2006 Al-Tayyar Luthiers "The Swan" Bowlback Mandolin

As you can tell, this mandolin is completely over the top! It's got a carved swan's head for a headstock and inlaid "feathers" on its bowl. I imagine it was built to pursue the classical mandolin palette as that's just what it does -- it's clean and bright and powerful-sounding and does it all without much effort. The scale length is longer than normal for a mandolin and the body size is a little deeper and wider than your average bowlback. It reminds me of modern, fancy, German-made classical bowlbacks to be honest.

The builder is unknown but a tag inside reads "Al-Tayyar Luthiers, 2006, Canada." Snooping-around on the net yields an oud maker by the name of Saad Al-Tayyar and considering the oud-like headstock shape and fine attention to details, I think we might have the culprit -- er, builder -- of this instrument "pegged."

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, restring, and setup.

Weight: 1 lb 11 oz

Scale length: 14 5/8"

Nut width: 1 1/8"

Neck shape: deeper U

Board radius: flat

Body width: 9 1/2"

Body depth: 6"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid flamed maple

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: rosewood with bone saddle

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: maple

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 32w-9 extra-lights

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: narrow

Condition notes: it's pretty clean but does have a few small scuffs and scratches on the top. We had to recut and add a little extra compensation to the top of the bridge. The owner kindly installed 4:1 geared Pegheds/Perfection Pegs of some sort in the headstock -- a very costly addition that makes this much more practical compared to the wooden pegs it was originally fit with.

It comes with: no case, sorry!