John Silakowski (indiana maker) seems to be quite respected as a maker of five-string fiddles, some of which are played by prominent fiddlers. I can find almost nothing on him as a mandolin maker nor can i find out any contact info. That sunburst is very odd tho and i would have thought that he would have some sense of how to make one even tho generally fiddles are not finished that way. OTOH the seller considers this as indicated by the price as a high-end mandolin. $9K asking price puts him up there close to Ellis and Collings. I would be curious about how good those mandolins actually play and sound.
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