Can someone tell me what type of instrument this is

[wnypost125]

Hello everyone. I was just looking around my grandpas attic and come to find this strange 8 stringed instrument. I am only use to selling and buying Gibson Fender Martin Taylor etc. It does not have a brand on the head stock. I am not sure if its an old junior mandolin. If anything can tell me what the item is I will gladly appreciate it and also a retail value on the item on how it is. Thanks

Link is below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138766939@N06/?

[jaybones]

Not sure, but I'd call it a mandolin.

As far as value, you're probably not going to be able to retire on it.

[Nort]

A mandolin or mandolinetto,
probably built early 20th century (1915 - 1925) by one of the instrument manufacturing houses in the Chicago area, likely Regal

not much $ value to collectors or players, they were made in a factory production environment, mostly as student instruments

[devellis]

Definitely mandolin family. Sometimes, those are called "pocket mandolins." The term "mandolinetto" is usually reserved for guitar shaped mandolins. It's sometimes erroneously applied to the Howe-Orme guitar-shaped mandolins but the company never used that term. I think it originated with Lyon & Healy's version of the guitar shaped mandolin.

Here's an example of a pocket mandolin:

[Sasquatchman]

Looks like a Lute to me. Teardrop body and soundhole, 8 strings.

[JimmerO]

I was going to say that it looks like a Bouzouki, but the neck is too short.

[Chriscom]

A guitar-playing friend of mine who is also knowledgeable about bouzoukis and the like--he's Greek--writes:

Yep, that's an ol' Italian teardrop mandolin Chris... If you post this on mandolincafe.com you'll definitely know its exact family (piccolo mandolin, mandola, etc.) There are so many variations of these bowlbacks. Greeks also have baglama, kanonaki, bouzouki, but this is definitely an Italian or Italian-inspired version, because of its elongated oval shape.

[menhir]

I'm going to go with a teardrop mandolin, too.

[guitar george]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

A guitar-playing friend of mine who is also knowledgeable about bouzoukis and the like--he's Greek--

Sorry, no idea. It's Greek to me too.

[Wade Hampton]

I learned to play mandolin a couple of years before I started on guitar, and have seen those little mandolins a few times over the years. Bob Devillis got it right when he called it a pocket mandolin: that’s always what I’ve heard them called.

It has very little market value, for the simple reason that there’s no player demand for them. Even when I was actively looking for a cheap old mandolin to use, after playing a couple of those pocket mandolins I wouldn’t even bother taking them off the wall to try when I’d encounter them.

I mean, put it up on eBay and see what sort of response you get, but you’re unlikely to make much money on it.

Personally, if it was mine I would probably use it as a wall-hanger.

Sorry if that isn’t what you wanted to hear.


Wade Hampton Miller

[devellis]

Why is the idea of pocket mandolin getting no traction? Follow the links to read more, or just look at the images.

http://www.mandolinluthier.com/pocket_mandolin.htm

https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...-mandolin.html

Jake's description:

This is a customer's very peculiar, tiny-bodied bowlback mandolin (sometimes called pocket mandolins, sometimes erroneously called piccolo mandolins), with full (for a bowlback) 13" scale. It's very narrow and has only about a 2" depth but is extremely portable and tucks under the arm like a ukulele for playing upright. Tone is what you'd expect -- decent on the treble and mids with a dry and limited bass. Sustain is decent, too, and volume is much more than expected!





This is described as an "Excessively rare Oscar Schmidt mid 20;s Pocket Mandolin:

[frankmcr]

That Sovereign looks nice.

I see quite a few posts complaining about how nobody makes "travel mandolins", seems like one of these old pocket jobs would be just the ticket if intonation, action etc are OK.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by devellis

Why is the idea of pocket mandolin getting no traction?

Because many of the other folks commenting in this thread probably have no personal experience with pocket mandolins the way you and I have, Bob. I'd venture that at least of few of these folks have been posting without reading the rest of the posts in the thread. So it's just speculation on their part, which is no big deal.

For the folks who haven't read Bob's, Nort's or my previous posts in this thread, look at the images Bob just posted above.

Here's a pocket mandolin in use with a mandolin orchestra:

Mandolin Orchestra, circa 1920's.

It's in the hands of the young boy in the center of the front row.

The reason pocket mandolins are so uncommon today is that they really don't sound very good or have any tone or projection to speak of. I honestly believe they were intended mostly as beginner instruments to get young kids playing in the mandolin orchestras that once were common more than a hundred years ago: with a pocket mandolin a kid could learn the basics and could participate with the group, but the instrument itself wasn't so loud that it could disrupt the music if played badly when the rest of the orchestra was playing.

A starter instrument, in other words. They were also cheaper than full-sized mandolins, which is another reason why they'd be natural choices for parents purchasing an instrument for their child.

I hope that makes more sense of this instrument for those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a pocket mandolin. But - let's be perfectly clear about this - a pocket mandolin is EXACTLY what that instrument is, nothing more, nothing less.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Long Jon]

Some sort of mandolin maybe ?

I’m no expert, I’ll wait for others to chime in.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

That's a mandolinetto.