Martin Roundback Mandolin - 1913

1913 Bowlback Mandolin, serial number 3804. 

I’ve had this for twenty years. I got it from a friend who found it in a NYC flea market. So, I have no idea of its history, but the information to correlate the serial number with the date of manufacture is available on the net if you hunt around. 

First thing to note is that there is a repaired crack on the headstock. This shown in the pics; it's clearly visible from the back. I got it this way. It seems to be a strong glue joint; there’s no problem with the tuning. The second thing to note is that there are two screws missing from gears on the tuning heads; this is visible in the picture of the back of the headstock.  

The back is constructed of seven segments of rosewood – given the vintage of the instrument, I assume it’s Brazilian rosewood. Other than the crack on the headstock, there is no other structural damage. Actually, all the glue joints on the instrument look perfect, and there are no other cracks anywhere else. Everything on the instrument looks original – tuners, frets, nut, bridge, tailpiece. 

The neck is straight, the action is low, and there is no buzzing. There is a moderate amount of fret wear – small divots under each string on the low frets. As it is, it sounds fine, but if you wanted to do a level and polish, there’s enough fret height left to do it.