Mandolin repair question - apologies if not the right place for this.

Ben_H

Ben_H

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So I've been offered a Giuseppe Valapiglia mandolin for £20 ($32). The lady has had it for 50 years apparently and never really played it.

It has a crack in the back that to my eye looks like it has been filled before. Can anyone offer me an opinion on whether it looks fixable or I should just avoid it like the plague? It also needs a new tuner.

I've attached a photo of the front too if anyone is interested.

Cheers

Ben

mandolin front.jpgMandolin back crack.jpg
 
The crack is fixable, any decent repairman can handle that.
The question is do you want to go down the road of restoring a vintage bowl back mandolin. These are sort of "out of time" unless you want to use it in a specific way, ie: not bluegrass.
 
David Newton said:
The crack is fixable, any decent repairman can handle that.
The question is do you want to go down the road of restoring a vintage bowl back mandolin. These are sort of "out of time" unless you want to use it in a specific way, ie: not bluegrass.
Click to expand...

Just fancied having a twang around at home really, something different to try. I've always fancied having a mandolin, somehow it's never happened though. Yet!
 
That is fixable. Too bad about that white junk that someone used. Is it rubbery? As in silicone rubber caulking compound?

The ribs shrunk across the grain resulting in that opening up. Best fix would be to carefully cut out whatever the filler is, try to see if the bowl can be tightened up to close the crack without too much pressure, and if so, glue with hot hide glue and while it's still in clamps, reinforce the repair from the inside. If it won't close, then replace that light colored wood filler strip with a new one that fits, or even laminate rosewood to a new filler strip of exactly the same original width and inlay that. French polish over, and it's done.

The repair will be more expensive than the mando, but what the hell...
 
I had this exact repair done on my great grandmother's mandolin. It was explained to me that there are A LOT of these old mandolins out there and unless one is a high quality instrument or has particular sentimental value the cost of the repair is much more than the value of the mandolin (as Rick says above). I was lucky that mine is both high quality and has sentimental value.....so I had mine repaired.

I find the body shape VERY awkward to hold, and the fretboard is so narrow that I have a hard time fretting it. However, they are sound monsters and can put off a ton of volume and mine has a full, rich sound.

Both the repairs and a tuner issue makes this a mandolin one which needs a lot of attention to become playable. It's up to you how much you want to put into it.
 
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I was given the exact same mando with the exact same problem. Although mine had not one biggish gapping wound but many small cracks, actually separations. They all closed fine with some Australian persuasion.
Inside was covered with some foreign news paper from memory.

I like the heat kinked tops of these, like the selmer/macaferri guitars

I agree with Ryan- VERY awkward to hold- think of an angry ovation guitar with a personal grudge against you. It may help if you wear Shakespearian tights like they did back in the bowl back lute days.
 
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Beau Hannam Ukuleles said:
I was given the exact same mando with the exact same problem. Although mine had not one biggish gapping wound but many small cracks, actually separations. They all closed fine with some Australian persuasion.
Inside was covered with some foreign news paper from memory.

I like the heat kinked tops of these, like the selmer/macaferri guitars

I agree with Ryan- VERY awkward to hold- think of an angry ovation guitar with a personal grudge against you. It may help if you wear Shakespearian tights like they did back in the bowl back lute days.
Click to expand...

I'll rest it on my codpiece then!
 
hoosierhiver said:
cracked me up!
Click to expand...

Sorry, had to google that one. I can now see where you're coming from.

Seriously though, I was looking at getting this as a bit of fun. Getting mixed messages here now and not so sure it's worth the hassle. Maybe I should wait a bit and see what else turns up that is more instantly playable.
 
Id easy buy it for $30, even if i already had one as they are simply nice to look at and these always seem to have an interesting story.

The thing will play fine with that crack in the back. Would look great on any wall at the very least.

That is an actually tortoise shell scratch plate by the way
 
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Ben_H said:
Sorry, had to google that one. I can now see where you're coming from.

Seriously though, I was looking at getting this as a bit of fun. Getting mixed messages here now and not so sure it's worth the hassle. Maybe I should wait a bit and see what else turns up that is more instantly playable.
Click to expand...

Buy it, they don't make those anymore.
 
I hadn't realised it was a bowl back. They look lovely and my Grandfather played one (that disappeared when my grandma died - love to have had that in my collection) But I agree about the awkwardness of playing bowl backs. I had a Suzuki Bowl Back a few years ago and ended up selling it to get a more manageable flat back. I'd not recommend a bowl back for a beginner. If you are more interested in actually playing the mandolin rather than having a pretty thing on the wall then I'd save your cash and put it to a good basic flat back mandolin.

I had this Mandolin for a while and it is a very serviceable instrument for a beginner. You can't buy direct from Hora, but their instruments are marketed in the UK under different names by companies such as Hobgoblin or Troubadour - Note the link to Troubadour shows a wonderful instrument they make that I own - a Tenor Mandola. The volume of this little baby is brilliant for acoustic sessions - it's a real jig & reel motor - but with the added electrics I imagine it's ideal for gigs. (I've only got the Acoustic Version). If you consider that instrument, mention my name (Berni in Catalonia) to David.

PS I note that the Hora line do not seem to form part of Hobgoblin's stock any more, but I left the link as they have a few other cheap Mandolins.

PPS The Cheapest Mandolin I've seen new is this one sold by Gear4Music - who I've dealt with successfully in the past. Nine Quid more than you were gonna spend on that bowl back and you've got a brand new bluegrass basic model :)
 
Barbablanca said:
I hadn't realised it was a bowl back. They look lovely and my Grandfather played one (that disappeared when my grandma died - love to have had that in my collection) But I agree about the awkwardness of playing bowl backs. I had a Suzuki Bowl Back a few years ago and ended up selling it to get a more manageable flat back. I'd not recommend a bowl back for a beginner. If you are more interested in actually playing the mandolin rather than having a pretty thing on the wall then I'd save your cash and put it to a good basic flat back mandolin.

I had this Mandolin for a while and it is a very serviceable instrument for a beginner. You can't buy direct from Hora, but their instruments are marketed in the UK under different names by companies such as Hobgoblin or Troubadour - Note the link to Troubadour shows a wonderful instrument they make that I own - a Tenor Mandola. The volume of this little baby is brilliant for acoustic sessions - it's a real jig & reel motor - but with the added electrics I imagine it's ideal for gigs. (I've only got the Acoustic Version). If you consider that instrument, mention my name (Berni in Catalonia) to David.

PS I note that the Hora line do not seem to form part of Hobgoblin's stock any more, but I left the link as they have a few other cheap Mandolins.

PPS The Cheapest Mandolin I've seen new is this one sold by Gear4Music - who I've dealt with successfully in the past. Nine Quid more than you were gonna spend on that bowl back and you've got a brand new bluegrass basic model :)
Click to expand...

Now who's tempting who :)
 
hoosierhiver said:
I've got an old mandolin like that, they used to call them "June bugs" or "Didddly bugs". I think the one I have is over 100 years old.
Click to expand...

Never heard one called any of those names but normally heard them referred to as "taterbugs." They are generally a shorter scale than the modern mandolin and are close in scale to a soprano uke. I think mine has a 13.25" scale.

If you're looking for an inexpensive mandolin that plays well then I'd suggest a Stradolin.
 
thistle3585 said:
Never heard one called any of those names but normally heard them referred to as "taterbugs." They are generally a shorter scale than the modern mandolin and are close in scale to a soprano uke. I think mine has a 13.25" scale.
Click to expand...

Taterbugs! that's the other slang term I couldn't think of.
 
Well I've bought it. £20 plus £5 delivery Pretty cheap for a cute objet d'art if repair fails ;o)
 
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