1910s Larson Brothers-made Fancy Flatback Mandolin

This beautiful, crack-free, fancy-pants mandolin was made by the Larson Brothers in Chicago somewhere between 1900 and 1920. It most looks like the mid-teens models I'm familiar with in the Leland line, though it also looks like many Stahl-branded Larson mandos from the time, too. It is a bit fancier than average, with pearl-inlaid trim around the top edge and soundhole and binding on the neck.

It's built like most Larson flatbacks with a canted-top in bowlback fashion and a firm but light build. There are two ladder braces below the soundhole and one above (in typical flatback fashion) and the back and sides feel a little more "rigid" than most flatback mandolins from the time while the top is a little more flexible. This makes absolute sense acoustically (it's how most classical guitars function), but most builders were just building for lightness' sake in the same era. The difference with this type of construction is that notes are a little fuller, rounder, and punch a bit more. This "same mandolin"  (in general build and bracing) built in the super-lightweight Harmony or Regal mold yields a less-focused, airier sound.

This came in pretty good shape but needed one top brace brace reglue (the other had been sloppily-glued but was pat), a fret level/dress, and a replacement bridge as the original was broken. The "new" bridge is a 1920s one from my parts-bin and I've compensated it. The neck is essentially straight (the level/dress took any minor warp out via the frets), the strings are 32w-9, and the action is spot-on at a hair under 1/16" at the 12th fret.

Specs are: 12 15/16" scale, 1 1/8" nut width, 15/16" string spacing at the nut, 1 9/16" spacing at the bridge, 9 1/8" body width, 2 1/4" body depth at the endblock.

Woods are: solid spruce top, solid Brazilian rosewood back, sides, and headstock veneer, mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard and bridge. The bridge has a bone insert and the nut is bone, too.

While there's plenty of use-wear and finish aging, the instrument itself is in good order. It does have a slight sunken spot at the treble side of the pickguard where braces were (presumably) detached for a long while. They're pat, now, though. I find that a lot of mandolin tops tend to distort slightly where they have these glued-on, recessed celluloid pickguards.

As unlikely as it is, the fretboard has the barest whiff of a radius to it. The frets are very small and thin, just like most mandolin wire at the time. It's bound in white celluloid and the dots are pearl.

How about all that bling, right? The pearl has yellowed finish over it but it still catches the light like crazy (something you can see in the video clip pretty well).

The engraved tailpiece cover is a nice touch.

A fancy backstrip adds a classy look against that pretty plank of rosewood.

The tuners are recessed into the headstock. I added a couple of screws to their baseplates (which are often left un-screwed-down at the factory) to keep them snug.

One trait that seems not duplicated by other factories at the time is the completely-bound heel area on the back of Larson mandolins. The back overlaps the heel in this case.

The rosewood on the sides is gorgeous, too.

While it's not traditional, I tend to add strap buttons at the tailpiece on old mandolins while I'm working on them since most players are going to hang a strap anyhow. This is better than adding another hole later that can't be hidden.