1973 Martin Style A Flatback Mandolin

This is a customer's instrument and it's been hanging-around awaiting repair for some time. Usually work on these is simple but some botched old bracing repairs meant I had to finagle all the bracing back into place. Unfortunately, the old repairs left the top slightly concave in two little humps where the bridge sits (the bracing is all forward of the bridge), so the bridge is working like a "two foot" bridge at the moment.

Regardless, post-repairs it's playing fast and easy and has that classic Martin Style A tone. These have pretty much sounded the same since the '40s. The '20s and '30s ones are really close to this sort of sound, too, though they're a hair louder and a fair bit mellower -- which is not always the best thing for group work, mind you.

I'm not sure what I think of the replacement pickguard, but otherwise I like this guy.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, brace repairs, compensation of the bridge, setup.

Scale length: 13"