Carlo de Filippis recording

[Eugene]

Interesting to note that the mandolin depicted on the MGM (blue) Lp appears to be the one that was for sale at Mill River Music (post #35) and the one depicted in the photo from Mandopops (post #36) is on the cover of the RCA LP.

I actually believe it's the standard Style 20 (1929–1942) pictured on both album covers, Charley. If you look closely at the headstock profile on the blue cover, you'll see a little telltale divot at the top. De Filippis' 1949–1952 custom-ordered, then-retro Style 20S mandolins had a simple "paddle" headstock with a more simply rounded profile. I think Carlo was just holding the mandolin at such an angle on the blue album cover that you can't see through the scrolled hole.

The standard C.F. Martin & Co. references (Longworth [1975, 1980, 1988, 1994] and revisions by Johnston and Boak [2009]) state "1949–52 20S style made for students of Carlos DeFilippis." The production tables in Johnston and Boak (2009) show six Style 20S mandolins produced each year 1949–1952 (24 for the specified run), but another six produced in 1957 (for a total of 30). I wonder if those last 6 were also for DeFillipis' students and their omission from the accompanying text simply an oversight. I suppose we'll never know.