Photos of my new old Gibson mandolin

[dreadnut]

I love doing Copperhead Road on my mandolin!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

How is it that there are a surprising number of really old mandolins out there which I assume are all in playable condition?

Once upon a time, they were much more popular than guitars. In the teens and twenties, no one was buying guitars. Mandolins were the rage. There were whole mandolin orchestras. (Fiddles and banjos were huge, too.)

And Davisman is right, the smaller build is very stable — especially the neck. A mando that played well in 1920 is likely to play well today.

So there are a lot of old mandos out there that play well and sound great. I have one from the 1920s, and it's a little slice of heaven.

The prices are creeping up, though, so act now.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I love doing Copperhead Road on my mandolin!

Good one. I love doing "Dancing in the Street"!

 

[zulu]

"Try Hungarian Minor scales on your mandolin." a crusty old picker told me once. Check it out!

 

[JohnW63]

I just got my first mandolin, a nice little Breedlove. I can't " act now " , like a late night TV infomercial. I don't know enough, need one bad enough, or live by a good mandolin repair place to fix what 100 years of use wore out.