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Vintage 1939-ish Dobro Resonator Mandolin with case
Estimated price for orientation: 699 $
Category: Mandolins
Class:
Description Brand: Dobro Number of Strings: 8 Body Style: A Style Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Here is a really nice Dobro resonator mandolin. No cracks, all original finish, recent professional setup, clean original Dobro decal. And it sounds fantastic. These are equipped with "spider" resonators, which produce a tone that is loud but mellow. Not to be confused with "biscuit" resonators which produce a brash, bright tone. I am frankly amazed at how good this thing sounds.It has normal signs of wear and age, including some crazing in the finish, scratches on the back, a few dings, and some tarnishing of the tuning machines and nickel-plated resonator cover (see pics). In other words, awesome patina!Playability is also excellent, with very low action (about the width of a quarter on the "G" strings at the 12th fret; less on the "E" strings).This mandolin was apparently sold through Montgomery Ward back in the 1930's. There is a "MONTGOMERY WARD" sticker inside. I searched the web and found scans of Montgomery Ward catalog pages from 1935/36 and 1939/40 showing nearly identical instruments. The 1939/40 model seems closest, differing only in the design of the holes in the resonator cover. So I'm guessing this is a late-30's Dobro made for Montgomery Ward.I read somewhere that the cutouts in the resonator cover are meant to look like stylized "M" or "W" initials for "Montgomery Ward". Not sure if this is true, but there it is.Overall length and width are 25.5" and 11", respectively. Scale length is 14" and nut width is just under 1 3/16".
Description
| Brand: | Dobro | Number of Strings: | 8 |
| Body Style: | A Style | Country/Region of Manufacture: | United States |
Here is a really nice Dobro resonator mandolin. No cracks, all original finish, recent professional setup, clean original Dobro decal. And it sounds fantastic. These are equipped with "spider" resonators, which produce a tone that is loud but mellow. Not to be confused with "biscuit" resonators which produce a brash, bright tone. I am frankly amazed at how good this thing sounds.It has normal signs of wear and age, including some crazing in the finish, scratches on the back, a few dings, and some tarnishing of the tuning machines and nickel-plated resonator cover (see pics). In other words, awesome patina!Playability is also excellent, with very low action (about the width of a quarter on the "G" strings at the 12th fret; less on the "E" strings).This mandolin was apparently sold through Montgomery Ward back in the 1930's. There is a "MONTGOMERY WARD" sticker inside. I searched the web and found scans of Montgomery Ward catalog pages from 1935/36 and 1939/40 showing nearly identical instruments. The 1939/40 model seems closest, differing only in the design of the holes in the resonator cover. So I'm guessing this is a late-30's Dobro made for Montgomery Ward.I read somewhere that the cutouts in the resonator cover are meant to look like stylized "M" or "W" initials for "Montgomery Ward". Not sure if this is true, but there it is.Overall length and width are 25.5" and 11", respectively. Scale length is 14" and nut width is just under 1 3/16".