c.1885 Lyon & Healy Champion Mandolin

This is an excellent mid-1880s (probably) bowlback mandolin (probably) built by Lyon & Healy in Chicago. It's in very good condition for the age and after polishing up the hardware and general cleaning, I had only to reglue a couple of top cracks and dress the frets to get it into nice playing shape. Currently it plays with action under 1/8" at the top of the fretboard... super smooth, great intonation, and easy on the hands.

Let's talk materials! This mandolin has a gorgeous spruce top with very fine grain, an ebony fingerboard with MOP inlay, gorgeous holly (or maple) binding with orange/red/black purfling, an inlaid tortoise-y pickguard, a mahogany neck with rosewood headstock veneer, and back and sides composed of nicely-figured cherry and birdseye maple. In addition, rather than the paper shell that most bowlbacks have their ribs glued to, this one is made in the old L&H style with strips of maple in a grid pattern... I'm convinced that this is partly responsible for the incredible sustain, warmth and balance of tone, and less choppy sound compared to regular construction.

Forgot to mention that the bridge is original, and ebony, as well.

Binding, elegant spruce, and lovely fretboard. Bindings looks like holly or maple... I'm guessing holly because the grain is very smooth and the color, though aged, is pretty bright, and whiter.

Rosewood headstock veneer, ebony nut, and original ivoroid tuners.


Original tailpiece.

One terribly interesting note is that the bowl is rather larger than a regular bowlback mandolin bowl... it won't fit in any old case that I've found. It's almost the size that I'd expect a bowlback mandola to be, though the scale is typical mandolin length. It's built very lightly and the contrast of the birdseye maple and cherry is a gift for the eyes.

This mandolin is currently in my private collection of vintage instruments, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask!