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Thread: Vintage mando sheet-music?

  1. #1

    Default Vintage mando sheet-music?

    Hi y'all. New here and really a banjo player/collector. However, I was wondering if there is any interest in vintage sheet music here (perhaps another forum area?). I collect banjo sheet-music from the 1800's and early 1900's and have run across a guy claiming to have a large quantity of vintage mando sheet music from the estate of Zarh Myron Bickford.

    I'm sure y'all know more about Mr. Bickford than I do. This guy is selling on ebay, his member ID is "a1981a". I've no affiliation (other than I've bought a bunch of banjo sheet-music from him)...he simply asked me if I knew anyone who might want the mandolin stuff.

    ===Marc

  2. #2
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vintage mando sheet-music?

    Someone probably does want it, but this seller has been trying to sell off the collection piece by piece, asking ridiculous prices for a single manuscript. The collection surely has historical value, as long as it remains a collection. Piecing it out destroys that value.

    I'm sure our orchestra would be interested in acquiring the music, but we're broke. We are, however, putting the finishing touches on our 501(c)(3) paperwork. If the guy's interested in a tax writeoff, he could have an antique dealer appraise the collection, then find a nonprofit mandolin orchestra to donate it to.

    I'd also recommend that he contact CMSA (http://classicalmandolinsociety.org/) and see if they can put him in touch with a collector who might want this stuff.
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vintage mando sheet-music?

    I bought a nice stack of pieces from this seller. I made some offers for some lots and he accepted some and held fast for the others. There are a few nice pieces in the pile I bought but, as is my experience with such stuff, not everything is wonderful music. he also has some pieces that are available on the Nakano site, for instance, for free download.

    he does have some handwritten pieces but as Martin noted, they are pretty pricey.

    Bickford was a prominent mandolinist of his era and married to a prominent guitarist Vahdah Olcott Bickford. I think at sometime they took on these oddball first names for some reason, possibly to sound exotic. (Anyone know the story?). In any case, Mr. Bickford is probably best known these days for one of the best American mandolin methods.
    Jim

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    Default Re: Vintage mando sheet-music?

    The odd names are sometimes adopted because of their numerical value. (In many cultures letters of an alphabet have numeric value). These numbers are not necessarily meaningful in themselves, but can be factored in a sense to give other words, which have hidden significance. The period in question was pretty rife with various cults such as Theosophy and others, in which this sort of thinking (if that is the word I want) was more prevalent than it might be today.

  5. #5
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vintage mando sheet-music?

    His prices on the handwritten stuff seem to have come down from when I first saw them. IIRC he was originally asking $70-80 for stuff that he now has priced at $17.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

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  6. #6

    Default Re: Vintage mando sheet-music?

    Yeah, I have been successful in doing the "make an offer" routine with him...negotiating the price down considerably (sometimes). He also sneaks in multiple pieces into his listings, so sometimes the high initial dollar breaks down into much more reasonable pricing on a per-piece basis. IOW, I've learned to read his listings thoroughly!

    ===Marc

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