c.1910 Leland "Brilliantone" Mandolin

While it's labeled "L.H. Leland Brilliantone Mando" this was sold by Lyon & Healy, though much evidence (and more rumor?) has been collected in tracing this Lyon & Healy family of products to the Larson Brothers, Chicago's famous pair of high-brow luthiers. What can I say? It certainly sounds and plays like a Rolls Royce. Easiest mandolin I've played hands down with a sound to match. I've been playing this nonstop for two days and my fingers are starting to turn to butter -- not because of intense string tension but because of dancing around the fretboard like a maniac for extended periods.

Does this mean I'll be trading something out? Hmm. Probably.

Rosewood headstock veneer, original tuners, bone nut.

Ebony fretboard with MOP dots and bar frets. Super wide board, which is exactly what I like when playing. I cramp up on smaller fretboards as I got used to playing with my "old family mandolin" c.1900 which felt more like playing on a mandola.

Visually, this mando is essentially a flatback version of a good-quality bowlback mandolin, complete with canted top and old-school Italianesque pickguard.

Nice purfling and rosette.

Fresh compensated bone bridge, though I'll have to cut a new one. I made the bass string slots just a hair too low.

Mahogany neck, Brazilian rosewood back and sides.


...nice stuff.


Back.

Unfortunately, the tuner coverplate is missing, which is kind of a drag as they're hard to come across.

The rosewood has a nice creamy red to chocolate brown variation.

This was the (unoriginal) bridge that came with it... an early effort at compensation that lets you actually set the compensation precisely via swinging metal saddles. Patent date is c.1901 so my guess is that this was recycled from a bowlback. It was too low and I shimmed it up with a piece of cherry underneath (which I've painted black to match) but the string spacing wasn't quite right for the Leland.