vinceherman
Well-known member
I inherited this 8-string from my Grandfather.
He always claimed it was older than he was and he was born in 1905. If any of you have any information on the make, age or any information, I sure would love to hear it.
The label is gone, except for one tiny piece with no text on it. It is 15” scale, which puts it in the Concert size right? I thought that older instruments were more likely to be soprano. I do not know if the pegs are original. The peg knobs look to be plastic. I won’t be offended if you tell me Grandpa’s story is iffy. But if you have any relevant info, let me know!
It was unplayable when I got it. The side had some splits that allowed the neck to bend where it attached to the body. There were also a number of other woes. 6 months ago I took it to my trusted luthier (Martins Violin in Canton OH).
I asked for one of 2 fixes:
Make it playable if you can
Otherwise, make it pretty for a conversation piece
He did make it playable
• Bridge broken off – improper glue cleaned from previous repair and reattached
• Cracks front, back and side – cracks with no prior repair were straight forward to address. One crack on the top had improper glue from previous repair. This cleaning effort was more difficult and left a visible seam at the repair.
• Loose rib - glued
• Last fret lost – replaced
• 2 loose frets had been repaired with small nails – nails removed and frets properly seated
• Head cracked - glued
• Bits of rope binding missing – replaced
• 2 sets of Martin Soprano strings installed
He said that he sees nothing to indicate that the construction is newer than Grandpa’s story.
I have no idea what the instrument might be worth and I likely paid more than that for the repairs ($300). But sentiment has a large value here and I am glad that I have it playable. But if you have ideas on value, I would still like to hear them.
It is currently tuned for GGCCEEAA. I did buy some strings to try gGcCEEAA but I will hold off until I get the current set stretched in so I can play it a while. I want to get a feel for it before I try different tunings.
The intonation is not perfect. But honestly, I play down close to the nut almost all the time and the intonation is close enough there. At least for now, when I am still trying to retune 8 strings repeatedly while the strings stretch in. How does it go? Half my time tuning and the other half playing out of tune? With 8 strings, I am not sure that ratio is enough.
If any other pics will help with identification, just say so.
He always claimed it was older than he was and he was born in 1905. If any of you have any information on the make, age or any information, I sure would love to hear it.
The label is gone, except for one tiny piece with no text on it. It is 15” scale, which puts it in the Concert size right? I thought that older instruments were more likely to be soprano. I do not know if the pegs are original. The peg knobs look to be plastic. I won’t be offended if you tell me Grandpa’s story is iffy. But if you have any relevant info, let me know!
It was unplayable when I got it. The side had some splits that allowed the neck to bend where it attached to the body. There were also a number of other woes. 6 months ago I took it to my trusted luthier (Martins Violin in Canton OH).
I asked for one of 2 fixes:
Make it playable if you can
Otherwise, make it pretty for a conversation piece
He did make it playable
• Bridge broken off – improper glue cleaned from previous repair and reattached
• Cracks front, back and side – cracks with no prior repair were straight forward to address. One crack on the top had improper glue from previous repair. This cleaning effort was more difficult and left a visible seam at the repair.
• Loose rib - glued
• Last fret lost – replaced
• 2 loose frets had been repaired with small nails – nails removed and frets properly seated
• Head cracked - glued
• Bits of rope binding missing – replaced
• 2 sets of Martin Soprano strings installed
He said that he sees nothing to indicate that the construction is newer than Grandpa’s story.
I have no idea what the instrument might be worth and I likely paid more than that for the repairs ($300). But sentiment has a large value here and I am glad that I have it playable. But if you have ideas on value, I would still like to hear them.
It is currently tuned for GGCCEEAA. I did buy some strings to try gGcCEEAA but I will hold off until I get the current set stretched in so I can play it a while. I want to get a feel for it before I try different tunings.
The intonation is not perfect. But honestly, I play down close to the nut almost all the time and the intonation is close enough there. At least for now, when I am still trying to retune 8 strings repeatedly while the strings stretch in. How does it go? Half my time tuning and the other half playing out of tune? With 8 strings, I am not sure that ratio is enough.
If any other pics will help with identification, just say so.
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