1920s Supertone (Harmony) Flatback Mandolin

Overview: This guy has a Supertone label in the soundhole (the Sears brand at the time) but it was made by Harmony in Chicago. It's a pretty typical flatback mandolin for its era and dates to the late 1910s or early 1920s judging by its features. It has a canted top like a bowlback mandolin but a flat back. It's actually quite loud and punchy which is surprising as a lot of flatbacks from the time are fairly sweet and mellow. It would do pretty well in a jam because of it!

Interesting features: The inlaid celluloid pickguard is a nice touch -- as is the fancy purfling and rosette trim. It has a solid spruce top over solid birch (with faux-grain painting) back and sides. The scale and construction place the bridge right at the cant in the top which is also the most efficient place on the soundboard for sound generation. 

Repairs included: Max gave this a level/dress of the frets and setup and it's playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 1 lb 7 oz
• Scale length: 13"
• Nut width: 1 1/8"
• Neck shape: medium C/soft V
• Board radius: flat
• Depth at first fret: 49/64"
• Depth at seventh fret: 1 1/64"
• Body width: 9 1/8"
• Body depth: 2 1/2"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid birch
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebonized maple
• Fretboard: ebonized maple
• Neck wood: poplar
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 34w-10 lights (use nothing heavier)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: small/low

Condition notes: While there are small scuffs and scratches here and there and the finish has weather-checked (mostly on the top), it's very clean for its age. It's also all-original save the side dots we added. The bridge is on the low side so if you like to have a lot of string height off the body, skip this one. As per the usual, the original tuners are not the best, but they do hold pitch. These short-scale instruments do not like to be banged-on hard like a long-scale, bluegrass-style instrument. If you're an aggressive player, a floppier pick will yield better results with these. The lower tension on the shorter scale means the strings are more slack vs. a modern instrument and so it's easier to knock them a little out of tune by abusing them.

It comes with: It has an old chip case.

Consignor tag: PKLD