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Thread: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

  1. #26
    Registered User Perry's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Great article.

    NFI but check out what this fellow does with vintage parlor guitars.

    http://www.vintageparlorguitars.com/

    He fixes them up and gets them ready as players even if it means replacing an original part or three.

    Someone running a mandolin version would be cool.

  2. #27
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Scott, Thank you, Thank you, for such a great article that puts some balance into the search for that great instrument.

    What makes this so wonderful is how you have collected such a group of "experts" who are willing to chime in and give us their opinions on under radar finds.
    Paul

  3. #28
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    I love opinions from people who know their stuff. This is a fine summation of what we all hear in the trenches; it is nice to see a consensus regarding the beautiful workhorses of the past 90 years. On the Cafe we are so very lucky -- thanks to all, Doug in Vermont

  4. #29
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Great article - lots of very useful suggestions and information, the closing contribution from Roger Siminoff in particular. This should be posted in a FAQ or sticky or something where everyone thinking of buying an old instrument can easily refer to it. I was fortunate to find a teens Gibson plain A (not A Jr) on ebay for about $900 with just a couple minor imperfections four years ago - fortunate not only because it's a good instrument but also because I took a leap of faith and didn't get burned. I have since learned how lucky I was. Having a check list like this in hand when someone goes to look at a potential purchase would be an invaluable resource. Now if only someone would produce something similar for cars ...
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  5. #30
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    I found the article an excellent and informative read. I doubt that an article dealing with used instruments over $1000 would have quite the appeal.... Those with that kind of money to spend already have some knowledge and experience with mandolins and hopefully can make informed decisions from their knowledge base. The beginner, with three to five hundred dollars to spend can often get a very decent instrument. I wish I had seen an article like this before I made my first purchase. I purchased one new but i now think (know) I could have done better with a decent used mandolin.
    Bart McNeil

  6. #31
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    A classic piece. It will be linked often.

    It is of the same caliber of usefullness as that other often linked article on Jazz Mando about the effects of pick shape and hardness on tone.

    And of course Mike Marshall's video on how to hold the darned thing.

    I espeically like the format of the article. Its really magazine style. I felt like I was reading an old copy of Mandolin World News, back when a magazine was the only way to create a community feeling. Now the internet has kind of changed all that, and the cafe here has always felt like more of ummmm.... a cafe, than a magazine. But that article goes in the magazine camp, along with the other interviews, and Bill Graham's excellent columns.

    I never thought of myself as particularly old fashioned, but I do really like a magazine format. And actually, it adds to the whole cafe experience. Its the stack of magazines over there by the window that you pick up and read over coffee.

    Good job. Great topic.
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  7. #32

    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    I have an Elias Howe flatback mandolin. Made in Boston. excellent condition. I think it sounds great, but I don't see any reference to them on this thread. too few of them to comment on?

  8. #33
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Even though I have no experience with Howe instruments, I think that Grandpa Banana does (http://www.vintageinstruments.com/). And if they are as good as Strad-O-Lins they deserve a dedicated following (http://www.vintageinstruments.com/mu...me6photos.html).

    Anyone that looks for something new better look out for something old.
    Last edited by Scott Tichenor; Apr-18-2013 at 9:24pm. Reason: correcting a BB code error
    Olaf

  9. #34
    NY Naturalist BradKlein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    I was discussing this vintage Cafe article this afternoon, and I'd like to amend my recommendations to include, what I think is the single best deal in vintage mandolins today. It might run slightly over a grand, but then again, it might not. A vintage Lyon & Healy C model - MISSING ITS TAILPIECE COVER. This is #113, probably sold in 1919, with neatly truncated fingerboard and a finely made replacement pickguard in ebony rather than the 'vulcanized fibre' original. It's in the longer 'Gibson' scale, important to me, but not to everybody. In VG unmodified condition, probably worth about $2K, but they come up on ebay regularly with some wear, and if they're missing that fancy hard-to-find easy-to-lose tailpiece cover, you can knock off $500! And the instrument is every inch the equal of a teens Gibson A-4 in sound and build quality, and which will generally set you back about twice as much.

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    BradKlein
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  11. #35
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Observing the five year anniversary of the publication of this feature. Only thing that has changed is that it's our opinion many of these vintage instruments can likely be purchased for less than when published. Not unusual for prices to go up and down, and they went way, way up for a few years before heading back down.

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  13. #36

    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Got my first Stradolin last year, a 1940 that was played in a little church up on the TN/NC line where snake handling was a regular part of the "service". It ain't signed by Loyd Loar but it sounds better than it should and has more mojo than it should as well.

  14. #37
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Noting the anniversary of this feature article. It was a lot of fun to put together. A lot has changed since 2012 so maybe it's time to do another!

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  16. #38
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Still a good reason (our opinion). Published 8 years ago today.

  17. #39
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Noting the anniversary of this one-of-a-kind feature.

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  19. #40
    Registered User mandrian's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    Hi,

    Funny, I was thinking of this article last week when I saw a Gibson A Jnr advertised in the classifieds for 2500 USD. Of course, I’m not sure anyone will buy it!..

    Regards,

  20. #41
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    This is the article that inspired me to get my Strad-O-Lin. Didn't even know they existed before I read it. Then I saw mine on CL.....

  21. #42
    NY Naturalist BradKlein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Great Vintage Mandolins Under $1,000

    In post 24 above I laid out my theory that the best deal in vintage mandolins is an L&H Model C that's missing its desirable tail piece cover. At the moment, there are two such in the classifieds. Both asking well above that $1K limit, but I still believe that all else being equal, but they often do go for well under the price of the equivalent oval hole Gibsons and so represent a special value if you can find a reasonably motivated seller.
    BradKlein
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