1953 Martin 2-15 Archtop Mandolin

We do not get a lot of Martin archtop mandolins through the shop and it was exciting (and a little terrifying, due to the repairs needed) to open the case on this one. These instruments get not-too-kind reviews online but I think it's mostly because a lot of them are in disrepair or have wonky bridges or are not setup nicely. I have owned a couple of the earlier, short scale (13") versions. This long scale (13 7/8") version simply works better in a modern context -- it's got more snap and cut and it can be leaned-upon with a heavy hand without going out of tune. The shorter-scale versions are more "nuance" instruments to my thinking and not as fun in a jam situation.

All that said, when this one arrived it was a huge mess. The top was completely caved-in and cracked along the fault line in front of the tailpiece. The seams were damaged. Braces were loose. The bridge was useless and warped. In short: it was just the sort of project Tim likes to do! To this end he removed the back, removed an extraneous ladder brace in front of the endblock, reglued the main braces and the crunched-in top area, extended the endblock about 1/2" into the body for better support, and then reglued the back.

After that he installed a 1/2" floating-in-the-center dowel that runs from the endblock (where it's pinned under the tailpiece) to the neckblock. This takes most of the lengthwise tension off of the top and its crunched-in area and we've used this method to very good effect to save a lot of fancy but otherwise inoperable mandolins over the years. It does not change the sound but allows a compromised instrument to live without trouble. 

The final bit was to fit a new adjustable bridge (fun because of the extreme arch to the top and the short bridge base requirements), get the frets leveled and dressed (I think Max did that), and then setup work.

It's mostly-original but the tailpiece and bridge are replacements.