I've wanted a mandolin for awhile now. I have picked up a few factory made ones in music stores and pretty much gave up on the idea after finding the fret board and string spacing to be too small for my big hands and fingers to easily manage. I do love the sound, but couldn't justify the purchase for only a limited use.
My wife was away with family this weekend and came back with a few goodies for me, including this Mario Cassella mandolin made in Sicily. It is in great condition given the fact that it hasn't been played since ???? The soundboard is in good condition except for the grime from hanging up in a basement for a long time and the back looks nearly perfect.
I plan to clean it up a little and put some new ultra-light strings on it. Sounds pretty now even with the old rusty strings on there.
Best thing is that it was free. :)
From limited investigation it seems most of these were made in the early 1900s and aren't tremendously valuable. I plan to have fun learning to play it the best I can.
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Because of the canted soundboard they are among the most robust of mandos, so there are plenty around which are still very playable. Nice score
Note how the cant lines up so perfectly with the bridge, providing very sound bracing. Very nice
Thanks for the added info. It is a beautiful instrument and while I would like to give it a bit of a clean up, I'm hesitant to do much with it now but change out the strings. Someone has applied a finish to the soundboard without ever removing the strings. I suppose that is probably the classic "Pledge" spray furniture polish/dust cleaner/wax.