and 1995, Martin’s Style A mandolin was one of the company’s most 1926 Style A features a My grandparents are moving into an apartment and my family is helping them with the move out of theirWe came across this Martin mandolin that had been in storage for many years, and my grandfather told me it belonged to his father. The only numbers on the instrument are 129## and no one in my family really knows anything aboutI do know that Martin is a famous guitar maker, but looking online, their mandolins don’t seem to be worth that much, me a little history about this mandolin, what it’s worth, and why the value seems to be so low? Peter in Akron, Ohio I’m glad to hear that your grandfather held onto this instrument for so manyYou’re correct that Martin mandolins are not worth nearly as much as their guitars, but I’ll explain how mandolins were a vital component in Martin’s success

in the early 20th century. Martin began building guitars in 1833,shane dawson backpack and throughout the rest of the 1800s,laptop backpack tigerdirect guitars were their main focus. backpack m4a age, F.H. (Frank Henry) Martin, the sonbackpack kopen roermond of C.F. (Christian Frederick) Martin Jr.,backpack zuid oost azie became the new president of Martin guitarsbaby gear rental bandung when his father died in 1888. hi vis backpack supreme

Martin had become stale as a company. Their sales were not increasing and other manufacturers—such as Lyon & Healy— undocumented, F.H. Martin didn’t want Martin to be left behind, so he propelled the company ahead in the 20th century by getting involved in mandolins. Mandolins had taken America by storm in the 1880s, and by 1890, Martin had noticed how many mandolins they were repairing that were built by other companies. Martin introduced their first mandolins in 1895 with the G Series, which were fashioned after the Italian bowlback instrumentsBy the late 1890s, after Martin had streamlined their mandolin line with their style classification system, mandolin production was actually outnumbering mandolins made their debut in the mid- 1910s, and Martin continued to offer mandolins in some capacity through 2006. Based on the serial number, your great-grandfather’s mandolin appears to

be a 1926 Style A. With its spruce top and mahogany back and sides, the Style A utilized some of the same materials as Martin’s Style 18 guitars. of this mandolin include rosewood body binding, a mahogany neck and headstock, ebony fretboard and bridge, four-per-side tuners, an engraved tailpiece, and a tortoiseThe Style A was one of Martin’s most popular models and was offered between 1914 and 1995 as a standard productionIn the excellent condition it appears, your mandolin is currently valued between $800 and $1,000. But $1,000 is a far cry from the $200,000 that Gibson F-5 Lloyd Loar mandolinsFor one, we’re talking about the holy grail of mandolins with the F-5. become the elite instrument for mandolinists and the most common mandolin model copied by other manufacturers. Martin mandolins are well-built instruments, they don’t have the tone and volumeAs a whole, Martin has never

been able to compete with Gibson when it comes to building archtop and carved-topInstead, Martin has become the king of flattop builders in many ways, while Gibson has ruled the archtop market. The popularity of mandolins declined toward the end of the 1920s, with guitars becoming the instrument of choice by the 1930s. This didn’t mean there wasn’t a need for mandolins, since many bands still used them, so manufacturers like Martin continued to produce these instruments. Martin offered at least one standard model until 1995, the year mandolins becameNot long after, all mandolin production in the US ceased in the early 2000s, though Martin’s factory in Mexico continued to build the Backpacker While Martin mandolins are not viewed as very collectible among mandolin enthusiasts, we shouldn’t forget that without offering mandolins in the early 20th century, Martin might not have

survived to become the renowned guitar manufacturer they are today. your Martin mandolin may not be worth as much as you would have hoped, it is aAnd an even nicer heirloom since it has been with your family is author of Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers. For more information, visitPROBLEM with a dead link? 5-String Violins and Fiddles About Don Rickert Musical Instruments Backpacker Violins and Pochettes Don Rickert Musical Instruments Don Rickert Musician Shop Don Rickert Research & Design For Civil War and Other Re-enactors Good Things Said About Us Historic Makers and Instruments Melodic Guitars (tuned in 5ths) MIDI Violins and Synths Musical Instrument Design Competitions Octave and Baritone Violins Rickert Instruments: In Development Strings, Fittings and Accessories Video and Sound Demos