Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Amanda Lynn

#1

I got Amanda Lynn!! :laughing:

Itā€™s been in the family for a while, donā€™t know how old it is. I have no idea if it sounds good or not, all mandoā€™s sound good to my untrained ear. I put some new strangs on it and the notes seem to ring out pretty good all over the fretboard. I had no idea the bridge was not fixed to the top. I was pretty surprised when it fell in my lap after I took the last string off. :slight_smile:

Only thing written is ā€œAlvarez Handmadeā€ on the inside with a serial # 73080. Iā€™m guessing the back is maple, no idea what the top is made of. Anyone familiar with these things?

Going pretty good so far. Half way through Gold Rush. I think I would do better if I stuck my fingers in a pencil sharpener, not as bad as I thought it would be though.

Looks like the pics are a little too big. Oh well, you get the idea.

#2

Congrats, I feel like I should get a banjo with everyone getting mandolins lately.

#3

Thanks verneq!

Itā€™s hard not to take advantage of all the lessons here. Get one! :slight_smile:

#4

Sweet! Congrats.
I donā€™t know anything about them, so my only input is that I suspect the top is sitka spruce. I found some info on a thread:
mandolincafe.com/forum/showt ā€¦ n-Question
Gleaning what I can from that, I suspect from the headstock logo it is probably made sometime after the late 70ā€™s. There is a 1977 ad in the thread that shows them with a Gibson-ish script logo. I suspect they changed after a lawsuit or threat thereof. They get lots of praise from people who have owned them.
Enjoy it!

#5

Thanks for the info Mike!

Yeah, no script logo, just the normal Alvarez logo. It has a two screw truss cover so I guess it was possibly made in Japan. Iā€™ll do some more digging on it while my fingers heal.

Does that look like birds eye maple? I donā€™t know a lot about wood, just going by looks.

#6

I think you are correct, the back looks like birds-eye maple.

#7

Cool looking mandolin, Shawn. Is it mandolin week? Everybodyā€™s getting new mandos!

#8

Iā€™ve never owned one of those old Alverez mandolins but have heard good things about them and they seem to bring good prices on the market. Thats probably one of the best looking ones Iā€™ve seen. Iā€™d say that was birds-eye maple also. Hereā€™s a pic of my old Gibson copy with birds-eye. (Donā€™t have the HD-35 anymore) Congrats on what should be a fine mandolin!

#9

ā€œAmanda Lynnā€ā€¦ I just got it. Now thats clever! :laughing:

#10

ā€” Begin quote from "Bulldog"

ā€œAmanda Lynnā€ā€¦ I just got it. Now thats clever! :laughing:

ā€” End quote

I hate to admit it, but I didnā€™t get it until after reading this post and pondering it for a good 10 seconds.

#11

Amanda Lyn!!! Yep that a old Ricky Skaggs line, said he was going to name his daughter that but Sharon (his wife ) would not allow it!!! :laughing: