MANDOLINS AND MANDOLIN FAMILY
76-8674 Big Muddy (new) M-1W wide neck flat mandolin, #0434, scale length is 13-7/8 inches with a 1-1/4" nut width, solid Honduran mahogany back and sides,
solid Sitka spruce top, Honduras mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, and gig bag. The Big Muddy List is $718 and you may phone us for your own discount price.
76-8675 Big Muddy (new) M-2W flat, wide neck mandolin, #0432, solid maple back and sides,
solid Sitka spruce top, Honduras mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, scale length is 13-7/8",1-1/4" nut width, with gig bag. The Big Muddy List is $748 and you may phone us for your own discount price.
76-8657 Breedlove (new) Quartz OF mandolin, tear drop shape with f holes,
#12304, satin sunburst finish, maple back & sides, 1-piece maple neck, Sitka spruce top, 13-15/16" scale length, 1-3/16" nut width, ebony radiused fingerboard with hard shell case. The Breedlove List Price is $1,669 and Our Price is $1,335.
76-8269 Kentucky (new) KM-171 A-Style mandolin, 0712111, A-Style mandolin, with hard shell case.
Kentucky Artist Collection "Oval Hole" A-Model Mandolins combine the best features of traditional 1920's instruments to provide unique modern instruments with the flexibility to handle today's demanding performance requirements. In addition to the oval sound hole, it has a bound rosewood fingerboard on a maple neck that joins the body at the 10th fret. All topped off with the unmistakable and traditional "snake-head" peghead design with rosewood overlay and pearl Kentucky script logo. Our Discount Price is $367 and Our Cash Discount Price is $356
76-8267 Kentucky (new) KM-250 A-model mandolin, #080306-1,
traditional sunburst finish, solid hand carved spruce top, solid hand carved maple back & sides, nitro-cellulose finish, radiused rosewood fingerboard, bound neck and headstock, bone nut and hard shell case. Our Discount Price is $452 and Our Cash Discount Price is $439.
76-8668 Phoenix (new) Bluegrass mandolin, vintage sunburst, #517, with hard shell case.
A two-point, hand-made, exquisite-sounding acoustic eight-string suitable for bluegrass or any other type of music, this is as fine a modern mandolin in an intermediate price range as can be imagined. About his mandolins, the builder of the mighty Phoenix says – these are instruments for connoisseurs of handcrafted instruments, and for musicians who want outstanding volume, tone, and playability. Rolfe Gerhardt, himself, builder of the legendary Unicorn mandolins in the 70's, has spent the last thirty years applying new musical instrument technologies to the 8-string American mandolin. Using the finest tone woods and a total of forty years of luthiers’ experience, he has more mechanical skills in his little finger than most builders have in their little fingers. The Bluegrass is his most powerful model, minimally made for medium strings and suitable for musical warfare. Our Discount Price is $4,454 and Our Cash Discount Price is $4,320.
76-8309 Phoenix (new) custom mandolin titled: "Quilting", #435 with hard shell case.
Special features include: quilted maple back, sides and neck, premium high-altitude Engelmann spruce top, moose bone nut, bi-color ebony saddle and 100-year-old maple bridge base, custom inlays by Rolfe Gerhardt on quilting theme, McIntyre Feather pickup with end pin jack and hard shell case. Our Discount Price is $5,155 and Our Cash Discount Price is $5,000.
76-8308 Phoenix (new) custom mandolin called "Blue Mahoe" #524, with hard shell case.
Special features include the choice of blue mahoe, the national tree of Jamaica, for the sides, back, neck block and neck, premium Adirondack red spruce top, a moose bone nut (yes, you really can tell the difference), a most unusual white ebony fingerboard, headstock overlay and elevated finger rest with natural finish. It is as light as a moose feather and the sound is completely overwhelming - like nothing you have ever heard. Truly outstanding. Our Discount Price is $3,712 and Our Cash Discount Price is $3,600.
76-8671 Rickenbacker (new) 5002V58 MapleGlo solid body mandolin, #0905502,
first produced in 1958, this instrument remains entirely unique in its class as a double string electric instrument. Unsurpassed for clarity and brilliance, the single coil pickup crowns a charactered maple and walnut laminated body. The scale length is 13.875”, the body is made of maple and walnut, with a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and, of course, a very professional hard shell case. The Rickenbacker List Price is $2159.
76-8672 & 76-8673 Rickenbacker (new) 5002V58 8 string Electric Mandolin, each in Fireglo,
# 905464 &0905457, each one having a maple and walnut laminated body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, vintage single coil toaster top pickup, 13.875" scale length, 1.25" nut width, and hard shell case. For each mandolin the Rickenbacker List Price is $2159.
76-8260 Weber Hyalite 'A' style mandolin, #9227503 with shaped, plush lined hard shell case.
Weber is famous for the Celtic mandolin styles, this one typifies the line. This "best buy" level teardrop shaped A- is made from solid Spruce and mahogany, it has tone bar bracing, a mahogany neck, an ebony peghead overlay, a decal logo and Celtic knot. The bound ebony fingerboard has a scale length of 14”, and small diamond markers of mother of pearl. The body is unbound, finished natural/hand-rubbed matte. The hardware, which includes the Schaller tuners with pearloid buttons, is described as “textured stainless steel.” This archtop mandolin with its twin graceful f-holes gets the benefit of a Brekke adjustable ebony bridge (Mr. Brekke, prolific inventor, works at Weber). It provides the comfort of a limited lifetime warranty from the manufacturer plus more tone and volume than you thought it was possible to obtain in this price range. The Weber List Price is $1649 and Our Price is $1484.
76-8291 Weber (new) Gallatin ‘A’ Mandolin, #9228803, with hard shell case.
Something new from Weber – in the old days you could buy a Gallatin F but only recently did they come out with the Gallatin A. This maple sides, back and neck instrument is notable for its extremely loud, powerful tone, for the fact that it has f-holes in a teardrop body with a long neck (13 frets to the body) and that it is matte finish that’s been stained to a light brown. The unbound ebony fingerboard hosts 7 inlaid mother of pearl diamonds in 6 positions; the ebony overlain headstock has the grained ivoroid Weber logo and the Celtic knot; tuners are Schallers with textured plates; the tailpiece is the “Big W” pewter type and the bridge is ebony with adjustable saddle height provision. The sound, we’d like to remind you, is quite pleasurable. The Weber List Price is $1,799.00 and Our Price is $1,619.00.
76-8589 Big Muddy (new) MW-0, new walnut back and sides mandolin with no binding, #0425, with TKL gig bag.
The Big Muddy List Price is $658 and you may phone us for your own low pricing.
76-8590 Big Muddy (new) MW-0W, new walnut back and sides mandolin with wide (1 3/16”) neck, #0424 with gig bag.
The Big Muddy List Price is $668 and you may phone us for your own low pricing.
76-8596 Big Muddy (new) M-11 flat mandolin with comfortable standard neck, serial #0430, solid Honduran mahogany back, sides and top, Ebony fretboard and bridge, 1-1/4" nut width, with gig bag.
The Big Muddy List price is $748.00 and you may phone or email for your own low pricing.
76-8597 Big Muddy (new) MO-W, #0429, flat mandolin with wide neck and TKL gig bag.
The MO-W is a flat top and back mandolin with a slightly wider neck and it comes with a TKL zipper gig bag. Its scale length is 13 7/8 inches and it is made with a wider than normal 1 3/16" nut width, solid Honduran mahogany back and sides, solid Sitka spruce top, Honduran mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, this comes without body binding. It sounds quite good and is a great starter mandolin. List price is $658.00 and you may phone or email for your own low pricing.
76-8655 Gibson (used, 1915) Style A-1 mandolin #26414, in excellent minus condition with original hard shell case.
This is the third in Gibson’s line of 6 models of teardrop mandolin at the time, and since it is third it has some amenities including grained ivoroid bound top, soundhole and fingerboard, which is bound on three sides, a “The Gibson” script pearl inlaid headplate logo in a polished ebony overlay, original four-on-a-plate open-gear tuners with ivoroid buttons, an ebony fingerboard with 6 mother of pearl dotmarkers, twin rings of “rope” wood marquetry comprise the soundhole rosette, “The Gibson” and floral etched slide-on tailpiece cover, ebony bridge with removable saddles. One of the four saddles (the first string) is an ebony replacement. In our opinion the “Mar. 30, ‘09” patent-stamp tortoise-shell celluloid pickguard currently on the instrument came from another Gibson mandolin, but it looks appropriate and has the July 4, 1911 side clamp. One additional pin was added at the top corner of the pickguard to affix it to the side of the fretboard. In our opinion this mandolin was refretted in the distant past – a good job. The back and sides on this era Gibson A-style might still be birch – at some point they changed to maple, and the top is carved of high grade spruce, possibly Adirondack. Even with a replaced pickguard (from the same period) and one replaced saddle piece, this is still a largely original and extremely handsome instrument, and one suitable for another hundred years (or so, give or take a few weeks) of professional or semi-professional performance. $1804 or, at our Cash Discount Price, $1750.
76-8633 and 76-8635 Kentucky (new) KM-675 F-Style mandolin, #08070P-3 &080724-1, carved solid spruce top, carved solid maple back and sides,
F-5 scale maple neck with adjustable truss rod, extended 29-fret bount rosewood fingerboard, mother of pearl peghead inlay, adjustable compensated ebony bridge, nickel plated hardware, high gloss sunburst finish, with Superior hard shell case. $855 at Our Discount Price or $829 at Our Cash Discount Price.
76-8567 The Loar (new) LM-600 Vintage Sunburst, #0807650052, with polyfoam hard case.
Per its manufacturer (paraphrased): Hand-carved and graduated from solid select tonewoods and featuring a lightweight nitrocellulose finish for incredible projection, The Loar’s outstanding all-solid mandolin is an interpretation of its historical antecedent. The LM-600VS is a mandolin you need to hear – the hand-buffed tobacco sunburst nitro-cellulose finish provides a vintage sheen and a bluegrass “bark” that will even impress your furry friends at the Bide-a-Wee Shelter. This professional model also features a hand-carved spruce top, solid carved highly flamed maple sides and back, a one-piece maple neck with a “rounded V” profile if that’s not an oxymoron. It has a bound rosewood fretboard and an abalone and mom-o-pearl custom inlaid flowerpot on the headstock. The package includes a featherweight carrying case with an embroidered logo. Other specifications that we knew you’d want to know include that the fingerboard is rosewood with ivoroid binding, the scale length is 13 29/32”, it has 29 frets, an adjustable truss rod, a floating ebony bridge. It measures 6 ¾” at the upper bout, 10” at the lower, with a depth of 2 ½”. It has a bone nut that measures 1 2/16th”, a body length of 12 ¾”, a total length of 27 ¼” (this is just in case somebody asks you) and the tuners were made by Gotoh. Now you can Gotoh your telephone, pick it up, dial 718 981 8585 and place your order. We’re waitin’ for ya.’ With case only $772 at Our Discount Price or $749 at Our Cash Discount Price.
76-8580 Eastman (new) MDC-805 mandocello in classic sunburst, #4095, with hard shell case.
After the success of Eastman’s line of hand-carved, all solid wood mandolins it was only a matter of time before their master luthiers brought their skills to bear on the other members of the mandolin family. The Eastman mandola (not offered here) is a solid f-style instrument with a dark sophisticated tone. The Eastman mandocello utilizes all the best features of a great Eastman archtop guitar – it is essentially a non-cutaway, prewar high-end archtop instrument with f-holes. By accenting the lower fundamentals with ringing archtop overtones Eastman has produced an instrument that they say matches in quality and perhaps surpasses in beauty any mandocello in the market today. The Eastman Mandola model 615 (just so you know) features Schaller nickel-plated tuners, a single-ply headstock, back binding, and 3-ply binding on top. This, the Eastman Mandocello model 805 features a highly flamed maple back and sides, spirit varnish finish, gold-plated hardware, 3-ply binding on the headstock and body, as well as side binding. It lists for $2395 but that’s not your price. Your price is but a mere shadow of the List at $1,916 at Our Discount Price or $1,859 at Our Cash Discount Price.
76-8614 Weber (new) Alder #2 Celtic Flat Mandola, #916902.
We present an extremely fine sounding Montana-made mandola made with curly maple back and sides, a spruce top, maple neck, bound ebony fingerboard, ebony bridge, 14" scale length, top and back binding, it is completed in matte finish and has nickel-plated Schaller tuners. It comes in a shaped hard shell case. The Weber List Price is $1799 and Our Price is $1619.
76-8555 Big Muddy (new) M-0 mandolin, mahogany, #0407, with TKL gig bag.
$558 is the Retail Price, please call or email for your own low pricing.
*76-8556 Big Muddy (new) M-2 mandolin, maple sides and back, Spruce top, #0413, with TKL gig bag.
$698 is the Retail Price, please call or email for our low price.
*76-8559 Big Muddy (new) MW-0W, a new model walnut mandolin with a wider neck, #0416 with gig bag.
$668 is the Retail Price, please call or email for our price.
76-8558 Big Muddy (new) MW-0, walnut mandolin with no binding, #0415, with TKL gig bag.
$658 is the Retail Price, please call or email for your own low pricing.
76-8512 New Millennium Mix A-5 mandolin, #09093, with tweed hard shell case.
Per their own web site, but we don’t disagree: Carbon fibers mandolins by New Millennium Acoustic Design, aka New-MAD, are the result of a collaboration between Peter Mix, Will Kimble and Matt Dunham that brings with it decades of devotion to mandolin-family instruments and their construction coupled with state-of-the-art carbon fiber fabrication processes. In essence, their aim was to wrap carbon fiber, an extraordinary material that is unaffected by temperature and humidity and has tonal characteristics similar to fine tone woods, around proven sound chambers. Lloyd Loar's pioneering work in the 1920's resulted in the A-5 and F-5 mandolins, the instruments that are the gold standard among mandolin players worldwide. It is these magnificent instruments as translated into carbon fiber that these denizens of Vermont build. Mix A-5 and F-5 mandolins, along with their oval-hole body mates the A-4 and F-4, are superb and beautiful instruments that play like silk and sound wonderful with great power, tonal complexity, sustain and warmth. They are also works of art.Carbon fiber is exceptionally strong, lightweight and durable. It does not absorb moisture or dry out and it is not affected by temperature extremes. This alone makes it a great material for stringed instruments which are generally very delicate and tend to suffer from extremes of temperature and humidity. The fact that carbon fiber is considerably stronger than steel is yet another attractive feature. Carbon fiber's exceptional tonal characteristics are another significant advantage producing low-end richness and sustain, trebles that are brilliant and full-bodied as well as excellent balance across the instrument's range. Volume is simply amazing. Lastly is its beauty: In its natural black/gray weave, it's striking and has an art deco look. Mix mandolins by NewMAD feature an ebony fingerboard with 12" radius and 13 7/8" scale length , ebony Loar-style bridge, James custom-engraved tailpiece and Grover tuners. Options include Schertler CDyn internally-mounted contact microphones for the very best amplified voice you can find, Waverly tuners and ebony pickguards. All masterful Mix mandolins come in a hard shell case. We believe you'll be amazed and delighted by these instruments, especially when you play one. $3850 at our Discount Price or $3795 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8174 Phoenix (new) “Standard” Mandolin, #509, with a maker-provided McIntyre Feather pickup system inside, and with hard shell case.
Rolf Gerhardt of cosmopolitan South Thomaston, Maine, has been building mandolins professionally since the mid-‘70s when he made the brand called Unicorn. He seems to get along well with mythical creatures (play nice, boys). This Phoenix double cutaway carved top and back instrument makes an exceedingly impressive sounding mandolin – as are all Phoenixes. You’ll find it quite suitable for bluegrass as well as for any other mandolin style you might set your mind to, and yet it remains less costly than the famous Bluegrass model. Let us count its many generous features: first of all, this is carefully engineered as an all-around mandolin with graduation and tone-bar sized for all styles of playing, even yours; then, it has a 24-fret fingerboard with abalone dots on the front and side; nickel-plated hardware with engraved Rigel-style tailpiece, and an actual mother of pearl nut for the best tone imaginable. The headstock is festooned with a one-piece hand-cut colorful pearl headstock inlay showing a Phoenix waking up in the morning and flexing its wings; it has no plastic bindings but instead you will find ebony border on the sides of the barely scooped fingerboard. It has a snakehead style headstock since snakes and phoenixes can co-exist in your music room; it displays traditional sunburst stains under a hybrid varnish finish, and it is housed in a lightweight and fetching custom hard shell case. This mandolin comes with the pickup system, but if you are thinking of ordering some other new Phoenix (it must be made at the factory with these options, not aftermarket) you could, if you wished, ask for a solid ebony suspended finger rest – which adds $100 – or a Built-in McIntyre Feather pickup with end pin jack which adds $200. This mandolin, in its gorgeous varnish-based sunburst over a solid spruce top and intensely flamed sides, back and neck, has abalone fingerboard inlays that resemble the satellites of the Outer Planets. It produces a sound as rich and full as a fully-sated mogul; it has a 1 3/16th” nut width, a 14” scale and a Rockler “Timeless Timber” bridge bass (fresh up from 3,000 in a very deep lake) that travels the sound faster than the creation time of them bent core (banana-shaped) Gay-Berne and Lennard-Jones particles. If you know what I mean. Your cost for this fahne specimen is only $3,526 or, at our cash discount price $3,420.
The lure of the Loar:
78-7673 Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolin #72205, in Cremona sunburst finish,
signed on February 26, 1923 (the same date as Joe Val’s) by Lloyd Loar (no middle initial), Acoustic Engineer, in excellent minus condition with the original rectangular green-lined, multi-compartmented hard shell case. This ultimate, finest, most desirable and yearned-for of mandolins, has never seen a Virzi Tone Producer. It has had only one prior owner/user – that would be the current owner’s great uncle, Dario Chiappelli, who purchased it brand new in 1923. He played it lovingly for twenty seven years, until 1950, when he passed away. Dario also played mandolin and clarinet (perhaps he was the Andy Statman of his time) in Philadelphia mandolin bands. Although one can tell from the minor signs of wear that he played it, a lot, he allowed his favorite instrument to remain wholly original (whew). Mr. Leroy Aiello, arguably the capo d’astro tutti i capi of New York Metropolitan fretted instrument repairpersons, has trued and reglued the formerly loose fingerboard to the neck (with hide glue – as Lloyd would have employed) and performed a light fret dress. The frets had shown normal signs of use and wear but this has been ameliorated by Mr. Aiello’s conservative and always appropriate personal dressing procedures. Because we did not perform a refret our work leaves the instrument completely original, which of course, just between you and me, is extremely important.The original two-piece adjustable ebony bridge displays the “Jan. 18, ’21”patent stamp unto its feet; the tortoise shell celluloid two-ply bordered and ivoroid bound fingerboard shows the “Pat. Mar. 30, ‘09” patent stamp; the mandolin retains its original three-ply (tortoise and celluloid layered) L-bracket. The headstock hosts the delicate pearl script “The Gibson” logo with the single flowerpot, and presenting with it is the black plastic truss rod cover held in place by two revered screws. The fingerboard is ebony and harbors six mother of pearl dotmarkers; said board comes to an elevated (off the top) peninsula at the bottom wherein are positioned 9 partial frets. The tailpiece cover has its unique Loar period script with twin floral under- and overline etching and the filigreed border that follows the scalloped design around the top of the slide-on cover; only Loar instruments have this special silver-plated cover with this specific engraving. Its tuners are festooned with silver-plated plates and decorative etching all of which support mother of pearl buttons; the back is two-piece with considerable curly grain to the maple; the varnish on said back shows the unique crazing that varnish develops as it ages, especially in the upper area near the scroll.
The top is bound in two-ply and the sides and back in single-ply ivoroid; the neck and headstock are 2-ply (black and ivoroid) bordered. This mandolin shows normal signs of playing time, scratches, scuffs, finger erosion of the finish only in the first position on both sides of the neck; it has a slight fissure in the binding at the bass side below the scroll at the edge, of no consequence. This mandolin sings with the voice of the Valkieries. The Valkieries, in case you may have forgotten, were also known as swan maidens, or wish maidens, and if you could only get your hands on one you could extract a wish, much the same as you can from an actual Gibson Lloyd Loar F-5 mandolin. In their anthropomorphic form these mandolins are blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful and fair-skinned, they wear scarlet corslets, and they also carry spears and shields. The chief Valkiery traveled on a golden-bristled boar, or sometimes in a chariot drawn by cats, just as we do. With this image in mind, please envision, if you will, the finest and most desirable, hoped-for and wished-for mandolin on the face of the earth, being played, bluegrass style, by one of these gorgeous shape-changing warrior goddesses. Yep – that’s right. Just like that. This mandolin will (we vouchsafe you) sing with the same sweet voice as them Sirens, and that there Aphrodite lady and also Hera, the beautiful and powerful sister of Zeus. It will make grown men weep and seasoned politicians stagger. It will invoke your own personal muse and call forth your much-welcomed, and too often missing, Inspiration. Owning this mandolin will actually (and we’re not making this up) change your life in ways nobody could have foreseen. Please call for more details, additional photos, etc.
78-7662 Corrado Giacomel (new) J-5 Mandolin, #6007, aging toner finish, housed in a rectangular hard shell plush lined case.
Corrado Giacomel.works at Via Zamperini 48 16010 S.Olcese, in Genova, Italy. If you happen to be in Genova, do say Ciao. The website is: www.corradogiacomel.it His mandolins are distributed in the USA by mandolin monster David Grisman, and Mandolin Brothers is the newly selected East Coast Display Showroom (and non-denominational chapel) for this brand. David is shown holding his own Giacomel on the cover of his recent duet album with John Sebastian. The builder’s website states (edited): Giacomel mandolins and mandolas are the result of a study of the American mandolin-building tradition, revisited according to this Luthier’s own taste and experience. These models have technical and sound features typical of the American instrument, optimized by careful tuning of soundboard and back and by the interplay between them. This is achieved through a system that, utilizing a frequency generator, excites the woods and tests their response at different frequencies. Both soundboard and back are hand-carved, separately tuned and subsequently assembled; this way the instruments need no further adjustment. Each Giacomel instrument has a balanced and warm sound, plenty of volume and a natural reverb at the highest frequencies. The building process follows the traditional steps, thus requiring longer completion time. His mandolins are built one at the time by the same hand, presumed to be his own hand, resulting in a limited annual production. All the woods come from Italy and are personally and carefully selected by the Luthier. The varnishing process follows the tradition of the Italian school -- it starts with the sealing of the wood, then the applying of a natural layer, and finally the application of a vegetal poly-resinous varnish that the cats and kitties that live around the Coliseum lap up like mother’s milk. Each ebony component (the bridge, tailpiece, pickguard) as well as the mother of pearl inlays are hand-crafted one by one dedicated Luthier named Corrado Giacomel. Tim O’Brien owns one of Giacomel’s Octave Bouzoukis. Tim says (about this larger instrument of similar design): “Corrado Giacomel, of Genoa, Italy, built this octave mandolin. I call it 'The Turtle.' Corrado makes great guitars and mandolins, as well as these fine octave mandolins. The scale length on this one is 20 inches from nut to bridge saddle. While many octave mandolins have a longer scale, which provides for tighter string tension and more volume, this one compensates by having a greater neck angle. The shorter scale also enables me to use mandolin fingering than I can't use on my other bouzouki/octave mandolins. Unlike my Nugget bouzouki, on which I string the two low pairs of strings in octaves, I string the courses on this instrument in unison.” To which we can only add, “If it’s good enough for Tim O’Brien and David Grisman, two of the finest acoustic artists in the short list of ‘the best there is,’ it’s good enough for us.”Brace yourselves like an Italian spruce crossbar, here come the statistics: The back material is curly maple, the top material is spruce, the neck material is likewise curly maple, the rim material – you guessed it - curly maple; the truss rod is steel, and adjustable; the fretboard material, that would be ebony, the bridge is ebony and adjustable; the tailpiece is ebony, steel and brass, the tuners are Schaller, though we have never in our lives seen them before -- with pearloid buttons that look like pearl, gold-plated, etched in a floral and filigree pattern plates, with large pearl inlaid spiders and steel gears with large gold-plated caps. The nut width is 1 2/16th”, the scale length is 13 15/16”, the body length is 13”, the body width is 10 ¼” , the body depth just 1 ¼”, and the overall length is nominally 27”.
Its comely features are most unusual. The body shape is almost trapezoidal – the upper bass scroll, known in these parts as “The Claw,” looks like a slot into which you swipe your credit card; the f-holes are modern and sweeping and like everything else, quite original; the right-angle tailpiece is 4 ½” long measured diagonally and 8 loop ends can be easily posted to 8 gold plated (or brass) pins; the bridge is a hand-carved two-piece ebony adjustable, the pickguard is slightly contoured and carved to a controlled arc and touching it makes your fingers go “whoo-whee.” The headstock is large, rosewood bordered and ebony-capped and bears the Giacomel script logo and a stylized 7-part flower pot and flower; said headplate is bordered in maple, as is the rosewood bound ebony fretboard which is cantilevered over the body so that top vibration remains unimpeded. Both the face and back display a central area that takes the form of a recessed circle of (in this instance) bear-claw spruce – truly, uniqueness abounds. The maker provides block marker pearl inlays at frets 10, 12 and 15 (only) with pearl side dots in 5 positions starting at 5. The ebony truss rod cover resembles a rocket ship.
We should mention the sound – for a young mandolin this instrument has a degree of maturity of tone and volume unfounded in lesser models. The sound of the Giacomel J-5 is throaty, resplendent and rich, replete with acoustic density and mass and yet retaining shimmering highs and effervescent mids. One is enthralled by its considerable clarity in every range, hearing it makes one think of a mandolin that is considerably older, like: read, the 1920s or ‘30s. Its sound, right out of the crate, is colorful and confident. Reflecting on the credentials of the genius player who imports these instruments, and taking into consideration the other-worldly vision that created such a modernistic fantasy and made it into one incredible sounding mandolin, this Giacomel J-5 will be a more than worthwhile addition to your permanent estate. With hard shell case, only $12,887 or, at our Cash Discount Price, $12,500.
78-7649 Epiphone (used, 1963) Adelphi mandolin, #106436, spruce top, maple sides & back, in very good plus condition with original hard shell case.
Made by Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan, this Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge arched top f-hole proffers an attractive orange to brown sunburst finish on the top and back, and uniform brown on sides and a mahogany neck, This mandolin is mislabeled -- on its blue/ Kalamazoo label it says “EM-200” which of course is a Florentine Electric solid body Gibson mandolin, which this isn't. It is, rather, a standard description Adelphi, which is the Epiphone equivalent of the Gibson A-50 model. It, like the A-50, has crème celluloid binding on top, back and fingerboard (3 sides), 7 mother of pearl dotmarker fingerboard inlays in 6 positions on the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, a Brazilian rosewood two piece adjustable bridge, a plain oxidized nickel-plated tailpiece cover on which an original owner actually etched a nine-digit number, vertically (what was he thinking? That if somebody stole it he could identify it by the tailpiece cover which of course slides right off?). The headstock, with its black overlay, is shaped a bit differently from the Gibson equivalent but it still has a center detent at the top and the "Epiphone" stylized script logo in gold decal. The truss rod cover is not the Gibson "bell" but the Epiphone spear-head shape bordered in white. The nut is probably bone; the nut width is 1 2/16th”. This mandolin is missing its elevated pickguard but the two holes remain. Its tuners are the original Kluson Deluxe with an oil hole for the letter "o" in Kluson, and the buttons are not wizened or shrunken (as buttons sometimes are) but clean looking and wholesome. The mandolin shows finish checking, dings, scratches (including very light car key marks on the treble side), some extremely minor finish wear including behind the neck from playing, minor indents around the headstock and a very small amount of decline in the arch of the top under the bridge – not a structural issue. The serial number is stamped on the back of the headstock as well as on the label. It just isn't an EM-200, that's all. It sounds great, it plays wonderfully easily. With original hard case this is $1541 or, at our cash discount price $1495.
15-6085 Phoenix (new) Jazz Model mandolin, #456, a special double-cutaway instrument
with a floating black humbucking pickup mounted off of the pickguard, and a strap pin/jack on the bottom side, made for the jazz mandolinist seeking elegance, beauty and sonic affluence. It proffers a radiused Macassar ebony fingerboard, highly flamed maple back and sides, a most comfortable one-piece maple neck and an Adirondack “red” spruce top. The top and back are unbound and the bridge saddle is made of Macassar. The bridge base, however, is made from Rockler “Timeless Timber” – which is the wood that was submerged for three thousand (give or take) years deep under the waters of Lake Michigan (Huron the right track), leading to Superior sound whose, eerie to hear, intense density travels the sound quickly and effectively into the Macassar bridge saddle and then down into the body where it resonates at a level of sonority last heard when Zero Mostel performed in Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 play, Rhinocéros. The piece is blessed with a 13-7/8" standard scale length, a 1-3/16" nut (not just 1 3/16th” but also its made from black water buffalo horn), It is strung with Thomastik “Stark” (heavy) mandolin strings and it comes in a blue fiberglass, lightweight, form fitting, small but very stiff hard shell case. Its gold-tone open-gear tuners are contrasted with black plastic buttons, its tailpiece is the trapezoidal Phoenix design; the striped ebony inverted headstock hosts the brilliant and striking image of an actual Phoenix rising from its custom -contoured Posturepedic® nest. This mandolin has it all – sound, exotic beauty, a veritable barber pole of figured maple on sides, back and one-piece neck, producing a sound so sweet and refreshing, with lush sustain and lyrical continuity from note to note that it may remind one of the mellifluous (nearly ethereal) jazz violin playing of Stéphane Grappelli. $4,454 or at our cash discount price $4,320.
76-8873 Big Muddy (new) M-0 Lefty Flat Mandolin, #0391, solid Honduran mahogany back and sides, solid Sitka spruce top,
Honduras mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, without binding, with a gig bag. $489 at our Discount Price or $474 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8874 Big Muddy (new) M-2 Lefty solid maple sides and back, solid spruce top flat mandolin, #0390, with a TKL gig bag.
$612 at our Discount Price or $593 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8903 Big Muddy (new) M-3 righty mandolin, #0396, walnut sides and back, gold plated Grover tuners, a center strip, with a TKL gig bag.
The Big Muddy List Price on this is $738 but you can call or email for our price.
76-8902 Big Muddy (new) M-0W flat mandolin with the option of the slightly wider neck, #0395,
scale length is 13 7/8 inches with a 1 3/16" nut width, solid Honduran mahogany back and sides, solid Sitka spruce top, Honduras mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and bridge, without binding, with a gig bag. $647 at our Discount Price or $627 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8948 Loar (new) LM-500VS, #ISI-1864, made out of a premium solid spruce top, solid highly-flamed maple back and sides,
a flamed maple neck, and an ebony fretboard and bridge. It features an abalone and mother of pearl inlaid Florentine-style headstock inlay designed by Greg Rich. Its vintage white binding borders the entire instrument with an added black and white purfling on the top, back, headstock, fingerboard and pickguard. The pickguard is made from an historically happy tortoise-shell plastic, and its old style tailpiece sports an engraved cover. A hard foam carrying case (with a zipper closure) is included. $791 at our Discount Price or $768 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8930 and 76-8931 Morgan Monroe (new) MMS-9FE electric-acoustic mandolin, #08070015 & #08060003 in tobacco sunburst, each having a solid spruce top, maple back and sides.
It comes with the factory equipped Fishman System 1 Pickup System, a rosewood fingerboard, chrome hardware, a rosewood bridge, ivoroid binding. You get a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer, and, as well, a deluxe hard shell case, and yet this is only $574 at our Discount Price or $557 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8970 Weber (new) Tamarack #1 Celtic style mandocello, #905801, natural matte finish, maple back & sides,
spruce top, mahogany neck, ebony headstock veneer, fingerboard & bridge, 24-3/4" scale length, it has a radiuised and bound fingerboard, a stainless steel tailpiece, Schaller nickel-plated tuners and a fine hard shell case. The Weber List Price is $1,999 and The Weber MAP is $1,799.
76-8759 Orville Gibson (used, dated 1901) hand-made Style A mandolin, #ISI-1863, brown finish,
whose label is hand-signed by the legendary maker, in very good condition with two cases – the apparently original leather case and a newer F-style modern wooden hard shell. The Gibson mandolins made entirely by Orville H. Gibson, himself, stands apart from all other mandolins ever made. In a class all their own they were carved by Mr. Gibson out of large pieces of wood – the back has two levels – a curved and beveled middle section and a flat back section. The body is mahogany – and formed of three pieces. It is rumored (this story maybe apocryphal) that Mr. Gibson asked his customers to bring in an old dresser, a buffet, a table, perhaps an unused coffin that they no longer needed, and gleaned the wood from those disparate sources. The top is carved into a graceful arch from solid, wide grained spruce, almost certainly Adirondack, stained to a medium see-through brown, as are the sides. The back is darker and more opaque. There are indications that, in the distance past, glue was used to reinforce the bond between the back and the sides on the bass side, but on the treble side there remains only a slight separation.The extensively inlaid pickguard appears to be actual tortoise shell. The early mandolins (and in fact, Gibson mandolin made until 1908, didn’t have elevated pickguards, they had an inlaid pickguard inset into the top, positioned between soundhole and bridge. One of the more unusual features of this piece is that it was not only made by Orville H., himself, but the label is signed by him, and dated 1901, neither of which feature we have ever seen before. The truly “paddle” shaped headstock is 2 5/8” wide and 5 ¾” long, with a rounded top edge profile; the fingerboard is ebony with 5 mother of pearl dotmarkers. The neck is mahogany; the scalloped bone nut is original. The scale length is an unusual 14 3/8” (approximately). The width of the body, lower bout is approximately 11” and the width of the fingerboard at the nut is 1 1/4'”. The reverse gear tuners are original, with ivory buttons. The tuners are interesting in that they have scrollwork at the top of each plate, but are rounded off at the bottom to fit the space. There are no internal braces. The neck shape is a deep “U”; the soundhole is bordered in spruce and ebony alternating parquetry with two rings of “rope” on each side – the treble side of the rosette is slightly separated from the face, but this requires no work.
The inlaid pickguard displays an inlaid butterfly in abalone and pearl at the center, utilizing around 11 individual pieces plus having lilies and leaves on both sides; the original bridge is extremely unusual – carved out of one piece of ebony it is an architectural masterpiece with scrolls and fillips as one might find on a fine piece of Victorian furniture, or on an ante-bellum staircase. The frets appear to be original but are angled slightly to the treble on the fingerboard – hand-slotted we presume. The nickel-plated tailpiece cover is the Orville Gibson era version, with the longer “crown” at the top, a hole at the center of that crown, and “The Gibson” etched below (no floral work at this time). The original tailpiece, which is held by three replaced screws, is similar to the more common later version but the hooks are all facing backward (in the later version there are 12 hooks and four of them face to the side so that the highest strings can be angled). One of the hooks is bent up a little and one (the first one) is missing. We suppose that’s why the first hook remaining is bent up a little – because it is holding two strings. There is no tailpin, or tailpin hole at the base of the tailpiece. Overall the cosmetic condition of this magical mandolin is quite good: it shows far less wear (scratches, dings, some small pick wear, some back of neck wear from playing. There are no cracks (miraculously) but there is a small, repaired but still very visible crack on the spliced-on volute on the back of the headstock which is slightly open but doesn’t seem to be moving or, as we say, “going anywhere.”
The action is a bit elevated; like so many older instruments it could benefit from a neck reset. We have no desire to perform a neck reset on a one-of-a-kind Orville Gibson masterpiece and so we are offering the mandolin “as is.” This is an instrument with a colossally important historical pedigree -- we have found no other Orville hand-mades in over twenty five years (we had located three of them in the mid-1970s). Our workshop is going to replace the two missing fingerboard pearl inlays). It comes with its apparently original leather carrying case and a new conventional black covered plush lined case that’s a bit oversized. Although it _can_ be played, this is not considered to be a “player.” No, it would welcome getting a neck reset in order to be fretted with comfortably (and played every Sunday at dusk down at the gazebo with your local mandolin orchestra), and this is not work we are going to, ourselves, do here. But as a collectible, unimaginably important mandolin, and as one of the most beautiful, original fretted instrument designs the world has seen, this piece would be the keystone and the cornerstone of any collection of American fretted instruments. Offered “as it is” at $12,885 or at our Cash Discount Price, $12,500.
15-6085 Phoenix (new) Jazz Model mandolin, #456, a special double-cutaway instrument with a floating black humbucking pickup
mounted off of the pickguard, and a strap pin/jack on the bottom side, made for the jazz mandolinist seeking elegance, beauty and sonic affluence. It proffers a radiused Macassar ebony fingerboard, highly flamed maple back and sides, a most comfortable one-piece maple neck and an absolutely gorgeous European spruce top. The bridge saddle and the top and back binding are, likewise Macassar ebony. The bridge base, however, is made from Rockler “Timeless Timber” – which is the wood that was submerged for three thousand (give or take) years deep under the waters of Lake Michigan (Huron the right track), leading to Superior sound whose, eerie to hear, intense density travels the sound quickly and effectively into the Macassar bridge saddle and then down into the body where it resonates at a level of sonority last heard when Zero Mostel performed in Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 play, Rhinocéros. The piece is blessed with a 13-7/8" standard scale length, a 1-3/16" nut (not just 1 3/16th” but also its made from black water buffalo horn), It is strung with Thomastik “Stark” (heavy) mandolin strings and it comes in a blue fiberglass, lightweight, form fitting, small but very stiff hard shell case. Its gold-tone open-gear tuners are contrasted with glossy ebony buttons, its tailpiece is the trapezoidal Phoenix design; the striped ebony inverted headstock hosts the brilliant and striking image of an actual Phoenix rising from its custom -contoured Posturepedic® nest. This mandolin has it all – sound, exotic beauty, a veritable barber pole of figured maple on sides, back and one-piece neck, producing a sound so sweet and refreshing, with lush sustain and lyrical continuity from note to note that it may remind one of the mellifluous (nearly ethereal) jazz violin playing of Stéphane Grappelli. $4,454 or at our cash discount price $4,320.
76-8858 Collings (new) MF F-style Mandolin, #F1002, in the optional glossy finish, having ivoroid binding and a plush lined hard shell case.
It has magnificent maple back & sides and a select spruce top that displays considerable cross-silking. This mandolin has wonderfully fancy, sunburst matte finished, flamed maple sides, delightfully curly maple back and one-piece neck. It has the optional grained ivoroid top binding. Inside its graceful f-holes you will find tone bar braces for power and presence, it has an unbound ebony, carefully radiused fingerboard for the personal pleasure of the fingers of the felicitous flagellant. Bill Collings sets a new standard for the art of making instruments that, even when modestly appointed, make major points with both player and audience in being a tonal paragon to both the promising and the proficient. This is a mid-priced Collings – not too modest, not too dear. What it is, however, is consummately made. It paints a pastoral picture of great sonic complexity with breathy, woody mids and scintillating highs that compares with the finest mandolins of the past 85 years. $4,315 at our Discount Price or $4,185 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7855 Kentucky (new) KM-630 F-Style Mandolin, serial #080119-1, with model C-1521 hard shell case.
NOW ON SALE. This is a good looking, full-featured, Chinese-made F-style mandolin, having an abalone and mother of pearl fern inlaid into its black glossy headplate overlay, gold-plated hardware, spruce top, maple back and sides, the script “Kentucky” logo on headstock and “Kentucky” etched into the gold-plated slide-on tailpiece. It has ivoroid-black binding around its headstock, top and back, a two-piece rosewood adjustable bridge, a single-ply ivoroid bound fingerboard with 6 ivoroid dots, twin nicely shaped open f-holes, a large body scroll and two large body points, and matching scroll and points on the headstock, just the way Orville envisioned it. The regrettable news is that, when this was initially shipped to us it suffered whiplash in transit (the airbags didn’t work) and we didn’t notice it. So now there is what looks like a small scratch on each of the sides of the back of the neck near the neck binding, in the region of the first three frets, but it’s not a scratch, it’s a whiplash crack. It is so tightly closed that there is no way to get any glue in there. We feel that it don’t need no stinking glue and also that it probably won’t give you any trouble, but of course we cannot guarantee it. With that imperfection you can get this pretty cheap: It listed for $884.95 but it is NOW ON SALE, “as is,” with hard shell case, for $599 at our Discount Price, or, at our Cash Discount Price, $579.
76-8817 Breedlove (new) 'FF' Style Mandolin, #11991, Breedlove does it other – this is their angular interpretation of an F-style body, sprayed in a smooth satin fully sunbursted finish.
It has the Quartz series peghead, and comes from the factory with the built-in LR Baggs Radius M series electronics. It has high quality Gotoh F-style chrome-plated tuners with black buttons, and it is housed in a good quality hard shell case. Our price is $1959.
76-8843 Pomeroy (new) F-5 Mandolin, #132, with a Bobelock brand hard shell case.
another superb sounding, beautiful (perfect) instrument from Pomeroy Mandolins of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The brief version is that this wonderful bluegrass musicians tool is made with a nearly home-grown Colorado Engelmann Spruce Top, has a 1 2/16th" nut width, a highly figured curly red maple back, sides and neck, an ebony fretboard, a headstock overlay, full ivoroid-black-ivoroid binding on its front, back and headstock, a gloss lacquer finish in dark sunburst and a sterling silver "Lady" logo tailpiece. About their instruments in general, Pomeroy says that each mandolin is handcrafted and unique. There are always a number of options available that create the possibility of customized pricing, but typically each mandolin features hand-carved top and back plates, an integrated tuning system using traditional approaches that maximize tonal depth and volume; carefully chosen, seasoned tone woods in Sitka, Engelmann or Red Spruce and figured maple from the forests of New England. The feature a book-matched, three-piece figured maple neck with truss rod for maximum stability and reinforcement, hand applied dyes, enhancing wood grains and creating a subtle sunburst effect, with nitrocellulose, low-gloss lacquer finish; hand cut mother of pearl inlays. Our F-5 models have hand- crafted adjustable ebony bridges fashioned after the early original mandolins of the ‘20s, with small thumbwheels and Loar-period style compensated top. They come with a custom crafted sterling silver tailpiece cover with Pomeroy emblem cast in silver by jeweler James Steele. Furthermore all F-5 models, nut width of 1 2/16th" with a 10" radiused ebony fingerboard, ivoroid bound back, top, fingerboard and peghead. All mandolins are signed and numbered by the builder, Don Paine. This gorgeous creature is only $3,918 at our Discount Price or $3,800 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8811 Weber (new) Sage #1, a Celtic style flat octave mandolin, #839211; presented in a natural matte finish;
having a 23-1/2" scale length; maple back & sides; a solid spruce top; a mahogany neck; an ebony peghead veneer, ebony fingerboard and bridge; ivoroid logo and headstock decoration, nickel-plated Schaller tuners and a shaped hard shell case. The Weber List is $1799. Please call or email for our prices.
76-8830 Weber (new) Sage #2, a somewhat fancier and more elegant Celtic style flat top and back octave mandolin, #839411,
grained ivoroid bound, with finer and more figured woods, sprayed in the natural matte finish; having a 23-1/2" scale length; maple back & sides; a solid spruce top; a mahogany neck; an ebony peghead veneer, a bound ebony fingerboard and an ebony bridge; a bound soundhole rosette, mother of pearl peghead inlays and fretboard markers, nickel-plated Schaller tuners and it comes housed in a shaped hard shell case. The Weber List is $1999. Please call or email for our prices.
ANNOUNCING NEW VIDEO ON THE INTERNET: AVISIT TO MANDOLIN BROTHERS SHOWROOM
- “How to Buy a Mandolin – Parts I and II” (by Bob Moses) has recently been posted at the following link: http://www.smokemusic.tv/content/how-buy-mandolin# The producers write: ”Doing our part to convert the rest of the world’s guitarists into mando players, we brought Brad Einhorn, a local fixture on the Brooklyn bluegrass scene, to Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island, a world-famous repository of mandolins — and a repository of wisdom in the form of owner Stan Jay. Stan has counseled players from the world famous to the just-starting on mandolin purchases, and, as you’ll see in our video interview, no one has more enthusiasm for the instrument.” In the two-part video Brad and Stan try out mandolins by Collings, Gibson, Phoenix, and compare them to prewar Gibson A-styles. We discuss why certain models sound the way they do. It’s very interesting and if you haven’t been to our shop it may be the next best thing to visiting.
78-7663 Collings/Nugget (used, Oct. 2004) Tim O'Brien model mandolin, Serial Number 011, in near mint condition.
Around eight years ago Bill Collin gs, Mike Kemnitzer of Nugget Mandolins and the revered singer-songwriter Tim O’Brien made a pact: Mike would build a small number of A-style mandolins which would be left “in the white,” meaning unfinished, and they would be sent to Collings Guitar Co. in Austin, TX to be finished. We are not sure whether they are also fretted in Austin or whether the inlay and binding work is performed in Austin. These would be blackface mandolins with a 1 2/16th” nut width, have unbound f-holes, made with an Adirondack “Red” Spruce top, having a fingerboard with 22 frets, the last 3 of which are abbreviated to allow for a foreshortened fingerboard end. Said board is bound is grained ivoroid with black and ivoroid underneath it, the elevated ebony matte finish pickguard is likewise bound in the same motif, and so are the headstock, the face, the sides and the back. The instrument is fitted with the shiny nickel-plated Collings easy-load tailpiece and the headstock would bear the asymmetrical shape, with the cleft to the treble side (“I’ve been combing my hair differently and I think it looks more mature this way”). The polished ebony headplate has the script, underlined Nugget logo and below that a 2 3/16th” long flower with its open petals facing east. Below that is a possibly silver-plated suppository-shaped metal truss rod cover that’s engraved “Tim O’Brien” and held in place by two roundhead screws. The bridge is ebony, two-piece and adjustable and the end pin is ebony. The ebony fingerboard is inlaid on frets 5,7,10, 12 and 15 with 6 colorful pearl dotmarkers (double dot on 12) that look like planets. The back, neck and sides are matte finish and comprised of some gorgeous curly maple with a three-dimensional refraction as you reposition the back to catch the ambient lighting. This mandolin shows only the lightest and most infinitely minor signs that it was held and played including very light fret contact with the lowest frets, a few extremely tiny scratches on the headstock from stringing. Actual mandolin players who have visited our showroom and played this (like Peter Kessler, a prodigious player from San Francisco), have been awed by it, saying things like “This is an unbelievably fine instrument; one of the best Style As I’ve ever played.” $8764 at our Discount Price, or, at our Cash Discount Price, $8500.
76-8112 Collings (new) MT-2 A-Style mandolin, serial #A1661, with hard shell case.
Triple-ply bound just about everywhere -- the neck, the back of the headstock (as well as the front), the sides, the front and back, and sporting gold hardware, high grade ivoroid button tuners, and a deeply flamed maple back, sides and neck (well, the f-holes are unbound), this glossy finish, super-deluxe f-hole bluegrass barker, with the pearl inlaid “flourish” in the headplate, plays with ease and conveys tone as big and as grand as all of the Great State of Texas. $3,248 or at our cash discount price $3,150.
76-8146 and 76-8113 Collings (new) MT mandolin, #A1708 and #A1663,
each mandolin specially ordered with the comfortable, slightly wider 1 3/16th nut width, matte finish, sunburst top, with hard shell case. We consider Collings mandolins to be one of the finest sounding and most beautiful (perfectly) made mandolins in the known universe. Is it a little more expensive than some other similar looking mandolins? Well, yeah. Is it worth the additional monies? You cannot imagine how much it is. Each mandolin is $2227 at our Discount Price, or at our Cash Discount Price, $2160.
76-8761 Phoenix (used, 2005) Europa NeoClassical mandolin, #368, with rectangular heavy-duty hard shell case.
In the year 2005 Rolfe Gerhart made a run of six (6) special mandolins, characterized by the quality of their woods and workmanship. All of the woods came from Europe – the source of what is considered some of the finest tone wood in the world (think: Stradivarius). Such wood can come from Germany, the French Alps, Italy, the UK – there’s a lot of superb wood in Europe and the UK and Rolfe found the primary source for each type. In this (very fine) case, your top is made from European spruce, your sides and back from English Sycamore. The NeoClassical is the Phoenix model without top or back binding – the sides join the top and back seamlessly with a graceful recurve. It is equipped with a simple but beautiful ebony elevated finger rest and matching tailpiece and comes equipped with a “Timeless Timbre” bridge base made from wood that is said to have remained submerged in the deepest troughs of Lake Superior for 2 million years – a time period when mandolin players were few and far between. The tuners are gold-plated, probably Schaller, with polished ebony buttons. We note that there is a small ding (chip) out of the wood at the bass side of the fingerboard at the 7th fret, and there extremely minute indications of playing time here and there; but so little as to be hardly noticeable. This mandolin is strung with Thomastic (flatwound type) expensive and high quality strings. The headplate is polished ebony with a grand flying phoenix with wings outstretched at the top. The face is made with wood so close-grained that it is a veritable festival of medulary rays (cross silking). The back, sides and three-piece neck have considerable tiger striping. The sound is as sweet and lyrical as that of any fine violin costing over a hundred thousand dollars. But this doesn’t cost that much. It’s only $3866 at our discount price, $3750 at our cash discount price.
78-7667 Gibson (used, 11/1998) F-5G mandolin #81120029, sunburst top, brown sides and back, in excellent cosmetic condition with black form fitting hard shell case.
If anybody out there knows the derivation of the letter “G” in F-5G we’d sure like to know what it is. It can’t stand for Gibson since that would be redundant – Gibson F-5 Gibson?! This model’s design is, clearly, well thought out and very successful. It has all of the features we have come to know and love including a dark orange sunburst at center fading gradually into a medium brown; the spruce is extremely close-grained and shows considerable medullary rays (cross-silking); the ebony unbound fingerboard carries an extension/peninsula with 9 foreshortened frets and also 6 mother of pearl dotmarkers; the ebony overlain headstock displays its “The Gibson” script mother of pearl logo and there under a large mother of pearl flower. The tuners are Schallers with engraved back plates and pearloid buttons; the tailpiece is engraved “The Gibson” with floral design. The two-piece back shows considerable tiger stripe grain in the maple and so does the back of the neck. Overall this mandolin displays very light signs of wear, a very minor chip or two on the headstock, some finish checking, trivial scratches of little significance and fine aberrations (dings and bumps in the finish), with form fitting black Canadian-made (possibly TKL) hard shell case. This instrument has been equipped with a replacement single-point black pickguard with a single white laminate around the edge. It is a very fine sounding, and most beautiful modern Gibson F-5 style mandolin. $3,191 or at our Cash Discount Price, $3,095.
76-8141 National (new) RM-1 mandolin, #14087, antique brass, with hard shell case.
One of the loudest fretted instruments you will ever, in your life, hear. Handsome, robust, useful, full of both vim and vigor, this is a mandolin for the extraverted and the musician who needs to be heard. $1,730 at our Discount Price, or $1,678 at our Cash Discount Price.
76-8716 Weber (new) Gallatin "Octar" a 15” wide carved-top guitar-shaped octave mandolin, #807310, natural spruce top, natural mahogany sides and back, with deluxe hard shell case.
Little is known about the Octar. One was first spotted on the Savannah in Tanzania back in the mid-1920s, stomping through the brush on the other side of the river from a herd of wildebeests, but at that time photography was less available to the not entirely hygienic masses and opportunities to document its existence on film were largely lost. Then one was seen on the ski trails in Tumolo, Oregon during the Truman administration but no one was fast enough to catch up with it, coupled by the fact that it was spewing a dark inky substance from its f-holes which made the skiers in pursuit queasy and uneasy, or at least that’s what they told the authorities. The creature has always been described as a deep bodied – 3.5” in depth at the bottom side – four-course octoped with a 7” long peghead capped with striped ebony that presents with a scale length of 23 ½”from its prodigious nut to its turgid, curved, carved and adjustable bridge with the removable saddles. Finally, it was reported by the National Park Police at Yellowstone that an Octar had been seen leaving that great and wonderful National Park, lurching northward toward Logan. Although this has not been proven, it is surmised that it showed up at the back door of the Weber Mandolin Company where it was taken in, nurtured, cloned, and released to the public in the form of a guitar-shaped octave mandolin. Historians may note that there was a well known singer-songwriter in the late ‘90s and early 2000s named Timothy O’Brien who used another brand of guitar-shaped octave mandolin as a primary accompanying instrument. This artist’s unmistakable and unforgettable style and his palpable panache captivated (and motivated) listeners from San Diego to Sandy Ground, Staten Island. It is a sound that evokes the wistful simplicity of an era long gone, a strong, midrangey base against which the words of his songs spin and shimmer. That sound, and indeed the retrograde redolence it reveals can be yours to enjoy during those quiet moments when the cockatoo has drifted off into a welcome stupor, and the kitties are quiescent. It is the sound of the moonlit plains, the whistle of the owl over the high peaked snow-capped mountains, the stuff of the surf and the warm, dry wind that buffets the leeward side of the Big Island, all combined in one eight-stringed exotic and wholly unexpected experience. The Weber List Price is $3317 and the Weber MAP is $2985.
76-8155 Weber (new) Aspen #2 mandolin, #845509, with hard shell case.
The Weber Aspen 2 mandolin is made with a solid spruce flat top, curly maple sides, back and neck, an striped ebony headplate overlay (it’s not all entirely black, but that’s okay, it’s how the tree grew), mother of pearl Weber logo and Celtic knot. The ivoroid bound fingerboard is ebony with mother of pearl fret markers; the color is natural, the finish is matte; the tailpiece is stainless steel and the tuners are nickel-plated Grovers. The truss rod is of course adjustable and the ebony bridge has replaceable saddles. The soundhole is bordered in an ivoroid-black-ivoroid rosette; the case is a shaped hard shell. Quite a remarkable sounding, and beautiful instrument for a List Price of only $1599. Please call or email us for our reasonable price.
76-8249 Weber (new) Tamarack #2 Mandocello, serial #805709 with hard shell case.
The elegant Style 2 Tamarack has ivoroid bindings, fancier grade woods, a solid spruce top, X-plus bracing, a maple back and sides and a mahogany neck. The peghead veneer is ebony and inlaid with a mother of pearl logo and torch; the fingerboard is radiused, ebony and ivoroid bound. The scale length is 24 ¾”; the tuners are nickel plated Schallers and the tailpiece is stainless steel. The bridge is ebony with replaceable saddles, the case is a shaped hard shell. This instrument roars with a voice all its own. It is the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the mandolin family and its presence in your instrument collection (pun intended) will allow you to dominate any acoustic soiree you might have the good fortune to walk into. Wow, what a sound! The Weber List price is $2499. Please call or email for price.
76-8681 Weber (new) Gallatin ‘A’ Mandolin, serial #8220909, with hard shell case.
Something new from Weber – in the old days you could buy a Gallatin F but only recently did they come out with the Gallatin A. This maple sides, back and neck is notable for its extremely loud, powerful tone, for the fact that it has f-holes in a teardrop body with a long neck (13 frets to the body) and that it is matte finish that’s been stained to a light brown. The unbound ebony fingerboard hosts 7 inlaid mother of pearl diamonds in 6 positions; the ebony overlain headstock has the grained ivoroid Weber logo and the Celtic knot; tuners are Schallers with engraved plates; the tailpiece is the “Big W” pewter type and the bridge is ebony with adjustable saddle height provision. The sound, I’d like to remind you, is quite astonishing. Although the Weber List Price is $2279 you are heartily invited to call or email us for our more reasonable selling price.
76-8156 Weber (new) Yellowstone ‘F’ Mandolin, serial #8345209, with hard shell case.
The Weber Yellowstone F is made using a solid spruce top that’s tone-bar braced, combined with curly maple back, sides and neck. The headstock veneer is ivoroid bound ebony and inlaid with a mother of pearl logo and Celtic Knot. The fingerboard is also ivoroid bound ebony. The scale of course is 14”, the fretboard is radiused, the fret markers are mother of pearl diamonds. The top and back are bound in ivoroid; the body being finished in the traditional Yellowstone ‘burst color in glossy lacquer. All of the hardware is nickel-plated; the truss rod is a dual action adjustable; the bridge is a Brekke traditional adjustable, and the case is a shaped hard shell. The warranty, and the length of time you will enjoy owning this mandolin, is lifetime, the sound is superlative. The Weber List Price is $4399. Call or email for price.
76-8208 Weber (new) Fern 'F' Mandolin, with the option of a hand-picked Red Spruce Adirondack Top, serial #82892109, with hard shell case.
Presenting one of the best sounding new F-5 mandolins in our inventory, especially considering its modest price. Here is a note from Tony at Weber Mandolins: “Stan: I looked through the records and it seems like the notable upgrade and/or change on this model is indeed the red spruce top. By the way the serial number has an extra number - the 1 prior to the 09 is an imposter... quoting our Kathy... ‘Sorry, Stan it was a typo spaz.’ You have a uniquely serial numbered Weber – a veritable upside-down biplane stamp of a manufactured instrument. I’m glad to hear the mandolin sounds incredibly good – we must have used a darned nice piece of Adirondack!” Enjoy, Tony. Yes, friends, Tony is right – this mandolin cleans other mandolins’ clocks for breakfast, or whatever that bellicose idiom is that people say. It is a beautiful instrument and it sounds like the bells in the steeple of the city’s tallest cathedral on Easter Sunday. The List Price is $6725. Please call or email for price.
78-7663 Collings/Nugget (used, Oct. 2004) Tim O'Brien model mandolin, Serial Number 011, in near mint condition.
Around eight years ago Bill Collings, Mike Kemnitzer of Nugget Mandolins and the revered singer-songwriter Tim O’Brien made a pact: Mike would build a small number of A-style mandolins which would be left “in the white,” meaning unfinished, and they would be sent to Collings Guitar Co. in Austin, TX to be finished. We are not sure whether they are also fretted in Austin or whether the inlay and binding work is performed in Austin. These would be blackface mandolins with a 1 2/16th” nut width, have unbound f-holes, made with an Adirondack “Red” Spruce top, having a fingerboard with 22 frets, the last 3 of which are abbreviated to allow for a foreshortened fingerboard end. Said board is bound is grained ivoroid with black and ivoroid underneath it, the elevated ebony matte finish pickguard is likewise bound in the same motif, and so are the headstock, the face, the sides and the back. The instrument is fitted with the shiny nickel-plated Collings easy-load tailpiece and the headstock would bear the asymmetrical shape, with the cleft to the treble side (“I’ve been combing my hair differently and I think it looks more mature this way”). The polished ebony headplate has the script, underlined Nugget logo and below that a 2 3/16th” long flower with its open petals facing east. Below that is a possibly silver-plated suppository-shaped metal truss rod cover that’s engraved “Tim O’Brien” and held in place by two roundhead screws. The bridge is ebony, two-piece and adjustable and the end pin is ebony. The ebony fingerboard is inlaid on frets 5,7,10, 12 and 15 with 6 colorful pearl dotmarkers (double dot on 12) that look like planets. The back, neck and sides are matte finish and comprised of some gorgeous curly maple with a three-dimensional refraction as you reposition the back to catch the ambient lighting. This mandolin shows only the lightest and most infinitely minor signs that it was held and played including very light fret contact with the lowest frets, a few extremely tiny scratches on the headstock from stringing. Actual mandolin players who have visited our showroom and played this (like Peter Kessler, a prodigious player from San Francisco), have been awed by it, saying things like “This is an unbelievably fine instrument; one of the best Style As I’ve ever played.” $8764 at our Discount Price, or, at our Cash Discount Price, $8500.
78-7650 Gibson (used, 1919) Style A-4 mandolin, #49694, cherry sunburst top and neck, cherry sides and back, missing its pickguard and clamp but having its original amber button tuners, its ebony one-piece non-adjustable bridge, its “The Gibson” with floral design tailpiece cover and its hard shell case.
The Gibson A-4 mandolin was the highest model in the teardrop-shaped “Artist” model line. Gibson started with the plain A-Jr., then the A-, the A-1, A-2, A-3 and finally the A-4 which had a fancier soundhole rosette (decoration) made up of two rings of rope marquetry and the center ring of yellow celluloid (or yelluloid). The black (probably ebony) overlain head plate is inlaid with a script “The Gibson” and a gleaming pearl fleur-de-lis at the center. The back plates for the four-on-a-plate original open-gear tuners have twin filigree stripes etched there on, the carved back and bent sides are maple, the carved top is parallel grained spruce and the neck is mahogany. Other than having lost its pickguard (they are celluloid and they disintegrate due to contact with air) this is a complete and captivating representative of the earliest years of the Age of Jazz and the latest years of the Age of the Mandolin Orchestra. Our workshop will have reglued a loose transverse brace which caused no mischief at all. We have performed a professional cleaning and tooth brushing . . . well, frets anyway. We have set it up for perfect playing. The A-4 is the culmination of Gibson’s luthiery artistry during its most elegant time. This one would make you very happy indeed. $2778 or, at our cash discount price, $2695.
78-7636 Gibson (used, 1923) Style F-2 mandolin, #73265, in very good plus condition with original hard shell case.
The Lloyd Loar era at the Gibson Kalamazoo plant ran from 1918 to around Christmas 1924. In that time this genius of sound and vibration helped bring about many changes that, in our opinion, literally changed the course of western music (if it hadn’t been for Loar Gibson might not have introduced the f-hole archtop guitar which led to the electric archtop guitar which led to the electric guitar). Although his work did not directly influence the building of oval hole mandolins, during the time Loar worked for Gibson their instruments evolved into the world-class paradigms of plectral perfection that they are today. The Style F-2 mandolin is one of two Florentine oval hole models made during the teens and ‘20s. It has the large body scroll and the twin body points with the matching headstock point and double scrolls; it has the adjustable truss rod feature that Loar is felt to have been a participant in the creation of. It has an inlaid “The Gibson” script mother of pearl headstock logo in an ebony overlay, and 8 engraved plate open-gear tuners with amber ivoroid buttons, crème ivoroid bound neck (with its 5 partial fret extension), crème ivoroid bound top and tortoise shell color celluloid bound back; it has the 1921 patent adjustable two piece ebony bridge, the “Mar. 30, ‘09” patented tortoise shell celluloid elevated finger rest, and the “July 4, 1911” patent side clamp – except that the curved part of the side clamp that attaches to the back has, in the past, become oxidized and, um, fallen off and was lost.This model Gibson mandolin has six mother of pearl inlaid dotmarkers in 5 fret positions, and it has its original tailpiece with the “The Gibson” and floral pattern-etched slide-on cover . The case is, likewise, original to the mandolin. This is, then, a wholly original Lloyd Loar Period F-2 mandolin with adjustable truss rod, slim, comfortable mahogany neck (v-shaped), maple sides and back, carved spruce top with bound oval soundhole surrounded by a three-layer rosette of white-black rope, ivoroid and ebony. The face and neck are beautifully sunbursted (shaded) and the sides and back are a uniform reddish stain that shows the grain of the maple. This mandolin shows less than normal signs of wear – the frets are nearly unworn, the back of the neck shows much less sign of hand-contact than is normally seen. There is no pitting in the fretboard. It does show normal finish checking, scratches, tiny nicks and dings, there are some cracks in the back binding and a suggestion of continuing deterioration and shrinkage of said celluloid. There are string changing dings on the headplate, and the usual minor incipient signs of a hairline at the headstock scroll and below the body scroll on the back. As Bob Dylan sort of said “These are going nowhere.” Since the bridge top was cracked when this came in our shop has provided and installed a new saddle, they glued some loose braces, and they will make best efforts to find a replacement side clamp. A very fine mandolin from exactly the right period! $7732 or at our cash discount price, $7500.
78-7659 Gibson (used, 1915) F-2 blackface mandolin, #22440, in very good condition with newer (worn) hard shell case.
The Gibson F-2 was the lower of two models of oval hole Florentine body and headstock mandolins based on Orville Gibson designs of the mid-1890s. Orville’s mandolins had a third body point under the large body scroll on the bass side, but starting in 1910 the third body point was dropped. This era F-2 has the ivoroid bound oval soundhole with the “rope” marquetry-ivoroid-rope marquetry soundhole decoration. It has an elevated celluloid (plastic) tortoise shell colored pickguard (or finger rest) that displays a “Pat. Mar. 30, ‘09” stamp and a side clamp that shows a “Pat. July 4, 1911” stamp. The bridge on this mandolin is, in our opinion, a very high quality hand-carved replacement; there are indications on the face that it once was provisioned with larger bridges at various times as there is an outline of earlier bridges under this one. This one-piece ebony bridge has been fitted with ivory removable saddles, each of them a separate distance from the bone nut at the headstock end, to allow a semblance of intonation accuracy. The original “The Gibson” and floral pattern tailpiece remains, but the tuners on the headstock, which would originally have had inlaid Handel buttons, are gone, replaced by modern engraved plate tuners with pearloid buttons. The ebony fingerboard, with its five partial fret extension at the bottom end, is bound in grained ivoroid and inlaid with 6 mother of pearl dotmarkers in 5 positions. The ebony overlain headplate is inlaid with “The Gibson” in script mother of pearl. The headstock, itself, echoes the body motif by having a smaller point at center and two smaller scrolls on each side. This mandolin shows fine finish checking throughout, resulting in a less glossy look to the finish. Said finish is, of course, black on the top and uniform reddish brown on the sides and back. The back of the neck would also be reddish brown but hand contact from decades of playing has worn the finish. There is an incipient (but very standard) hairline under the body scroll on the face, which is not a structural issue. The mandolin shows normal signs of use and playing overall – chips, nicks, scratches, dings and scuffs, arm wear on the lower bass bout of the body where the finish is worn. This is handsome and well- cared for denizen of its most important era, namely the heyday of the Mandolin Era. It will serve a new player well, and should be good for another hundred years of happy playing. $5,670 or at our cash discount price $5,500.
15-5991 Gibson (used, 1949) Style F-12 mandolin, #A-3302, Factory Order #307-128 in very good plus condition with form-fitting original but taped up hard shell case.
As prices continue to climb towards the outer planets for pre-WW2 Florentine mandolins with f-holes from the Big G Company, postwar examples become more attractive to players and investors. While not quite as fancy as an F-5, the late '40s F-12 can hold its headstock up as being vintage. We don't see a lot of these because few were made. Gibson made only 85 F-12 mandolins in 1949. For those keeping score there were 6 made in 1948 and another 47 F-12s made in 1950. The maple back of this mandolin’s top and back are finished in a rich vintage sunburst, the back showing some curly figure; the fingerboard end on an F-12 is squared off at the bottom (it has no peninsula). The sides and neck are finished in a dark brown and the narrow-grained spruce top is sunburst. The bridge is a replacement two-piece ebony with large adjustment screws that has been professionally fitted to the top by our workshop and, as well, the frets have been professionally replaced by our repair shop. At some point in the distant past the peghead was partially routed - perhaps because someone wanted to add binding around its periphery, but they changed their mind, touched up the finish and went on their merry, misguided, destructive, sociopathic way. The mandolin shows normal signs of use and wear all over including finish checking, some of it deep on the back, smudges and scratches and dings (oh my). Also there’s finger and palm contact on the back of the neck. The tuners, four on a double-filigreed plate with yellow celluloid buttons, appear original. F-12 mandolins of this era have a small, scalloped slide-down tailpiece cover, etched "Gibson" in filigree; this tailpiece cover appears to have possibly been re-plated. The mandolin is missing its pickguard, there is a nickel-plated tail pin in one of the tailpiece base holes. It has an aberration in the form of a round circle inside an open rectangle on the face at the lower point. There is also in incipient crack on the treble side peghead scroll on both top and back of the peghead, but this is quite common on older Gibson F-5 type mandolins. It is a fine sounding example and it has a couple of centuries of playing time left in it. For a 1949 we do not consider this Gibson F-12 to be expensive at $4,118 or at our cash discount price $3,995.
78-7658 Rigel (used, Nov. 4, 1998) Model G-98 acoustic-electric mandolin, #1343, sunburst top, back and sides, in overall excellent condition with original hard shell case.
Rigel Mandolins are the ones whose tops are “dropped into” the sides and back and then the edge is finished so that the transition of top to sides to back is smooth, rounded, and not “right angle” as are most carved top and back mandolins. The G-98 style has a long horn on the bass upper bout of the body and a shorter horn on the treble side; this example has an oval soundhole, bound in ivoroid and bordered in black-ivoroid-black. The bridge is a two-piece adjustable ebony and the equally ebony 22-fret fingerboard is inlaid, between frets 6 and 13, with a long flourish of colorful mother of pearl which was provided by noted inlay artist David Nichols. Following the 22nd fret is a short “scoop” at the end of the ‘board. There are, happily, side dots at frets 3, 5, 7, 10, 12 and 15. The back, sides and two of the three sections of the ebony buttressed neck are three-dimensionally figured maple finished in a deep, burnished orange to medium deep red to brown. The top is carved of spruce that is both close and parallel-grained. It’s tuners are unsigned Schaller with engraved gold-plated plates and pearloid buttons; the elevated pickguard is bulbous, black with a white laminated; he nut is mother of pearl; the elongated headstock is inlaid with the script logo “Rigel” with a star in place of the dot over the “i”. Rigel mandolins nearly all come with a factory built-in pickup and can be used professionally to great effect. They sound fine acoustic or amplified, and, with their radiused fingerboard, play with remarkable ease and lack of effort. $2,835 or, at our cash discount price, $2,750.
76-8066 Big Muddy (new) M-1, #0346, mahogany, with gigbag.
The Big Muddy List Price is $668. Please call or email for price.
76-8068 Big Muddy (new) M-2W, wideneck version, 1 3/16th” at the nut, #0343, maple, with gigbag.
The Big Muddy List Price is $748. Call or email for price.
78-7928 Collings (new) MT, #A1618, A-style f-hole mandolin with hard shell case.
Even in their least example mandolin model Collings continues the standard of perfection of design and execution for which they are famous. The top is so close-grained as to create eddies and pools of medullary rays (cross-silking), the maple on the sides, back and neck is curly and striped. The ebony fingerboard, elevated off of the body, is inlaid with 6 pearl dots of diminishing size, comes to an offset indent at bottom that echoes exactly the asymmetrical shape of the striped-ebony overlaid headstock. The bridge is ebony, adjustable and two-piece; the tailpiece is the proprietary Collings quick-load type; the ebony truss rod is spear-point. Tuners are “Elite” brand and convey just the right amount of prewar angst; the face is bound in tortoise shell celluloid. The sound is rich, woody, dark, penetrating and as traditional as a bluegrass mandolin gets. We are proud of our Austin, TX supplier for making such a professional instrument so beautiful and affordable: $2088 at our discount price, or at our cash discount price, $2025
78-7984 Pomeroy (new) Two-Point Deluxe Mandolin,
bearing the highly auspicious serial number of #123, this one made with an Engelmann spruce top, figured maple sides and back, and proffering a comfortable, modern v-shaped 1 2/16th” nut width, and housed in a molded, black thermoplastic hard shell plush lined case. Pomeroy mandolins, of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, feature hand-carved top and back plates, with an integrated tuning system using traditional approaches that maximize tonal depth and volume. All tone woods are carefully chosen and seasoned; the sides, back and neck are crafted of figured maple from Mr. Pomeroy’s homeland forests of New England. The figured maple back is book-matched and curly, the figured maple neck features a versatile truss rod system for maximum stability and reinforcement The polished ebony headstock is fitted with Schaller tuners. Each instrument is made using hand applied dyes which enhances the visibility of the wood grain and creates a subtle sunburst effect, with nitrocellulose, low-gloss lacquer finish The headstock is inlaid with hand-cut mother of pearl floral inlays. All surfaces are bordered in grained ivoroid, and the headstock, top and back have an additional purfling of ivoroid and black. This fine, hand-made instrument is priced at $3,248 at our discount price, or $3,150 at our cash discount price.
76-8122 Phoenix (new) Neoclassical mandolin, #502, with hard shell case.
Designed with the classical player in mind, this extremely high quality, superb sounding two-point model comes from the builder with Thomastic strings. Rolfe Gerhart, the builder, says: The Neoclassical is the only American mandolin specifically designed for full sound with extra-light strings (up to Dr. Thomastik mediums) for mandolin orchestras, and also for easy playing of folk, jazz, Celtic, and modern classical music. Professionals are startled by its loudness and light weight, saying, "I can’t believe the volume with extra-light strings!" "So much easier (to play) I couldn't believe it," "I can comfortably reach the high double-stops," "rich and dark tone, a lyrical sound," "strong G strings," "you can hear the wood," and "amazing sustain." Listen to Steve Trott play his Neoclassical on the recent CD "The Waters of Life" by the original Highwaymen. And for an excellent mandolin instruction booklet with a CD, check out Jim Dalton's Mandolin for Beginners where Jim plays and shows his Neoclassical (in spite of someone else's mandolin being shown on the booklet cover). $3340 at our Discount Price, or at our Cash Discount Price, $3240.
78-7994 Weber (new) Aspen #1 mandolin, #845407, with hard shell case.
The Weber List Price is $1299. Please call or email for the Mandolin Bros. price.
76-8071 Weber (new) Gallatin "F' mandolin, #8346108, with hard shell case.
The Weber List Price is $2279. Do call or email for price.
78-7990 Weber (new) Bitterroot “F” mandolin, #8341607, now with Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides, with hard shell case.
The Weber List Price is $2999. Please call or email for our own price.
76-8048 Weber (new) Alder #2 mandola, #816808, with hard shell case. Tuned a fifth lower than the mandolin, to ADGC (high to low), the mandola provides the alto voice for the mandolin choir.
The Weber List Price is $1799. We hope you will call or email for price.
78-7928 Collings (new) Style MT mandolin, A-style with f-holes, sunburst top, matte finish, A1618, with plush lined hard shell case.
$2088 or, at our cash discount price, $2025.
78-7622 Gibson (used, 1924) A-2Z snakehead mandolin, #75640, a legendary instrument, made in the final year of the tenure of Lloyd A. Loar, acoustic engineer and bon vivant, in excellent condition with original hard shell case.
This blonde-face mandolin displays the ferry tisirable “Z” after the nearly as tisirable “A-2” and that means that it has the natural finish carved spruce top which is bordered in black purfling with crème side binding; its blackest ebony fretboard is inlaid with 6 mother of pearl dotmarkers and bordered in crème binding. Her headplate is polished ebony inlaid with “The Gibson” in script pearl at an angle (like my uncle Richard) with the greatly loved black plastic bell-shaped truss rod cover held in place by twin roundhead screws. The mandolin retains its elevated tortoise shell color plastic pickguard with the “Pate. July 4, 1911” patent stamp on the side clamp; it has the “Pat. Jan. 18, ‘21” stamp on the base of the two-piece ebony adjustable bridge, the “The Gibson” slide-on tailpiece cover, 8 quaint ivoroid button, four on a plate open gear original tuners, and maple back and sides finished in a walnut brown. The back of the mahogany neck is lightly sunbursted and shows normal signs of use and wear, as do the frets. The mandolin shows normal light signs of wear including scratches and dings, scuffs and back-of-neck wear. There are string changing nicks on the headstock and other light normal signs of use. The soundhole rosette is delightful with black-crème-black on both sides and crème in the center section and the oval soundhole is, itself, bound in ivoroid. The A-2Z is one of the rarest, one of the two A-models most greatly associated with Lloyd Loar, and one of the finest and most collectible Gibson mandolins in the universe. $6,701 or at our cash discount price $6,500.
78-7564 Lyon & Healy (c. 1920) Style C carved back mandolin, #422, in very good plus condition with original black hard shell case.
Lyon and Healy was one of the great guitar, banjo and mandolin makers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their instruments were often beautiful, original and wonderful sounding. This one, for example, is the Style C. Similar in some ways to the fanciful, violin-scroll headstock Style A, and the two point Style B, the Style C. It has the carved solid spruce top, carved American walnut back, mahogany and ebony three-piece neck, open-gear tuners with ivoroid buttons, the Vulcanized Rubber (tastes like Bakelite) elevated pickguard, the ebony fingerboard with the 6 inlaid mother of pearl dotmarkers, the ebony overlain headplate with the Eastlake Furniture carving above, the black-white-black soundhole rosette with the crème/black binding around the oval soundhole, the extremely fancy etched floral tailpiece cover that reads “Lyon & Healy, Chicago,” the one-piece ebony bridge, the crème and black top binding and the crème singly-ply back binding. The condition is quite clean – there are occasional scratches, dings and scuffs, some finish chipping on back of neck – although the back of the neck appears to be over sprayed and perhaps this is the overspray chipping away, a few back scratches, a multitude of string changing marks on the headplate, some light fret wear. Our world-respected workshop is regluing a rim separation at the side back near the end block, and, as well, a separation by the neck joint. There is a separation of the two-piece back at the center near the bottom side. This is a superb sounding classical mandolin and one that would be an asset to any professional seeking one of the finest brands of mandolin in the world. $2,577 or at our cash discount price, $2,500.
78-7904 Morgan Monroe (new) MMS-5W, Curly Maple, 08040018, with hard shell case.
$860 or, at our cash discount price, $834.
78-7759 Collings (new) MF mandolin, #F867, Glossy Sunburst Top and Ivoroid Binding, with hard shell case.
$4315 at our Discount Price, or at our Cash Discount Price, $4185.
78-7191 Eastman (new) MDA-615FF mandola, #2605, in Classic Sunburst, with hard shell case.
$1645 at our Discount Price, or $1596 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7855 Kentucky (new) KM-630 A-Style mandolin, #080119-1, with hard shell case.
$684 at our Discount Price, or $664 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7853 Kentucky (new) KM-161 A-Style mandolin, #080321-1, each with hard shell case.
Each is $329 at our Discount Price, or $319 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7851 Kentucky (new) KM-140S A-Style mandolin, #080221-2, with hard shell case.
$274 at our Discount Price, or $266 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7880 Kentucky (new) KM-1000 F-Style mandolin,#08040182, tobacco sunburst, with hard shell case.
Kentucky Mandolins has truly outdone itself with this honored KM-1000 model. Largely hand-made by a dedicated group of trained luthiers, this instrument reflects a level of attention to detail seldom seen in instruments of its price range. The crème bound glossy black headplate hosts a “The Kentucky” pearl inlaid logo and a standard powerflot decoration. It’s tuners are silvered, etched and each shaft bears a pearloid button; the top is closed-grained carved spruce with considerable cross-grain; the crème and black bound sides, double-bound neck and single-ply bound back are highly figured maple, the tailpiece is silvered, slide-on, and etched with a floral pattern and with a script “Kentucky” logo. The dotmarker inlaid, crème bound ebony fingerboard carries a 9 fret extension; the bridge is ebony, two-piece and adjustable. The sound and the appearance of prewar verisimilitude are remarkable for its modest price. Compared to F-5 mandolins in the $791 to $1400 range, this one’s a knockout. This KM-1000 with hard case is only $1627 at our Discount Price, or $1579 at our Cash Discount Price.
78-7823 Phoenix (new) Unicorn Commemorative mandolin , #498, with hard shell case.
Something completely special and different from the owner/maker of Phoenix mandolins and the former owner/maker of Unicorn mandolins in the '70s and '80s. Beautiful, and superb sounding. $3,711 or, at our cash discount price, $3,600
78-7191 Eastman (new) MDA615CS Mandola, a Florentine model, with the large body scroll and two points on the treble side, with matching headstock.
We present a fine effort to recreate the extremely rare H-5 mandola of the Lloyd Loar Era, originally made 1922 to 1924. Tuned ADGC (high to low) the mandola, the tenor banjo and the tenor guitar share the same range, adding a dimension of breadth and depth to your instrumental ensemble. $1645 or at our cash discount price $1596.
78-7172 and 78-7173 Eastman (new) MD815V F-Style Mandolin, Oil Varnish finish with an Adirondack spruce top, #2560-1MB and #2561, each with plush lined hard shell case.
We saw these for the first time at the NAMM Show in January – an all solid wood varnish finish Florentine mandolin with crème-black binding on the top, sides, back , fingerboard and headstock, an ebony headstock overlay, an ebony truss rod cover, 6 abalone moon inlays in a scooped peninsula bound ebony fingerboard, a two piece carved ebony bridge, and a gold-plated proprietary tailpiece. The neck is V-shaped with an ebony central laminate down the back (for strength as well as beauty). The f-holes are unbound, the Cremona brown sunburst yellow to brown, the back and sides are fantastically figured and formidably flamed. The sound is superlative, the playability positively pleasing. The Eastman List is $1950, and yet our discount price is just $1560.
78-7132 Flatiron (new) Festival F-2 mandolin, in Cremona Sunburst, DW07060031, an F-5 style mandolin with no carrying case - (we recommend the Levy’s/Mandolin Bros. zipper gigbag as an add-on).
This revival of the Flatiron name, by Gibson, is presently produced in China at a level of production quality that, for its reasonable price, will command your attention. They call it an “F-2” but really it’s a version of Gibson’s famous F-5 model. It has a solid spruce top that’s close-grained and pretty in a crème-to-brown “Vanilla Wafer” sunburst, a two-piece adjustable ebony bridge, a slide-on “The Flatiron” tailopiece cover, a double-bound pickguard, top, back and headplate, a “scooped” fingerboard extension, and an ivoroid, inlaid fleur-de-lis on the black headplate overlay. The back is two-piece in dramatic figured maple, the sides are more widely flamed and pretty and the neck is one-piece and only mildly flamed. One presumes from the sticker on the pickguard that only the top and neck are solid. Somebody might want to tell the person who types the model on the interior label that the name is “Festival” and not “Festivoil.” On the other hand, if he or she ever gets it right, the error could some day make this early example collectible. The Flatiron List is $1332. Your own cost, however, is only $799 or, at our cash discount price, $775.
15-5087 Collings (new) MF-5 Deluxe Varnish f-style mandolin, #F666,
one of the world’s finest mandolins, made in an oil-based varnish finish with a classic Cremona sunburst finish. It is fully carved top and back, and the top is select “Red” spruce while the sides and back are exquisitely figured (almost quilted) maple. The fingerboard is radiused, the body, neck and peghead are triple-bound with grained ivoroid and added black/white purfling. The polished headplate with its flourish of Victorian flora features the mother-of-pearl Collings logo and Waverly brand (super expensive) tuners. It has the ever popular floating ebony pickguard, hand-engraved Collings tailpiece and a fine hard shell case. $11,970 or, at our cash discount price, $11,610.
48-3444 Collings (new) MF-5 mandolin #F435, in Cremona sunburst finish, with hard shell plush lined case.
$7,423 or at our cash discount price $7,200
15-6787 Kentucky (new) KM-1000 Master Model Mandolin, #07110133, Cremona sunburst, with the Model CD1520 hard shell Golden Gate case.
Kentucky Mandolins has truly outdone itself with this honored KM-1000 model. Largely hand-made by a dedicated group of trained luthiers, this instrument reflects a level of attention to detail seldom seen in instruments of its price range. The crème bound glossy black headplate hosts a “The Kentucky” pearl inlaid logo and a standard powerflot decoration. Tuners are silvered, etched and each shaft bears a pearloid button; the top is closed-grained carved spruce with considerable crossgrain; the crème and black bound sides, double-bound neck and single-ply bound back are highly figured maple, the tailpiece is silvered, slide-on, and etched with a floral pattern and script “Kentucky.” The dotmarker inlaid, crème bound ebony fingerboard carries a 9 fret extension; the bridge is ebony, two-piece and adjustable. The sound and the appearance of prewar verisimilitude are remarkable for only $1627 or, at our cash discount price, $1579.
15-6959 The Nao (new) Model NF5V #019136 with black glossy Eastman type form fitting hard shell case.
THE TIME IS NAO! This mandolin is made by one of Japan's leading mandolin makers, a luthier who has built over 200 mandolins. This is a highly traditional model, tone bar braced and largely based on the teachings of Lloyd A. Loar. As Roger Siminoff says in his famous article about the illustrious builder: "Lloyd Allayre Loar's contribution to stringed musical instruments ranks in the high order of the musical genius of Antonius Stradivarius, Orville Gibson, Leo Fender, and Christian Martin." It is good, then, that Mr. Naoki Yusukawa, who works in Gifu, located in south central Japan, in roughly the same position that in the USA Texas is located, has used the mandolin of 1922 to 1924 as his paradigm.His instrument is gracefully and proficiently fabricated, utilizing white-black-white purfling on top, sides, back, fingerboard and headstock (including both headplate and side), having a carved top of select Sitka spruce which is parallel grained with eddies of medulary rays at the treble f-hole, a carved back of intensely flamed tiger stripe maple with wood equal to it on the sides and back of neck. He utilizes striped ebony for the back plate on back of the pointed and scrolled headstock, and supplies a filigreed border slide-on tailpiece cover that is shiny nickel plated with "Nao Mandolin" engraved, at an angle. The ebony veneered headplate is inlaid "The Nao" in pearl with a stylized and beautiful butterfly inlay below designed by Mr. Nao's wife, Yuki. Below that is an abalone truss rod cover with swirls of color. This is a tone-bar braced mandolin, for power and projection, and the end of the dotmarker inlaid ebony fingerboard is scooped after the 22nd fret so that your plectrum will not have to suffer the indignity of contact with the peninsula (perish the thought). The pickguard is ebony, triple bound, and properly petite. The bridge is carved of ebony and two piece adjustable. The f-holes are unbound and free. Tuners are Elite with engraving and ivoroid buttons. A player that uses a Nao mandolin is Katsuyuki Miyazaki who plays in the band Blue Moon. The sound is quite remarkable for a new mandolin. You'll be impressed. In every way this instrument preserves the best features of the distant past with the professionalism and accuracy of the modern maker. $5671 or, at our cash discount price, $5500.
78-7263 Weber (new) Y2K teardrop shaped mandolin, matte natural finish, #865301, with hard shell case.
The Weber List Price is only $1129 so one can imagine how comfortable our Discount Price and Cash Discount Price might be.
15-6924 Gibson 1915 A-4 mandolin, blackface, #20563, which is in very good plus condition with original black hard shell case.
This is the standard A-4 of its time, the top of the line teardrop shaped oval hole mandolin, having deluxe features such as an ivoroid bound soundhole, an oval rosette made up of rope marquetry (with black and crème on each side), then celluloid, then a repeating triple rope pattern. The crème celluloid bound ebony, dotmarker inlaid fingerboard has 10 frets to the body joint and 24 frets in total, the last three of which are partials. The original “Pat.Mar.30, ‘09” elevated tortoise celluloid pickguard is cut away for the one-piece ebony bridge with the four removable ebony saddles, and the adjustable side clamp bears the “Pat. July 4, 1911” stamp. Much has been done to this mandolin in the past – it has, perhaps 50 or 60 years ago, been professionally “restored” by a careful and competent repair person. Here’s what he did: new nut, new frets, new (shorter than standard) brace under the top beneath the bottom of the soundhole, a mahogany shim was placed under the fretboard and the celluloid grained ivoroid binding on all three sides of the fingerboard replaced, and it was entirely over sprayed in a somewhat gloopy fashion. The mandolin presently shows finish checking overall – an over sprayed finish that is alligatored so much so that there are some surfaces that are dull from case contact, body contact, crazing and impure thoughts. There is finger wear behind the neck, mainly in the lower positions, crazing on both sides of the ebony overlaid headstock that bears “The Gibson” in inlaid yellow pearl and a large fleur-de-lis flower. The Handel tuners are each individually inlaid, on each side, with a pearl and nickel-silver flower. The neck is a three-piece laminate, the center stripe being pear wood, and the back of the headstock is finished in black and comes down to a widow’s peak. Top and back are bound in crème celluloid, it retains its “The Gibson” tailpiece cover with floral pattern and also its ebony tailpin with pearl dot. Overall this mandolin shows normal light scratches and dings but it also displays one short but dramatic dent in the top to the left of the bass side bridge base that resulted in a mostly innocuous 1” long crack in the top at the site of the impact. There are, as well, indications of fret wear, a flattening of the frets in the lower positions with visible divots. Our workshop will have performed their professional fret dress (and the short but sensuous dance that goes with it), put glue into that open crack. . $3190 or, at our cash discount price, $3095
15-6836 and 15-6837 Eastman (new) VL105 Violin, ISI-1781 and ISI-1780, with semi hard shell zipper closure case, and bow.
$619 or, at our cash discount price $600.
15-6863 Eastman (new) MD-815 Classic sunburst finish, F-style mandolin, #2239, with semi-hard shell (fabric over balsa with a zipper closure).
This Lists for $1950 but your own cost is only $1560 with a cash discount price of $1513.
15-6854 Gold Tone (new) GM-6 Six-string A-style mandolin-guitar, #2710320, sunburst, with a zipper gigbag.
A very unusual instrument from the folks in Florida import their instruments from that age-old supplier of American fretted instruments, um, China. This is an “octave guitar” measuring 26 ¾” in total length, 10 ½” in body width at widest part, having a nut width of 1 9/16th”, a hand-filling C-shaped neck, a scale length of 13 7/8” and a bridge spacing of 1 15/16th” on the bone or micarta saddled two-piece ebony-esque adjustable bridge. The ivoroid bound fingerboard appears to be rosewood and is inlaid with 6 diminutive ivoroid dotmarkers; the top is bordered in ivoroid and black, the sides just in a line of black; the headstock is unbound, overlaid in black veneer and bears the Gold Tone logo with a fleur-de-lis inlaid there under. The slide on traditional mandolin style tailpiece cover has floral engraving at the top edge; the twin f-holes are unbound, the fingerboard is built up to a full half inch height off the face; the tuners are unsigned Kluson replicas with small metal buttons. The top is solid, wide-grained spruce, and the back and sides are laminated fancy flame maple. It has twenty full frets plus 3 partials. The sound is actually quite good – it is crispy, clear, loud and clean and makes the perfect accompaniment to James Taylor’s “Something in the Way She Moves” as sung on helium. It would also be great fun on trips, or to play while waiting for the traffic light to change to green. With the gigbag, $358 at our discount price, $347 at our cash discount price.
15-6787 Kentucky (new) KM-1000 professional quality Master Model Mandolin, in Cremona Sunburst, #07080114, with hard shell case.
The Kentucky List Price is now $2104.95 including the CD-1520 hard shell case. Your cost is $1627 or, at our cash discount price, $1579.
15-6480 Washburn (circa 1895) Cremonatone Neapolitan mandolin, #213888, Style 259, incredibly fancy, in very good condition with newer plush lined hard shell case.
The mandolin spread before us is one of the fancier models of Washburn turn-of-the-century bowlback. It has a fingerboard that is entirely covered in a veritable aurora borealis of multi-colored abalone, etched and blackened on frets 5,7,10 and 12 with Victorian era illustrations, a mother of pearl bordered oval soundhole – said hole is, itself, bound in grained ivoroid, then there’s a ring of checkerboard, a crème and then a red wood purfling line, the pearl, and the pattern is reversed. Below said soundhole is a 5 3/8” wide, 2 ½” high inlaid tortoise shell or celluloid pickguard that is, in turn, inlaid with a sweeping flourish of ferns. Below that is the carved and elegant ebony bridge, with four dots and an arrowhead on each side of the base, and a fret wire saddle, and below that is an easy-open crown shaped tailpiece cover that is heavily engraved with a floral cameo, vines and a hummingbird. The face of the mandolin is bordered with three contiguous rings of checkerboard wood marquetry. The back of the headstock bears a nickel-plated cover that is, as well, etched in floral filigree with a vertical cameo filled with flowers at its center and a banner reading “Washburn” through the cameo. The back of the bowl is comprised of an expanse of Brazilian rosewood including continuous ivory or ivoroid border, 34 rosewood ribs each separated by a line of maple, and crème-red-crème purfling surrounding. The back of the neck is mahogany, and it bears a lovely little carved volute, or hand stop. The face of the mandolin is bound in ivory or ivoroid with crème and black lines. We should point out that the tuners have been replaced with modern F-style staggered tuners with pearloid buttons whose gear box is just slightly bigger than the originals they replace and so the fancy cover on back of headstock is lifted slightly. There is just the hint of a separation of the rosewood on the back just below the neck-to-body joint (center of back), There’s a 4 1/3” repaired crack from the bottom purfling to the bottom edge of the tortoise pickguard – well repaired and touched up but visible. The action is a bit high but not elevated enough to make it impossible to play up to the 10th fret where the neck joins the body, and there is a rise in the fingerboard over the body which is not resolvable (with the fingerboard being wall-to-wall abalone you can’t plane and refret the board. This rise in the board is causing the mandolin to “fret out,”, meaning that the strings buzz against the frets when played above the 10th fret. This is regrettably not something we can fix. The top of the mandolin is flexing a bit - it rises at the soundhole and declines under the bridge and at the base of the fingerboard. There is no way to lower the action since the bridge is as low as it can go – it is not easy to play. Our repair staff states that there is nothing at all we can do to help this mandolin beyond the excellent set-up it has received. It is what it is, “sell it ‘as is’” they say. And yet it is exceedingly beautiful, it comes from a good family with a fine heritage, and WAS priced at only $1907 but is NOW ON SALE (big time) at $1650 at our discount price, $1600 at our Cash Discount Price.
15-6743 Gibson (used, 1929) Style F-2 mandolin, #89433, in excellent condition with adjustable truss rod and original pink-lined form fitting “red line” black tolex covered hard shell case.
The Gibson F-2 was one under the top of the Mandolin line until 1922 when Gibson superseded the one above it, the F-4 with the F-5. So by 1922 it was the third from the top of the line. That’s still okay since it is a beautiful thing, having the large Florentine body scroll on the bass side and two points on the treble side, crème top binding, with a matching point and two scrolls on the headstock. This one is all original having the dark yellow tuning buttons, open-gear tuners with twin floral engraved nickel-plated four-on-a-plate plates, a moderately figured maple back whose grain can be easily seen and more plain maple sides, with a carved spruce with close grain and plenty of medulary rays, shaded to yellowish at center, beneath the fancy ebony-ivoroid, rope and ebony on each side of a celluloid center rosette and a crème bound oval soundhole. It has an ebony board inlaid with 7 inlaid mother of pearl dots, a two piece ebony adjustable bridge with the Pat. Jan ’18, ’21 base, and a nickel-plated The Gibson with floral pattern slide-on tailpiece cover that bears the original owner’s jeweler-etched initials, small, in the lower right corner. These initials are “F. L. L.” and it is very tastefully done. There are small signs of the beginnings of oxidation to the elevated celluloid pickguard, especially under the side clamp and at the top metal connection into the fretboard end. In 1929 Gibson was using an L-bracket to connect pickguard to side, and not the adjustable clamp. The mandolin shows a few scratches and dings overall but not many. There appears to be the incipient suggestion of a typical separation at the headstock scroll but it has not gone beyond the top surface of the overlay, and an equally insignificant indication of a hairline coming up from the lower treble point on the face – also typical of this model. It is, however, overall cleaner than most. The original hard shell case has decal banners of New York University and Mt. Holyoke College (from the 1920s) on the lid; the belt-like handle is replaced. It has been $6,181 or at our cash discount price $5,995 but it is NOW ON SALE for $5,155 at our Discount Price, or $5,000 at our cash discount price.
15-6583 Neapolitan mandolin, whose label seems to say “Merillin” in script letters pressed into the wood on the neck block, but it’s really hard to make out, and then “New Model” and then a serial number of 4264, very good cosmetic condition with original canvas “end load” case.
This mandolin is extremely beautiful – even though its name is not known to many, it is truly a work of art. Its ebony fingerboard is saturated from first fret to the last full length fret with a glorious tree-of-life inlay pattern. Every fret has as few as 3 and as many as 5 individual pieces of inlaid highly colored pearl to form a magical vine. The headstock is inlaid to continue that vine, culminating in a sweeping arc of flowers. The tuners are recessed behind a floral engraved metal plate that is polished to shiny; its tuner buttons are mother of pearl with a non-removable brad on the end. The top is inlaid with black, then spruce, then checkerboard, then abalone, and then the outer border repeats the inner in reverse. The soundhole is capped in ivoroid and then bordered in the same marquetry and abalone; below the soundhole decoration is a large mother of pearl with abalone fern (or octopus) inlaid pickguard, to which two additional pieces of oddly shaped mother of pearl were added on the treble side, by a former owner who was evidently eroding the face by using a plectrum with reckless abandon. This is tastefully done but not symmetrical. The slide-down scalloped tailpiece cover is floral etched, lightly rusted from perspiration at the bottom, and a little bent up and out on the bottom side. There are professionally applied diamond shaped patches on the inside of the mandolin that keep what was at one time a back seam at the 10th rib from the bass side from re-opening. The bridge is ebony and ivory and bone and floating; there is back-of-neck wear especially on the sides at frets 5 and 6 (perhaps they used a capo). The screws at the top end of the back of the plate on reverse of headstock have caused incipient cracks at the “ears” above that plate. This is a 38-rib mandolin whose Brazilian rosewood sections are contrasted with one other by having a line of maple. The Brazilian is strikingly grained and beautiful. It shows, overall, signs of use and wear, binding oxidation. It is, very much, a lovely period piece that can either be perched with great pleasure on your mantelpiece and worshipped from afar or used, day to day, week to week, in the mandolin orchestra. We have installed a new set of Thomastic light gauge strings and it is ready for the races. $1547 or, at our cash discount price, $1500.
15-6025 Breedlove (used, circa 2003) “Alpine” mandolin, #7303, in excellent plus condition with original hard shell case.
This is a fairly fancy variation based on a theme of the snakehead type A-style mandolin that’s dressed up, made up, and ready for professional use. The Alpine has an abalone “flying B”-for-Breedlove peghead logo, a colorful abalone flower inlaid there under in a black overlay bordered in crème ivoroid with a black underlay. The ebony fingerboard is inlaid with 7 pearl dots and bound in grained ivoroid with a black line under it. The bridge is two- piece ebony and adjustable, the tailpiece is Monteleone style in gold plate. Twin, unbound, s-shaped soundholes are centered on the east and west side of the top which is black line and ivoroid bound; flame maple sides are likewise bordered and the two-piece back of figure maple is deliciously pretty and bordered in black and ivoroid. The heel cap is ivoroid, end piece is ebony and tuners are Schaller, gold colored with engraving and ivoroid buttons. It sounds great. When new these list for $5329. This WAS $3,397 but is NOW ON SALE for $3191 or at our cash discount price $3,095
Breedlove announces the new 2007 model Radim Zenkl model mandola:
The specs are as follows: Voiced K-body shape with F holes, Tone bar bracing, arched top and back, it’s a 4-string mandola tuned to CGDA Fifths, utilizing nickel wound strings. It comes with a custom humbucker pickup, it has a block inlay pattern with “Z” split block at the 12th fret to maximize high performance, it has a custom tailpiece and provides the player a comfortable, fast-playing, hand rubbed neck. The Manufacturer’s Retail Price is $2929 and you may phone for our price, waiting time and how you can obtain one.
15-5087 Collings (new) MF5 Deluxe Varnish mandolin, #F666, with hard shell form fitting plush lined case.
About this mandolin the maker says: The Collings MF5 Deluxe V has a fully carved top and back and is crafted with a seasoned select Red spruce top and maple back and sides with tone bars. A radiused fingerboard extends to the 22nd fret with a graceful extension that compliments the headstock. The top, sides, back, neck, and peghead are triply-bound with grained ivoroid binding and added black/white purfling. A mother-of-pearl Collings logo and hand-etched inlay adorn the headstock which is fitted with Waverly silvery tuners. The finish is an oil-based varnish in the classic Cremona sunburst. Additional appointments include a floating ebony pickguard with matching ivoroid-ebony binding and purfling and a unique hand-engraved Collings tailpiece with Victorian era floral work. The woods on the sides, back and neck are so flamed as to invoke second degree thoughts of maple lust; the complex and convoluted fern on the headstock is pumped and prodigious, as if having just consumed a plate of snails. There is considerable cross-grain (silking) in the Adirondack top, and the sound that emits from that top is deep, throaty, barky and profoundly articulate, much like the Texan force of nature who designed it. It is modestly priced, for something of its supreme quality. $11,970 at our discount price, or $11,610 at our cash discount price.
15-6535 Big Muddy (new) M-1W mandolin, #0010, with top binding, mahogany and spruce with zipper gig bag.
Formerly called Mid-Missouri. The MSRP is $718 and you may ask us the revealing question “what’s my deal?”
15-5469 Eastman “Bluegrass Violin Outfit,” Model VL-105, Size 4/4, ISI-1721, in dark violin amber finish, with semi-hard shell zippered and latched case including a K. Holtz Carbon fibre bow.
This one’s completely in left field – betcha never thought we’d offer a new fiddle. Neither did we, but we saw this at a NAMM show and were taken by its warm, strong yet mellow tone, pulsating projection, easy playability, monumentally good looks, the fact that it’s all solid wood, that it was designed for the bluegrass player and not necessarily for the classical student. It has an Aubert – Made in France -- birds eye maple bridge, individual fine-tuners for each string, a fine set of violin strings that are color coded on the headstock end, an ebony chin rest (in one-size-fits-all Medium), two elegantly cut lower case f-holes in a solid close-grained carved spruce top with curly maple sides and back exhibiting some nice figure at the overhanging edges, a maple neck that’s faux-unfinished at the center to emulate years of intense practicing (so you won’t have to), and four ebony tapered friction tuners that properly balance the impressive, timeless authority of the ram’s horn scroll headstock. The case is burgundy velvet lined with storage compartments and a silken style sheath that covers the instrument’s frontal resplendence when you are ready to rest. This violin celebrates professionalism and is simultaneously fine enough and inexpensive enough to make you want to take up the fiddle. Instrument, case and bow deeply at the end of the performance for only $619 or, at our cash discount price, $600.
48-4327 Mark Bluett (new) F-5 Mandolin, #J002, in dark sunburst, with hard shell case.
Mark Bluett knows how to do it – he has shipped us a stunningly beautiful F-5 mandolin that has many wonderful features and exquisite sound quality. One immediately visible feature is that the peninsula end of the fingerboard is scalloped in steps – after the 22nd there’s a small step down and then a platform that you could schedule a fashion show on (for well-dressed rug mites). All of this is bound in crème and the brown-streaked ebony fret board is inlaid in 6 positions with etched diamonds (in 5 frets) and a flourish of colored pearl at the 12th. The crème bound scrolly and pointy headstock is inlaid with a gothic B in a circle, just like to door on the castle at the top of the hill, and there under is an intertwining fern and staff figure in abalone and pearl with a mother of pearl truss rod cover that will make the new owner of this mandolin feel like a king or queen. Tuners are high quality Schaller with gold plating and pearloid buttons while the tailpiece is Monteleone style, easily loaded (just like uncle Roy) and it hosts an ebony butt-pin with a gold circle and a mother of pearl dot. The face is a festival of finely figured spruce, gracefully carved like great archtop instrument needs to be, and the back is a forest of tiger-figured fiddle-back maple, with a neck to match and somewhat wider figure on the sides. Top and back are bordered in crème and black, and all of the workmanship is fried to perfection and basted with a perfect Bermuda honey sun-dried tomato brioche nitro-cellulose lacquer crust. Mmmmm-mmmmm. Mandolin-o-philes will find this instrument to be clean, clear and carried a depth of tone and range that brings one back to the era of the original development of bluegrass music on the airwaves and on the wooden tongue-in-groove. Mark Bluett makes exquisite mandolins by hand in York, Pennsylvania. This one is no exception – the special appointments of his instruments are numerous – the stairstep-scalloped end, crème bound fingerboard with etched diamond inlays in positions 3,5,7, 10 and 15 with a flourish of pearl at 12th, the mother of pearl truss rod cover, the delicate intertwined floral abalone and pearl headplate inlay with the “B” in a cameo above, the engraved plate Schaller tuners with the pearloid buttons, the Monteleone-style gold plated tailpiece, the hand-carved two piece ebony bridge, the crème-black-crème top and back binding with the single-ply side bnding, the incredibly flamed maple two-piece back, curly maple sides and one-piece neck are all elements of elegance and beauty to which we can easily become accustomed. The sound is remarkable – it barks like the big dogs and conveys both the high and the lonesome to its fortunate owner/player. NOW ON SALE. It WAS $6186 with a cash price of $6000 but it is ON SALE for $5567 or, at our cash discount price, $5400.
48-3829 Phoenix (new) Ultra Mandolin, #387, reddish-brown sunburst, with rectangular hard shell case.
This is the fanciest Phoenix (rises from the ashes every day at 3:30 p.m.) we have ever encountered. You get not only an abalone top and back border but, instead of connecting at the neck in the old boring, same-as-everything-else way this abalone culminates in two little bent leaves. It is elegant touches like this that set the Phoenix apart from the rest of the 8-string tribe. The headstock is carved into the shape of a spread-winged Phoenix bird when he gets up in the morning and stretches out. Said bird is said to be “zoomorphic” by the builder, which sounds extremely impressive when used in passing conversation at a party (“have you noticed that the man over there looks vaguely zoomorphic?”) that means “having the form of an animal.” This abalone and mother-of-pearl facsimile of a rising Phoenix has an abalone crown inlaid underneath it and then a three-part trifurcated banner or ribbon. The fretboard is, in turn, inlaid with 17 more pieces of seventeen-furcated ribbon. The polished ebony pointy pickguard forms the shape of a primitive hatchet, and speaking of primitive, the bridge base for the two-piece adjustable bridge is made from Old Wood, that is, wood that was submerged under Lake Superior for 6,000 years (or maybe it’s only 600) while waiting for the primordial soup to congeal. The maker, Rolfe Gerhardt, says that on this top-of-the-pinnacle pierogi he uses the very best red spruce and red maple that Mooney, his assistant, can buy, he uses extended tone bars with graduation for fuller sound using medium gauge strings, a Price tailpiece, a mother-of-pearl heel cap and a McIntyre Feather pickup with an end-pin jack. The back of the neck, sides and the two-piece back are a tiger’s worth of striped maple, and the Waverly tuners are heavily etched and equally heavily gold-plated with ebony buttons. The sound is quite amazing. $9500 or, at our cash discount price, $9215.
88-2790 Gibson (used, 1908) A-Style Mandolin, #11507, blonde top, brown sides & back, in overall very good plus condition, with original hard shell case.
When we got it there was a separation on back and front of headstock (an active crack) and, oh yes, the fingerboard was lifting. In addition, it needed to be cleaned out and humidified. There is, as well, an old repair on the neck heel, the bass side was touched up and its side clamp has been replaced. Nevertheless, it is what we call “a good one.” $1541 or, at our cash discount price, $1495
MORGAN MONROE MANDOLINSWe have a huge selection of mandolins including a brand called Morgan Monroe which makes fine inexpensive F-models. Here are a few – each one comes with hard shell case. You can find information about them at: http://www.morganmonroe.com/morgan_mms.html Or just click on http://www.morganmonroe.com
88-2602 Morgan Monroe (new) MMS-6 Cherry finish, tiger maple:
$1165 or, at our cash discount price, $1130.
88-2913 Eastman (new) 814, #NS0501, dark sunburst, a modern recreation of an old F-4, Florentine Oval Hole,
having a magnificent crème-ebony-ivoroid diamond pattern soundhole rosette, with hard shell case. Behold a new model, last seen on the market around 1940, with the melodic, folksy tone of the non-f hole instrument, differing from the original in having the longer neck with 12 frets before the body joint, with a chrome plated one-piece tailpiece, a bound ebony scooped-end fingerboard (said board has white-black on the sides) with abalone inlays in five positions, a white-black bound headstock with the gold Eastman script logo, high quality, engraved plate pearloid button tuners, crème-black top, sides, and back purfling, with ebony adjustable bridge and tail pin and a highly figured two-piece back with an equally figured one-piece maple neck. This mandolin has a very low comfortable action and plenty of room on the bridge to both raise and lower the action. Your cost is $1809 or at our cash discount price $1755.
88-1133 Kentucky (new) KM-750 F-Style, #03050041Y, sunburst, with hard shell case.
While the list price is $1224, this is available to you at the discount price of $946 or, at our cash discount, price $918
83-3863 Mid-Missouri (new) M-2 Lefty Flat Mandolin 4639 with a gig bag.
The Manufacturer has sets his Suggested Retail Price at $620. Contact us in the conventional ways for real price information. Righties – call us up and ask us which righty Mid-Mo mandolins we presently have!
83-8418 Weber (new) Sage 2 Octave Mandolin, 120406, H.
Between this tenor voice of the plectral choir and the leetle feller that follows (the Mid-Mo Kid-Mo) you get the long and the short of it. This is the long drink ‘o’ water, being 37” in total length and having a 23 ½” scale. It also has a gracefully curved and elegant Brekke bridge with removable ebony saddle. The body top and back are each bound in three-ply ivoroid and ebony with ivoroid outermost, while the diamond inlaid black ebony board is bound in single ivoroid. An ebony headplate is inlaid with the 1890s font Weber logo and a suitably complicated Celtic Knot. Tailpiece is the new Weber “W” embossed matte finish metal and tuners are pearled buttoned Schallers with engraved plates. An Octave Mandolin differs from a bouzouki in many ways, but one of them is that the strings are tuned in unisons, GDAE, same notes as a mandolin but an octave lower. This is the mysterious voice you have heard at those moments of intense déjà vu but never known what instrument was supplying the soundtrack. You may call, write, fax or email for your own discounted pricing structure.
83-8704(5529) Weber (new) Alder 2 mandola, 07203, H.
Similarly appointed to the Aspen model mandolin above, the mandola is, of course, bigger bodied, longer scale, and with a voice lower pitched by half an octave. This Model 2 has a maple neck instead of mahogany, and ivoroid/black/ivoroid bindings. It's classy and great sounding but very affordable. Call or email us for price and availability.
83-5319 Weber Bridger Octave Mandolin, 001202, H.
One of our favorite of Weber's designs the Bridger is one of their most original. Having an actual carved top and back, S-shaped adjustable ebony bridge with removable saddle, black-white-black bound peghead, top and back, and a very unusual "three-sided" oval soundhole, the Bridger makes us think of springtime in the Rockies. Or rock time in the Springies. We have oft said that the sound of a Bridger combines the timbre of the mid-'20s snakehead with the bark of the Roaring Loar. Call or email us for price and availability.
Phoenix (new) Bluegrass (Model) Mandolin, sunburst, H.
This model has proven to be the hottest selling new mandolin we've had the pleasure of stocking in a long time. Though non-traditional in appearance, its two-shoulder-point body is somewhat similar to the old Gibson A-5 Florentine that Jethro Burns made famous, but there the similarity ends since this mandolin has twin f- holes, Jethro's was an oval. Rolf Gerhardt carves the tops and backs of his mandolins like a fine violinmaker, graduating their thickness and arch to sonic perfection. in addition, his use of space-age carbon graphite reinforcement in the neck and tone bars results in a lightweight, physically balanced instrument that is responsive and really loud. The finest curly maple and spruce is chosen; body, neck and headstock are fully bound in grained ivoroid, fingerboard inlays are large abalone dots, and the headstock is crowned with Rolf's trademark phoenix in abalone. The sound combines the best attributes of the prewar F-5 with an articulate high end response and punch that is palpable. CALL or email US FOR OUR PRICE and availability. This model is usually in stock.
If you would like more information on MANDOLIN BROTHERS' products and services, please write, phone, fax or email to mandolin@mandoweb.com.
