This is a beautifully-made bowlback from the c.1890s and branded with the RWB trademark. Part of me believes this may have been made by Lyon & Healy for them, or perhaps by ex-L&H employees, as it uses a construction of the ribs of the bowl that lacks any paper, canvas, or cloth insert and only uses glue from rib to rib to keep it built. This was a typical L&H build style during this time, though they stopped doing it after the turn of the century.
The top is spruce, the bowl is made of mahogany and rosewood, and the neck is mahogany in an amber color. The bridge is rosewood and all the hardware is original, with nice 1891 patent tuners and a very cool string dampening "lyre" style tailpiece cover -- possibly added later, but more likely original.
Cool ivoroid inset emblem with "RWB" and trademark. Tuners are ivoroid as well. The board is ebony with bar frets.
...and MOP dots. Note the nice maple binding on the top with multicolored purfling which was originally a dark black with red and yellow but has now matured and faded to coffee-colored tones.
Nicely inlaid ebony pickguard. I've repaired to splits to the top, reglued a number of ribs, and reglued two of the top braces.
Tailpiece.
...
Love these tuners. The shafts are very narrow. Quite elegant, really.
Back plates.
Great neck join.
Back.
3/4 shot.
Tailpiece. Note "ball" hooks for the strings.
2 comments:
I notice the top and bottom courses run over the top of the tailpiece while the middle courses run under. Is this a standard way of doing it? Or an interesting whim?
Josh: It's the only way that tailpiece will not flip up and around as it's on a loose hinge. I think these were specifically designed to be used that way as I've seen them done up that way on other period mandos. I'm pretty sure it's an accessory designed to mute the extra harmonics and overtones created by the tailpiece-to-bridge string length. The 100-year-old strings that were on it were set up like that when I got this guy.
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