Washburn mandolin on kijiji

[vetus scotia]

There is only one picture, and it might be daylight through the back you are seeing through the sound hole, but if this were repairable by someone, it could be a real find.

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-s...AdIdZ460754921

[vetus scotia]

There are a few more photos up. Anyone know how old this one might be? Looks like a pretty low end model. Does not have the plate over the back of the headstock like many other early 20th c. Washburns.

[Jim Garber]

That is an early 1890s Washburn. What you are seeing thru the soundhole is the faint outline of cross-bracing on the bowl that Washburn used at that time. That one is missing the bridge and there might be a couple of cracks on the top. Also what you cannot tell is whether the neck is set correctly in order to really play it. Sometimes these need neck resets which are often not worth doing considering the value of the instrument. This looks like one of the lower end ones. I think that the inlay at the bottom of the fretboard may not be original.

I did not see a price on that one. Do I need to log in to see that?

[vetus scotia]

Yes, this makes sense. It does not look like any of the later ones I have come across.
I contacted the guy and asked for more photos. Once he sent them I told him I would see about having someone in Toronto contact him about buying it, but not to hold onto it for me. If it was gone when I wanted to buy it in a couple weeks, fine. Anyway, he had it up this morning for 80 bucks. It looks pretty rough (and clearly was a lower end model when new), but I was thinking about taking a chance on it. I know these Washburn bowlbacks are pretty common, but I am thinking about risking paying 80 bucks for a wall decoration.

[Jim Garber]

The ones that have that simpler headstock are usually the lower end ones. Later on L&H broke their lines down into different brands and the Washburn line would have fancier headstocks. $80 might be OK but it would need some work to get it together. I think those back braces mostly held the ribs together so those might have to be replaced or some other means to do that job might need to be done. That middle crack(?) on the top looks slightly open and it can be fixed but mandolins are so much smaller than guitars so it is harder to do that sort of work.

[vetus scotia]

I only noticed the crack on the top (and apparently the fretboard, too) after I got back to the guy. I might well go ahead, but as wall hangings go, this is not the most attractive. I can get a much more interesting bowlback to hang on the wall for less.

[Jim Garber]

As far as I can tell, based on the pickguard and headstock shape this is a model 73 or 74.

[vetus scotia]

I am going to pass on this one. Emailed the seller and he has the price back at 80.00 last I checked.