American conservatory Lyon & Healy Bowl Back mandolin - Early 1900s - Brazilian Rosewood - All Org. - Great Player - Ships FREE!!!

This is an extraordinary mandolin. In incredible shape at well more then an century old, the craftsmanship this mandolin exemplifies shows its value in longevity. Made from todays most sought after and all but unobtainable tone woods, The bowl is comprised of solid Brazilian rosewood slats, the neck is Spanish cedar and the top is a beautiful piece of book matched straight grained Engelmann spruce. The headstock overlay is also Brazilian rosewood and the fret board is a stunning two-tone piece of African Ebony. The mandolin is adorned with Mother of pearl fretboard inlays and a tortoise shell pick guard inlaid with green abalone dots. Truly a functional work of art as well as a time capsule of musical history.

Tonally this mandolin possesses all the life and vibrance its tone woods are legendary for. It has punchy, deep lows and clear, articulate highs. Excellent balance and no muddiness when chords are held out. The intonation is excellent and there are no harsh overtones or wolf notes. A century of playing time has allowed this mandolin to achieve it true tonal potential. The result is a volume and voice irreplaceable by anything but time and honest playing and the finest old growth Brazilian rosewood.

This mandolin boasts a straight neck and low action. It plays nicely across the fretboard with no buzzing or dead spots. The center seam of the top has been re-glued and cleated from the interior with a cross grain spruce cleat so it will never reopen. The mandolin has some sign of honest playing wear, dings and scratches, some missing inlay material on the pick guard. All of which may be observed in the pictures. The tuners have been repaired. This proprietary repair is thorough, time tested and allows the original tuners to be used on the mandolin without modification of the original headstock to fit modern tuners. The tuners function and hold pitch well, and far better then they should after 125 years of use but are the original tuners. Aside from that the mandolin is in better shape then anything has a right to at its age. All parts are original. The mandolin has just been professionally setup, lightly cleaned and restrung with extra light strings. It is ready to start a another lifetime of making music.

I am happy to answer questions.

This mandolin will ship carefully packaged and fully insured as soon as payment is received.

Thank you!