Mandolas

Banjolin

12072 Orpheum No. 1 Banjolin (used, c.1920s.) This is a beautifully decorated (festooned with mother of pearl) instrument with eight strings, tuned like a mandolin, and consequently a good crossover instrument for string band use.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being perfect, I'd rate this instrument a 6.5. The head size is 10.25'', and the (quite beautiful) inlay is all intact. The scale length is 13.75''. The nut is 1.2'' wide. The neck itself is straight enough, but the end of the fingerboard pitches up a bit where it projects over the pot. Frets and fingerboard are in very good condition, with just the slightest hint of wear. The tuners work well, but like most old banjolins, this one could benefit from a neck reset. It plays easily enough in the first position, but is substantially more difficult as you go up the neck.

The sound is clean, and breathtakingly loud, as we've often observed on instruments with high action. The intonation is never very good on a banjolin, because of variable head sag. This one has average intonation. The hardware is nickel-plated brass, and the plating is quite good. There are two small repaired cracks in the decorative rim cap This is a beautifully made instrument from long ago, and the price is negotiable. We will sell it as-is because of high action.$550.00

Bouzoukis and Octave Mandolins:

There's a lot of confusion around naming the larger instruments in the nmadolin family. One person's bouzouki, or Irish bouzouki, is another person's octave mandolin. Additionally, there are variations in convention from maker to maker and from the US to Europe. For an overview, you might want to check out this article on the mandolin family in Wikipedia.