1926 Fern on ebay

[Barry Platnick]

who knows about this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400240389439...9#ht_888wt_954

[mandobassman]

Did they do block inlay in 1926?

[mandobassman]

Sorry, didn't bother to read the eBay description where it says the inlay was modified in the '30s.

[Bernie Daniel]

Sorry, didn't bother to read the eBay description where it says the inlay was modified in the '30s.

Beautiful mandolin. Yeah I guess since the F-5's had started coming out with block inlay everyone thought that was the thing (OT: Block inlay is the only thing I don't like about my Sam Bush )

I'll be interested to hear what the resident experts have to say about this mandolin. It seems to be in lovely condition. But shouldn't the bridge be ebony?

[Tom Glen]

I would like to hear F5loar's opinion of this one. Tom

[sgarrity]

Some pics of the back would be nice

[Andrew B. Carlson]

I'm a big early Fern fan. Not a block inlay fan though. I think it's a shame. But at $25k so far, a deal.

[Danny Clark]

personally
i love blocks on anything ,modern or vintage,just look at a Gilchrist with blocks or a recent Ellis A ,they just do something for them!!

[Glassweb]

I don't have confidence in this listing... I smell fish.

[Bernie Daniel]

I don't have confidence in this listing... I smell fish.

Hard to say. Looks to be a music business with nearly 99% rating --so that's good.

I sent a query to the seller asking for additional pics and also about what they know about the bridge.

[Vernon Hughes]

I too ask for better and more pics,at least of the back..Waaaay out of my league though..I did a little googling and see they are a real pawn shop with decent reviews and ratings..Who knows,somebody just may have walked in off the street and didn't know what they had..It could happen..

[Eddie Sheehy]

I bought an Ajr from those guys. It's a pawn shop in Huntington Beach CA. I might drop in tomorrow and check it out - but waaaaaay outta my price range.

[Mike Bromley]

Don't like the look of what appears to be overspray on the labels....

[Barry Platnick]

Eddie,
If you check it out please post,thanks

[Bernie Daniel]

Don't like the look of what appears to be overspray on the labels....

Good point -- I noticed the label looked odd and seemed partly loose/detached -- but yes I'll bet it is over strayed. That might explain the great shape the top was in as well.

If a person goes to all the work of over spraying the top why not cover the labels? That instrument has a varnish finish so what does one use to over spray that -- shellac? another coat of varnish?

Anyone willing venture how much over spraying would impact the value of the instrument from a collector standpoint?

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Eddie,
If it's a knock off and you call em on it. Tell you'll keep your mouth shut if they give you the mando. Then I'll kindly take it off your hands and out of the country. Unless they want to extradite me from Canada.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I own the A-Jr that Eddie had bought from the seller. It was advertised as a 30's A model on craigslist, and it has a top crack that the seller never bothered to disclose. So based on that experience, I'm incline to think that there is more than what the seller is disclosing on the ad. On the other hand, the A-Jr turns out to be a a great sounding snakehead that I absolutely love.

Would love to hear what you think Eddie if you do check it out.

[Vernon Hughes]

<posting someone's user name and password to an online resource is simply not necessary nor appropriate>

[mandobil2]

Seems to good to be true! One should verify the authenticity of the instrument before considering bidding. Not sure what pricing is for Loars that fall outside the Loar era.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

<posting someone's user name and password to an online resource is simply not necessary nor appropriate>

Thanks! Actually since the album is already a public one, anyone can view the pictures at: http://s1142.photobucket.com/albums/...nmandolin1926/

[mandobil2]

I went to the mandolin archive which has a picture of this mandolin which they said was built in 1927 and shipped in 1928. It also says it was after the Loar era. It looks like the block inlays may have been original. go to http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/show_mando.pl?4710

[Bernie Daniel]

A little birdie tweeted me that the owner of the auction is a motivated seller....

[Ken Waltham]

OK. This is a 1927 Fern that was originally done in lacquer, not varnish.
It is very common, even with more expensive Loars, to see the labels oversprayed with lacquer, when they went back to the factory for repair. I sure can't understand why you wouldn't take two minutes to cover them up, but, they almost never seem to.
Also, it is not a Loar period F5, but, a post Loar one, commonly referred to as a Fern. It would have had a dot fingerboard originally. It obviously has underwent the very common procedure of getting a factory "refret" in the 30's, wherby they just put on a new.. ( at that time it happened to be block inlay ) fingerboard, and have obviously give it a shot of lacquer to make it all look " real nice and new".
It will effect the value, but, IMHO, only marginally. Unlike a Loar, which never was lacquer. It would effect one of those much more.

[Ben Milne]

Mandobil the archive listing was added less than a week ago, and the source was this eBay listing.

(Newsfetcher's announcement of new archive listing)

I had the same thought as Ken, perhaps the overspray was from a touchup from its visit back to Gibson when the block inlay fingerboard work was performed.

[Vernon Hughes]

So..Whats it going to bring? Out of my league but curious..