd. I find them on the shelves of a fair number of shops in my neighborhood.[/QUOTE]
    Eugene,
    You live in an enlightened part of the country, at least mandolin-wise. I will check in various stores in New York the next time I am down there. I recall that Sam Ash, which has three or four stores on the main music drag in Manhattan, only had D'Addario J-74s and maybe La Bella mandolin strings.

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