1934 Kalamazoo (Gibson) KM-11 Flatback Mandolin

This is a customer's old Kalamazoo mandolin that Tim fixed-up for its owner. These KM-11s are "pancake" style with flat tops and backs and have a curious ladder/x hybrid bracing pattern. Post-repairs, this one's playing spot-on and has the usual punchy, woody sound these are known for. Luckily, the neck angle on this guy was good when it arrived and so the work mostly involved a level/dress of the frets and some setup-side work as well as some repairs to a crunched-in area on the back.

For those not in the know, Kalamazoo-brand instruments from this period are Gibson-made, "second line" instruments -- meaning they feel and sound an awful lot like the fancier Gibson-branded instruments, but were built to cheaper specifications.

In this case of this guy, it's got a solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with a compensated ebony bridge. Not bad!