mlochm - Posted - 01/01/2011:  09:15:29

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I inherited this mando from my grandmother who inherited it from hers I believe. It is 100+ years old and sounds wonderful to my ears... It needs a little repair though to make more playable. Any ideas on when/where it was made?

sorry for the bad PICS I'll take more when I get the chance...

OTbanjopicker - Posted - 01/01/2011:  14:38:54

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i'd say it was made between the 1920's and 1930's. that metal peice on the back of the head is interesting. i know blues players whom play electric guitars. ainly for startocasters use something simalar to that for some sort of tonal improvments.

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Edited by - OTbanjopicker on 01/01/2011 14:40:36

Jim Yates - Posted - 01/01/2011:  15:08:48

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My son has an old banjolin with plates on the back of the tuners. The headstock has been routed out to accomodate the mechanics of the tuners and they are almost flush with the back of the head. Are yours like this?

paire-berline - Posted - 01/01/2011:  17:43:15

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Any labels or writing on the inside? It's in the style of the old Gibson A models.

coelhoe - Posted - 01/01/2011:  18:21:20

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The peghead and body look like a Regal octave mando that I had. Made in Chicago. That sort of enclosed tuner is very early, probably before WW1.

mlochm - Posted - 01/01/2011:  18:55:33

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quote:

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Originally posted by coelhoe

The peghead and body look like a Regal octave mando that I had. Made in Chicago. That sort of enclosed tuner is very early, probably before WW1.

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Yes my understanding is that it's old- I always assumed it was made in Ireland before my family came over but that's just a naive assumption.

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim Yates

My son has an old banjolin with plates on the back of the tuners. The headstock has been routed out to accomodate the mechanics of the tuners and they are almost flush with the back of the head. Are yours like this?

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yes that is exactly right... the machine head mechanics are all interior though I've never had the gumption to remove the plate perhaps I'll try-
the 'knobs' on the tuners have a grain which makes me think they are ivory?

quote:

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Originally posted by paire-berline

Any labels or writing on the inside? It's in the style of the old Gibson A models.

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I can't see any markings or writing anywhere- is there anywhere I should look other than in the sound hole?

My grandmother sent a post-it with what little info she had about the mando (this was 15 years ago) and it has since been lost in the haystack of time... I do know that it was always in the family, and that it is older than her. Her parents were my family's 1st generation to the USA from Ireland-I'm kicking myself that I lost the post-it as she just recently passed away (hence gettin' out the old mando)...

Thanks for all the info! I'll try to get better pics up soon.

coelhoe - Posted - 01/02/2011:  07:45:38

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I think it is a Regal. Originally there would have been a label inside the sound hole, but these often fell out. I don't believe there is any history of construction of these in Ireland.

The peghead, the body shape and top bend (below the bridge), and the sound hole are all just like the Regal.

mlochm - Posted - 01/02/2011:  14:19:21

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quote:

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Originally posted by coelhoe

I think it is a Regal. Originally there would have been a label inside the sound hole, but these often fell out. I don't believe there is any history of construction of these in Ireland.

The peghead, the body shape and top bend (below the bridge), and the sound hole are all just like the Regal.

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Hmm- i googled for several hrs and came up with this which does have the same tailpieceantebelluminstruments.blogspot...back.html

I'm gonna go shoot some pics outside...

mlochm - Posted - 01/02/2011:  16:27:42

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Here are a few better pics- the ones I put up before didn't really show the wood binding...

fairportmando - Posted - 01/03/2011:  11:57:39

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I agree that it is a Regal or one of the other Chicago makers (Harmony, Kay, etc.). If go go to Alan Bond's Mandolin Museum home.comcast.net/~ukecat/mando...dos4.html the Supertone (made by Harmony) shown on the page has exactly the same peg head as the one in your picture.

metalmando - Posted - 01/03/2011:  17:37:10

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Probably a Regal...or S.S. Stewart (which was probably made by Regal also <g>.)

SteRanCo - Posted - 07/26/2015:  21:12:22

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This is an old thread, but I'll give it a try anyway.

I had a mandolin that came to me from my grandfather. I never knew for sure what make it was, but I loved that mandolin. I was told it was purchased in the 1910's, but have no proof. My grandmother gave it to me after I showed an interest in learning to play -- thanks to seeing Seals and Crofts on a Saturday morning music show hosted by Mama Cass Elliot in 1969. Unfortunately the mandolin had been stored in an attic in southern Mississippi for decades, and nobody had thought to loosen the strings. The neck had partially separated from the body and there was a crack on the lower front. At the time I lived in Memphis and took it to Strings and Things for repair. It had no labels or identifying marks inside or out, but the guy who repaired and refinished it said it was a Gibson. Since then I've come to doubt that.

How does this relate to this thread? Well, your mandolin's headstock looks very much like the headstock on mine, especially in the hollowed out placement of the gears and an almost identical metal plate to hold them in. Also, the overlarge oval-ish tailpiece is the same. The differences are my mandolin had 2 points (albeit rounded points), f-holes, a raised lower fretboard, and a raised pick guard. Also, mine had plain white edging, and I think two dots at the octave. With the similarities, I'm thinking there's a good chance these two mandolins were different models from the same company.

I'm wondering if any of the obviously learned people on this board might know if any one company did the inset gear thing, or was that used by many companies? Maybe knowing this could narrow down the search.