Mandolin made by Raffaele Tieri New York City, Circa 1930 Rather Clean, Plays Well, Loud as Sin!!!

Mandolin made by Raffello Tieri 35 Spring Street, New York City, Circa 1930'sThis mando is in very good condition. The neck is straight, has what I consider to be the correct amount of relief and plays quite well. The finish is original and while there is "honest" wear, the instrument overally is pretty free of abuse and dings. It has what I call a layer cake construction with a spruce top, one of side mahogany and another of maple. The back, sides and neck are also maple. The fretboad looks is rosewood. This mandolin really projects. It is extremely loud. Tonally there is not much low end to it but WOW, it's got high mids that go right through you. Everything about the mando is structurally sound. It is also labeledTieri was obviously looking to produce a wooden instrument that would give you some of the tone and projection associated with a banjo. That explains the circular body shape and resonator type consturction. Tieri was really successful. Martin, under the Paramount name, was trying the same thing at around the same time with a guitar. This piece has more of banjo shape and sound. Please look at all the pictures and comments below. if you have any questions please don't hesitate to drop me an email.

Pretty darn cool. I count up 27 graduated soundholes. Two strap buttons also. Notice them at 2 and 4 oclock on the bass side of the top layer. The mando is in very good shape but there is a top crack or two which I beleive has been repaired. They don't move at all but I can't get into this insturment to see if there is glue on the other side of the top. You can see the cracks clearly in this photograph. The come out of the pickguard extending to the top and bottom of the spurce top. Also you can see the one good gouge on the instrument. It is on the bass side of the spruce top near the edge, at 8 o'clock. Finally the bridge is a replacement and the cover for the string tailpiece is gone.
This image shows one of the cracks and the bridge. You can see the footpring of the original bridge. As the instrument is set up now, it plays in tune. You can also see here that there is some pick wear on the pickguard.This is the biggest gouge on the mando.This angle gives you a better view of it's "layer cake" style construction. Here are two shots of the label, I couldn't get all of it through the holes. On the left side of the label there is a photograph of a man (probably Tieri himself) holding a pretty normal looking archtop, f holed guitar. Because of the design of that guitar in the photo I feel this mandolin was made no earlier than 1928 or 30. I just don't know. If you took a look at the New York City directories you could find out how long Tieri was listed at the adress of 35 Spring Street. That is the adress given on the label. BTW, The adress of Tieri's shop was very close to that of John D'Angelico's. There must have been a little musician's district down there in Soho.Here is the tailpiece. As I said the cover is lost. I think soundholes show that the Tiger Maple secion is a actually laminated wood. I think everything else I think to be solid.
This photo shows more of the consturction. The top layer's sides are mahogany while the bottom is maple. Here is the heastock. The Tieri namplate is inlaid and so is the fleur des lis. I have see a virtally identical mandolin to this one with a differnt headstock inlay. Not that it matters much. I believe the headstock veneer is faded somewhat. I do figure the mandolin to be 80 years old so I call that "something to be expected" The headstock has a rather thick veneer wood on the top. It is almost the same thickness as the fretboard which in and of itself is quite thick. As I said, judging by the sides of this headstock, I think the front of this veneer is faded.As I said, the neck is good and straight.I measure the action at 5/64ths on the low G string at the 12th fret. The back of the neck has good honest wear to it. The finish here is rubbed off but the neck is smooth and feels like rock hard maple. It's tough to get wood like this now.Absolutely original tuners which work just fine.Original Hard case. I hope you like my double zip strip handle. There is a three day return period on the instrument. I have gone through great pains to give you all the ins and outs of this guitar. If it is other than described I will take it back.
If you buy it and then when you get it you decided that you wanted a Les Paul, that's not a reason for a return.
NO INTERNATIONAL RETURNS.
Return shipping must be paid by the buyer.Buyer pays the shipping. International Buyers should contact me to see if it will be possible to do the shipping and to get a price.
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We are located approximately 20 minutes north of NYC in Westchester County.
Buyers within New York State are subject to a 7-3/8% sales tax.
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You are purchasing this object from Post Road Gallery, Larchmont, NY. Established 195