Antique William Tonk & Bros Bowl Back Mandolin “The Edwin”~Early 1900’s, Restored~New Price Drop!

Here we have an early 1900’s William Tonk & Brothers “The Edwin“ model bowl back mandolin!

**Offered to you at a new reduced price.**

A LITTLE HISTORY:

William Tonk & Bros. was a New York based merger of sorts between the namesake and his brother Max; they built custom piano benches out of Chicago. Both learned their trade from the tutelage of their uncle Julius, who had a music shop in Chicago, IL.
If the Tonk name sounds familiar, it should.
They have been involved with or collaborated with other instrument big names like Washburn, Silvertone, etc. You can’t get into the history of Chicago music without mentioning a Tonk. The name has a reputation that goes back almost as far as their city's incorporation. Max even produced drums for the Union Army during the Civil War. It’s clear that woodworking and craftsmanship ran strong in this family as the bowlback design of this mandolin is absolutely gorgeous!

We’re having a hard time putting an exact date on this piece. The Edwin line was first produced in the 1890’s, and this branch of the company eventually faded away sometime around WWII. There is limited information available on the company, let alone their serial number system.

*Condition*
This piece was set up and restored by our trusted luthier and demonstrator, Dave Catfish Fecca, of Moorestown, NJ. Instrument came to us in some disrepair, but it’s back to its near original glory.

-As you can see, we needed to replace the entire original tuning assembly, as the buttons were dry rotted & the mechanism wasn’t functioning. We replaced it with a brand new setup.

-There were cracks in the bowl that were repaired.

-Front has long scratches intersecting with the sound hole that is indicative of lots of play wear.

-Pick guard has some smudges and markings-
-scratches, parallel with bridge, some dings here and there around the edges.

-Some checking around sound hole.

-Various scratches around bowl/back.

-A small orange discoloration mark

-Wear on the bottom of the neck where it meets the body

-Dings on bottom back of headstock

-Scratching and wear on fretboard

-Unfortunately, axe does NOT come with a case.

We aim to be 100% transparent in our listings, hence our detailed descriptions. We encourage you to closely examine and zoom into all pictures to obtain a clear understanding of the item's condition. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any additional questions or photo requests if needed.

No Returns

Items are Sold As-Is, where is.

All of our listed items are subject to prior sale.

2L

Guitar Box Small: 46×19x7

4L

JP/ELG

Rev242206