Mandolin Brothers Ltd. - Sale Instruments

Collings (used, 2012) OM1E Short Scale Acoustic Guitar

This Orchestra Model is simple and utilitarian and yet elegant and stately at the same time. The wood is, in our opinion, of "select" status - that Englemann top is wider at the extremes and extremely close in the middle - with a plethora of cross-silking (medullary rays) to prove it.

WAS $3295 WITH A CASH PRICE OF $3195, BUT NOW ON SALE!

Martin (used circa 1930s) 3K Soprano Ukulele

Although a middle-of-the-line Martin ukulele model (Martin starts with the ubiquitous Style 0, then Style 1, Style 2, Style 3 and finally Style 5), the stately Style 3 is amazingly beautiful and handsome.

OUR PRICE WAS $2263 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Bacon & Day (used, 1930) Silver Bell No. 1 tenor banjo

The case lid has an old decal on it from the George Hotel in Bermuda (oh, the stories it could tell). There are few tenor banjos as well regarded or as beautiful in their simplicity as the prewar B&D Silver Bell No. 1. Silver Bell was the highest numbered series in the B&D banjo line. This one has the scalloped headstock design, the flowery headplate that is inlaid with many dozens of pieces of mother of pearl forming wreaths and branches and leaves and flourishes with the words “B&D,” and then “Silver” and then “Bell” in large pearl script. WAS $1335 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Gibson (used, 1957) L-4C Acoustic Archtop sharp cutaway, in blonde.

According to Gibson records the last guitar made with an A-prefix serial number in 1957 was A-26819. This number is 10 numbers before the last guitar made that year, so one can safely say it is December 1957. This acoustic archtop is in excellent condition, showing light normal signs of use that 55-year-olds show . . . . THE PRICE WAS $4381 BUT NOW ON SALE in a major big way.

Flatiron (used, 1987) F-5A Artist mandolin

Dennis Balian was the successor, as production manager of Flatiron, to the founder, Steve Carlson. After Gibson purchased the Flatiron Company and made it a subsidiary of the Gibson Mandolin Company in Bozeman, MT, they quickly parted ways with Mr. Carlson and appointed Mr. Balian as supervisor. " OUR PRICE WAS $5000 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Martin (used, 1926) 000-18 Acoustic Guitar

This guitar has seen much trial and a modicum of tribulation, nevertheless it is the ultimate statement of the visual essence of the C F Martin guitar in the 20th Century. We are in awe of its rarity and historic significance. 1926 was technically the 13th year of in which the 000-18 was made, and it was also the largest year of production for the 12-fret version – Martin made 224 that year. Over the 13 years of production, however, they averaged only 27 guitars per year. In the year 1926 this model Martin sold for $45. NOW ON SALE! THIS WAS $6181. BEHOLD. . . A MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION

Gibson (used, 1964) ES-175 Electric Archtop Guitar

We present to our readers and fans a truly gorgeous Gibson mostly 1964 Model ES-175, in vintage sunburst which was stated to us by its owner as being in excellent [it's not, exactly] and mostly original [it's not that either] condition, presently having two humbucking nickel-plated pickups. Although altered, this guitar fulfills the dream of the working jazz practitioner who needs to get the finest sound possible out of a modestly priced vintage instrument. NOW ON SALE! WAS $5670 BUT NOW:

Gibson (used, 1952) Southerner Jumbo (SJ) Acoustic Guitar

One of the most beautiful guitars that Gibson Company has ever designed is the SJ, or mahogany and spruce slope-shouldered dreadnought. The period of the early 1950s is, by anybody’s standards, one of the finest in Gibson acoustic guitar history. The sound of this instrument is proof of that. This instrument shows about the right amount of wear one might anticipate seeing on a guitar that’s 60 years old. NOW ON SALE -- OUR PRICE WAS $6701 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

J. Bovier (new) FM-5 Mandola

The full-blown Florentine body and headstock mandola is, of course, the alto voice of the mandolin family. It is tuned C G D A from lowest to highest course. It is so sweet, so full, so fully packed with plectral pulchritude that we don’t see why everybody doesn’t want one. This extremely high quality, hand-made example has the following features: • Solid Carved European Spruce Top • Solid Carved Highly Flamed Maple Back • Solid Highly Flamed Maple Sides • Solid Highly Flamed Maple Neck NOW ON SALE! OUR PRICE WAS $2499 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Gibson (used, 1922) Style A- snakehead mandolin

The original hard shell case is notable for being in outstanding condition – one of the cleanest such black, wooden cases as we have ever seen. Inside the pocket of the case is an ancient envelope containing a bunch of very old flatpicks. OUR PRICE WAS $2985 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Breedlove (used, 2006) 000/SSe Model Acoustic-Electric

This is a twelve-fret to the body, slotted headstock guitar that has some traditional and some modern features. The traditional include what many call African Mahogany sides and back, more properly known as Sapele (with the accent on the middle syllable, it is like the great Brazilian soccer player, Pele, but with the syllable “Sah” in front). The top is hand-selected Sitka spruce that is completely “clear” – meaning no visual aberrations. It is close-grained and displays a great deal of cross silking as the finest Sitka does. NOW ON SALE! OUR PRICE WAS $1747BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Martin (used, 1938) 000-42

The C F Martin prewar 000-42 is one of the rarest and most desirable of all 000-sized Martin guitars known to mankind. In the fourteen fret to the body version, which this is, Martin made a grand total of just 113 examples over 11 years, with 27 made in 1938. It has pearl inlaid around top, fretboard peninsula and soundhole rosette, and many elegant and tasteful appointments of a model that was only 1 position below the lofty and nearly priceless 000-45. As this guitar proves, the quality of the sound of prewar Martin upper-level flattop guitars is legendary, across continents. NOW ON SALE. WAS $69,995 CASH.

Walker (used, 1998) Style OM

One person who visited and played this instrument said (he said it out loud) “I have seen some of the ifnest guitars in the world, and this one is as ifnest as a guitar gets.” We had no idea what he was talking about but he left quietly. It is said that Kim Walker of North Stonington is felt by many to be the ultimate builder of Acoustic acoustic (we mean really acoustic) guitars extant. WAS $22,500 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Gibson (used, 1939) F7 Mandolin

The Gibson F-7 was a fairly short-lived but extremely well regarded model, made for just six years between 1934 and 1939. What it is, essentially, is a Gibson prewar F-5 mandolin with simpler appointments, and having a neck that joins the body at the 10th fret. In terms of the simpler appointments, this model has single-ply crème celluloid side, neck, headstock and pickguard binding, unbound twin lower case f-shaped soundholes. NOW ON SALE! OUR PRICE WAS $12,887 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Goodall (used, 2005) Traditional Baritone Bearclaw Spruce/Quilted Mahog

James Goodall is one of the earliest makers of the acoustic baritone guitar, an instrument happiest when it is tuned C to C instead of the usual E to E.

NOW ON SALE - WAS $4895 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Gibson (used, 1927) Bella Voce tenor banjo

Behold, a gorgeous thing was one of the 3 top-of-the-line Gibson banjos. Steve Martin and John McEuen of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band each have a Gibson Florentine, Roger Sprung has a Gibson All American, and this was the third in the trilogy – the “Beautiful Voice” or “Bella Voce.” The back and sides of the resonator are engraved and painted in many colors. THIS WAS $9275 BUT THEN PUT ON SALE for $5671 with a Cash Price of $5,500. THIS BANJO IS "ON HOLD FOR A BUYER FROM VIRGINIA.

Gibson (used, 1925) Master Model "Fern" F-5 Mandolin

This is, by anybody’s standards, one of the finest Gibson mandolins produced in the post-Lloyd Loar era. Even though its original owner possessed what is arguably the finest mandolin one could purchase in 1925, said individual never learned to play and so the instrument remains in solidly excellent condition. The mandolin has never been out of the care and protection of the family to which it has belonged, and, has, ever since the late 1920s, seldom been taken out of its original compartmentalized case – the semi-rectangular hard shell with the red velour lining. WAS $102,585 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

David Rubio (used, 1971) Brazilian and Cedar Classical

The following informative article, which we have excerpted and edited, is available on the website www.rubioviolins.com along with a professional photo of the builder looking dignified, thoughtful and suggestive of the Renaissance person that he was. “David Rubio died on Saturday 21 October, 2000 at the age of 65. Since the mid-1960s the name David Rubio has been famous in the musical world as a maker of stringed instruments: guitars, lutes, harpsichords, violins, violas and cellos. NOW ON SALE! WAS $18,042 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR:

Breedlove (used, 1999) MJ/E Master Class

This truly magnificent and outstanding sounding guitar is made from glorious striped ebony on the back and sides, has bloodwood bindings on top, back and fingerboard; the fingerboard is inlaid with the Art Deco dotmarker pattern. It has what appears to be a high quality Sitka spruce top, that has (unlike ourselves) turned a deep orange and an abalone inlaid soundhole rosette. NOW ON SALE! THIS WAS $3088 BUT NOW:

Gibson (used, 1924) Style A-1 snakehead mandolin

There is no more desirable A-style oval hole mandolin in the world than the Gibson Snakehead version made between 1923 and 1927. It incorporates design changes co-instituted by Lloyd A. Loar, Gibson’s Chief Acoustic Engineer without whom we might not, today, have the f-hole archtop instrument which led to the electric archtop which led to the solid body guitar which led to The Rolling Stones. Imagine that. THIS WAS $4,118 but it is NOW ON SALE: