A Couple "New" Mandos
 

Just got this old Regal resonator mandolin from a friend:





And this vintage banjolin:





both are from the 30's.

Sweet! I think they both sound great. I don't think the resonator would be too out of place in a big bluegrass jam. I'm always on the lookout for a good banjo mandolin but I have zero handyman skills and most of the ones I see need a lot of work.

I've brought them both to my local BG jams and they were pretty well received. But I'm notorious for bringing octave fiddles, 5 string violas, octave mandolins, a mandocello or archtop guitar to these jams, too.

The banjolin did need a little work - I had to shim the neck and redrill the pot and dowel to match and fit a new bridge. Using light Newtone strings (.008 - .030) on both. On the resonator I had to modify the spider to move it about 1/4" toward the tail as the intonation was way off (even though the action was good). And of course fit the new tailpiece.