c.1925 Harmony-made Mandolin

UPDATE 2011: This is definitely made by Harmony, not Regal. I was just guessing when I originally posted this.

I just finished this a few days ago for a customer who wanted it restored "as bare bones as possible." Well -- sure -- but that doesn't mean it has to sacrifice sound or quality to do so!

The neck on this particular mandolin had caved into the front and was pulling out of its neck block at a 30 degree angle... so I had to pull the neck, fretboard, and then reset the neck, reglue the fretboard, and cut a new bridge to replace the old one, as well as repair cracks in the neck area on the top and also by the pickguard in the middle.

Here's the headstock with the original bone nut. Rosewood veneer.

Well, dead flat on the top is certainly a lot better than caving in the whole instrument! Action is a tidy less than 1/8" at the 12th.

Side view.

Rear view.


Rear showing the nice mahogany.

Nice covered tuners! Bakelite buttons.

Side view.

The original binding on the neck was half missing so I installed new thin scrap wood binding to replace it.

And I'll say -- doesn't look too shabby! Feels better, too!