Fender Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1958)
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Item # 11419
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Fender Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1958), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 01161, sunburst lacquer finish, ash body, maple neck, original tweed hard shell case.
One of the Fender company's more obscure but entertaining creations, the diminutive solidbody Electric Mandolin was in production from 1956 until the 1970's but is still a relatively rare item. Compared to other Fender products the market for such instruments is small at the best of times. Still Fender's effort was fairly well received initially and has been considered at least a minor classic since.
This example was assembled in 1958, but the body and neck are dated to 1957, an early indicator the model was not the fastest seller. Most extant examples were built in the first couple of years, and some likely sat on the dealers' racks for a while. This one has a neck pencil dated 7-57 and the body 10-57. The visible pot date is to the 7th week of 1958; the deep red color in the sunburst suggests the body was finished out that year as well.
Leo Fender's mandolin differs from most electrics (and all acoustic mandolins) in having only four strings instead of the usual doubled courses. This follows the ideas of the western swing players (especially Tiny Moore) who were helping to develop Fender instruments, and is also seen on some of Paul Bigsby's electric mandolins. This single stringing results in a clearer more brilliant electric sound without the natural "chorusing" effect of doubled strings, albeit one that sounds more like a high-tuned octave guitar than a traditional mandolin.
Aside from the practical attributes this instrument is also just ridiculously cute, resembling more than anything else a "just hatched" baby Precision Bass. All the coolest mid-1950's Fender features are there in miniature. The one-piece maple neck has a soft "V" contour and natural lacquer finish. The grained ash body is finished in a beautiful 3-color sunburst, topped with a gold anodized aluminum pickguard. The small plastic-covered single coil pickup is controlled by chrome knurled tone and volume knobs.
The ridged dual-string bridge saddles were shared with the Telecaster and Musicmaster, originally hidden under a chromed snap-on cover. The tuners are single line plastic-button strip Kluson Deluxes. The gold Fender logo decal has no model designation; "Mandocaster" is the collectors' slang term for these but not an official Fender designation. The red-lined tweed case is also a miniature version of the standard guitar case. This is a neat example of an unsung Fender classic, a great looking, playing and sounding instrument if perhaps a rather eccentric one.
Overall length is 27 7/8 in. (70.8 cm.), 10 1/4 in. (26 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 13 3/4 in. (349 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
This is very attractive instrument, showing some wear from use over 65 years but no notable repairs or alterations. The instrument is nicely original except for replaced buttons on the original Kluson tuners (the originals often crumble) and the snap-on bridge cover is missing. It shows some typical play wear, with small dings, dents and scrapes overall and most noticeably some heavy scrapes/ and deeper dings to the back and a bit of finish flaking on the heel.
The anodized pickguard has very little wear, many of these wear down to the metal from strumming. The neck has some wear to the edges but the fingerboard is quite clean, the decal has a few chipped out spots. Internally everything is original and untouched. The original frets show hardly any wear and this is a fine playing and sounding early Fender Mandolin, complete in the original tweed HSC which is solid with some visible staining to the exterior. Excellent - Condition.
One of the Fender company's more obscure but entertaining creations, the diminutive solidbody Electric Mandolin was in production from 1956 until the 1970's but is still a relatively rare item. Compared to other Fender products the market for such instruments is small at the best of times. Still Fender's effort was fairly well received initially and has been considered at least a minor classic since.
This example was assembled in 1958, but the body and neck are dated to 1957, an early indicator the model was not the fastest seller. Most extant examples were built in the first couple of years, and some likely sat on the dealers' racks for a while. This one has a neck pencil dated 7-57 and the body 10-57. The visible pot date is to the 7th week of 1958; the deep red color in the sunburst suggests the body was finished out that year as well.
Leo Fender's mandolin differs from most electrics (and all acoustic mandolins) in having only four strings instead of the usual doubled courses. This follows the ideas of the western swing players (especially Tiny Moore) who were helping to develop Fender instruments, and is also seen on some of Paul Bigsby's electric mandolins. This single stringing results in a clearer more brilliant electric sound without the natural "chorusing" effect of doubled strings, albeit one that sounds more like a high-tuned octave guitar than a traditional mandolin.
Aside from the practical attributes this instrument is also just ridiculously cute, resembling more than anything else a "just hatched" baby Precision Bass. All the coolest mid-1950's Fender features are there in miniature. The one-piece maple neck has a soft "V" contour and natural lacquer finish. The grained ash body is finished in a beautiful 3-color sunburst, topped with a gold anodized aluminum pickguard. The small plastic-covered single coil pickup is controlled by chrome knurled tone and volume knobs.
The ridged dual-string bridge saddles were shared with the Telecaster and Musicmaster, originally hidden under a chromed snap-on cover. The tuners are single line plastic-button strip Kluson Deluxes. The gold Fender logo decal has no model designation; "Mandocaster" is the collectors' slang term for these but not an official Fender designation. The red-lined tweed case is also a miniature version of the standard guitar case. This is a neat example of an unsung Fender classic, a great looking, playing and sounding instrument if perhaps a rather eccentric one.
Overall length is 27 7/8 in. (70.8 cm.), 10 1/4 in. (26 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 13 3/4 in. (349 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.).
This is very attractive instrument, showing some wear from use over 65 years but no notable repairs or alterations. The instrument is nicely original except for replaced buttons on the original Kluson tuners (the originals often crumble) and the snap-on bridge cover is missing. It shows some typical play wear, with small dings, dents and scrapes overall and most noticeably some heavy scrapes/ and deeper dings to the back and a bit of finish flaking on the heel.
The anodized pickguard has very little wear, many of these wear down to the metal from strumming. The neck has some wear to the edges but the fingerboard is quite clean, the decal has a few chipped out spots. Internally everything is original and untouched. The original frets show hardly any wear and this is a fine playing and sounding early Fender Mandolin, complete in the original tweed HSC which is solid with some visible staining to the exterior. Excellent - Condition.