1930s Dobro Spider-Bridge Resonator Mandolin

My guy Tim and I tag-teamed this poor old Dobro mandolin and after much effort, it is now playing spot-on, nice and stable, and ready to go. It has a sweetness and fullness that you don't get with the National/biscuit-cone resonator mandolins from the era and it also has a mandolin-length (13 7/8" vs ~15") scale so it handles like a normal mandolin, too.

It came from the factory with the odd inclusion of a brass, National-style "chickenfoot" coverplate which looks amazing but was not normal for this model and is definitely a bit of an upgrade in the looks department. The original tailpiece was also missing and it was structurally a bit of a mess that needed to be sorted. Considering the type of Kluson tuners and the mixed hardware, I imagine this is a very late '30s instrument.

Repairs included: a neck reset, new board binding, fret level/dress, cone seating, new saddles, added internal blocking (lengthwise along the back) to make the whole instrument more stable and stronger, minor change to the neck joint (tightened the joint where the dowel passes and "locked" it via the screw that goes through the strap button and into back of the body at the heel -- this is key on this particular design to keep it stable), setup, etc.

• Weight: 3 lbs 7 oz
• Scale length: 13 7/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/16"
• Neck shape: medium C/U
• Board radius: flat
• Body width: 11"
• Body depth: 2 5/8"
• Body: wood
• Cone type: Dobro-style original
• Bridge: spider-bridge
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: poplar or similar
• Action height at 12th fret: hair-under 1/16" (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 36w-10
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: lower/narrow

Condition notes: the tailpiece is non-original (but it's a much-better, late-1800s one), the saddles are non-original (new bone ones I made), the binding on the fretboard is non-original, but the rest is original. The inlay over the fretboard extension is missing/filled as I had to remove it to reset the neck and decided to just fill over the holes instead when finishing it up. There are some hairline cracks/fill to the side near the endblock area from stress on the body before I added internal blocking and whatnot to make the body sturdier. It's good to go and just a visual blem at this point. There's finish weather-checking and finish disturbance all throughout but overall it looks cool.

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: JW