This weeks mandolin that won't get a bid or buyer

[mrmando]

I can't tell what photo No. 7 from this listing is even supposed to be.

[Jim Garber]

Here’s a mandolin you could use as-is for Hawaiian-style playing or perhaps to play like a kora. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255764422751

[LadysSolo]

The poor thing! I agree with the seller that too aggressive string-tightening (or too heavy strings) likely caused the damage, but it would take a lot to get the poor mandolin fixed. Such a shame!

[rickbella]

It looks as if it's trying to eat itself!

[Simon DS]

Here’s a mandolin you could use as-is for Hawaiian-style playing or perhaps to play like a kora. https://www.ebay.com/itm/255764422751

Beautiful. I like the woodwork; well preserved as a result of being stored in 2 feet of mud in a canal.
I wonder how they dried it out?

[journeybear]

Hmmm ... Staves look tight, pretty butterfly ... Sue, I think we've found you a planter!

[Sue Rieter]

Or you, JB

[journeybear]

Oh, no, ma'am, not me. I strenuously object to misusing a mandolin that way, even a POS like the other. And not only that, but I am no good with plants. I did not inherit my mom's green thumb. I kill ivy, I kill bamboo, I kill cactus, for goodness' sake. Nope, no planter for me.

[journeybear]

I can't tell what photo No. 7 from this listing is even supposed to be.

Seriously. Looks like a medical condition or a moonscape. So many of these photos are too close or indistinct pr otherwise abstract. And as I said, putting a full body pic dead last is not the way to go, especially after so many. Show the instrument first, then the details.

Observe that the plating on the tailpiece cover has been ruined.

I have never seen one that color. Looks more like rust than tarnish. Yes, I too suspect it's a barn find.

[Sue Rieter]

Oh, no, ma'am, not me. I strenuously object to misusing a mandolin that way, even a POS like the other....

I tend to agree with you on that.

[journeybear]

I get emails ... All ya gotta do is look at something at eBay and they'll find ya. Well, time's running out on this find. Still no bids.

[mrmando]

Regal bowlback with some bling ... but not THAT much bling.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234838997637

[journeybear]

Right? For $35k it had better be bee-you-ti-ful in every way and sound like Orpheus' lyre.

Perhaps the seller thought when he entered the price it would automatically convert 35000 to 350.00 Still a bit hefty, however nice it looks.

I have looked on the internet everywhere and have not seen one like this.

Look a little harder, please.

I am not sure what something like this one is worth

So it would seem.

If you know more about this mandolin please send me a message.

Perhaps a bowlback aficionado would like to help him out?

[Jim Garber]

That is a CYA price and he figures this could be a valuable museum piece. It looks to be in good shape though missing (I think) some pearl on the headstock. The only the bridge is positioned incorrectly so could have neck angle issues.

[LadysSolo]

It's pretty enough that I might be willing to go to $200 for it (but not $20.000!) LOL!!

[journeybear]

I've been puzzling over this, trying to sort out why someone would offer an instrument like this for sale at a price so much higher than similar ones command, however nice it seems to be. Then it occurred to me there may be something more than meets the eye in play here.

I don't know if any of you have heard the rumors, but supposedly in the early days, before Shmergel succeeded with his design for the Devastator, he made several attempts to realize his vision in various configurations. One was a bowlback prototype which seemed promising, yet kept ending in disaster. Something about the shape, with its rounded, nearly spherical structure, kept causing problems. Reportedly, it induced overamplified gravitational fields purportedly creating small black holes, according to a few of his apprentices who managed to survive the miniature supernovas these errant efforts produced. It has long been believed that none of these prototypes survived the experiments.

I think what we may have here is one such that somehow did not so dramatically self-destruct. That would explain the excessively high price for this - indeed, if this is its true identity, it would be a bargain at ten times the asking price. However, I would caution anyone interested in acquiring this, that there is no guarantee that the stability that has miraculously allowed it to exist as long as it has is more than tenuous. That is, it could go kerphlooey at a moment's notice, causing unimaginable devastation to an unpredictable extent. So keep that in mind, however tempting this would be as an investment. You'd have to present it just right and turn it around right quickly so it becomes someone else's problem, not yours. Still, the notion of owning, however briefly, such a unique instrument is nearly irresistible.

[maxr]

I've been puzzling over this, trying to sort out why someone would offer an instrument like this for sale at a price so much higher than similar ones command, however nice it seems to be...

But seriously folks - many Ebay items have one or two units offered at preposterous 'decimal point error' prices. I don't know if they're hoping to hit pay dirt through fat finger or currency dyslexia, but this may be in the same category at that $350 tube of Anusol you didn't buy? Course, it might just be a very special tube...

[journeybear]

Oh, sir! That's your takeaway from all the witty wordplay to which I so determinedly dedicated myself for many, many minutes to provide amusement for all able to appreciate it? Did you venture beyond the intentionally clichéd setup? Oh, sir!

Sigh ... I suppose it's like children ... One does all one can to bring them into being, guide them as they grow, bring them to maturity, ready to face whatever may await them, and hope for the best. Que sera, sera ...

[maxr]

Well Journeybear, what can I say? I felt that constructive comment on your finely wrought panoply of reasoning on this investment was beyond my abilities, that all readers would appreciate the extreme erudition indeed, the probability of your explanation - that they would get it, appreciate it, and treasure it as an outstanding example of the understanding of market forces displayed in this place. Nothing I could add would improve on it indeed, so I just posted the usual dumb Ebay question in case anyone else has an alternative construct of the answer...

So, please forgive my ignorant reduction of the level of discussion to the price of Anusol, and I look forward to discussion reaching new levels next year.

Happy New Year, and all the best for 2023! Max

[journeybear]

Oh, no worries, and nothing to forgive. Except perhaps that allegation of erudition. Scholarly analysis? In this thread? Heaven forbid! There is another thread where this instrument is being discussed in a more serious manner. We're just having a bit of wicked fun here.

But thank you for volleying back to me with some good dry wit. Well, done, sir. Happy New Year to you, which I believe it almost is for you.

If you ever want to have a few chuckles, take a look at what has been said around here about the Shmergel Devastator. It has inspired a treasure trove of jocularity.

[Bazz Jass]

This one: https://reverb.com/item/64712320-gib...m=Feed%20Email

Not only an insane price, but the photos appear to be taken of photos on a computer screen?? Scam do we think?

[Eric Platt]

This one: https://reverb.com/item/64712320-gib...m=Feed%20Email

Not only an insane price, but the photos appear to be taken of photos on a computer screen?? Scam do we think?

Definitely wonder. Only one prior transaction on Reverb, and saying will listen to lowball offers. OTOH, the photos are not from a current or recently sold listing that I could quickly find. Hopefully if it is legit the seller posts at least one new photo of the instrument.

[Bazz Jass]

Definitely wonder. Only one prior transaction on Reverb, and saying will listen to lowball offers. OTOH, the photos are not from a current or recently sold listing that I could quickly find. Hopefully if it is legit the seller posts at least one new photo of the instrument.

Here's the original listing that the photos are taken of. I would say this is 100% a scam: https://reverb.com/item/28427086-vin...lays-kalamazoo

[milli857]

Someone should offer $10 just for kicks.

[Richard500]

I don’t see a scam, necessarily. Nevada to Texas three years ago, reuse of the old photos you bought it from, for convenience…try to make some money because a friend said these things are appreciating. I’d just swap a couple emails if interested, ask for specific photos, etc.