i love watching you bring these old forgotten, unloved in a long time, instruments back to life so they can keep making music. This thing sounds pretty good when you get done.
I actually liked the sound of that, seems just a little richer somehow. Pretty nice for a budget job. A tip on heat adjusting plastic. Always heat on the side that you want it to move toward, then cool with air or a damp rag only on the hot side. You will swear that it's going the wrong way as you are heating it, but as you found out as it cools, it constricts more and will draw it tighter on one side thus making it curl that direction.
I found a Strad O Lin 2 point model with similar issues (especially with the tuning keys). I told my friend if she really got tired of the hard tuning keys, I would do some more extensive work on it. Thanks for the upload!
I inherited a Stradolin that my grandfather once owned. They were an east coast company (NY) that existed for only a few decades from the 1930s to the 1960s approximately and then went out of business. My grandfather was a CEO who lived in Albany, NY and probably bought it there or in NYC while on business. I have seen only A style mandolins, no F style. No truss rod and a short neck. Mine has a solid spruce top, but a laminate side and back. It has surprisingly good tone, but not as good as a solid wood instrument. I had the same problem with my tuners. I got some ideas about further restoration work on my vintage, American made mandolin!
I have heard of Srado-lin before, I think I saw one back when I worked at a used music store in Boulder CO back in the 80's. A bummer on the twist in the neck, that's always a pain. BTW, it was Chubby Checker with the twist. Fats Domino did "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill", among others.
Most of what I found on Stradolins says they had rosewood fingerboards and bridges. Maybe this one was petrified from years of sweat and nicotine lol. Great work reviving the old girl!
Hope you are enjoying your new toys! A friend of mine back in the 60's ordered a mandolin from Monkey Wards and dang if it did not look like this one! Best I remember. The give away was the f holes. They looked strange to me then and I have not seen any like them in a long time. Good memories. Thanxz
A very good video as usual Jerry! It gave me some ideas on how to tackle a similar neck problem on my 1973 Suzuki M-1492 The neck goes a little like a roller coaster, because it has been wasting away for almost 7 years in a workshop since my stepdad died. It is only of sentimental value, but I would like to see it playable and a bit more shiny. Only found this baby this weekend, I thought it had long been scrapped. These little things look like an elongated watermelon gone brown and it has amazing inlays, rosetta and bindings with a variety of colours. I will put it on my Facebook page and contact you. All the best to all of you from Cornwall, over the pond :o)
I own a Strad-O-Lin and I've fixed up a few as well. This is an excellent instrument, far batter than any of the other cheapies of the period, like Kay. Bill Monroe himself owned at least one and said that it was the only thing that equalled a Gibson for chop. I do believe he was correct!
I picked up one of these the other day for a great price, especially for an instrument that's 80+ years old. I'm guessing it hasn't been played in well over 30, or so.. years judging by the rusted strings, make-shift picks made from plastic container of sorts with old-school typography, etc. Action is crazy high, but the tone is great. So, I'm dropping it into a luthier/builder tomorrow to get it sorted out.
I think you could fix the pick guard by boiling it in water (more even distribution of heat than the heat gun), and then clamping it flat until cool before re-installing. Unless the pick guard was warped when it was formed, that process usually restores the "memory" of plastics.
Great job Jerry, you could make a walking stick sound great lol. Take care my friend, another interesting and informative video from you as always. thank you for your time in sharing your skill and knowledge. Peace and Love from Bonny Scotland.
It turned out pretty nice. I really like the color of the fingerboard after your scrape job. It seems to have a different sound (woodier) than most mandolins, but a nice sound.
Looks real nice Jerry and the sound is good too. I like the woodier sound of those types of mandos. I think the combination of oil and shop towel actually shine up the old finish.
Givin' It Your Best-As Expected! I've Used the Lighter Gun Oil for Tuners, myself. I've Always Preferred Nickle Strings above Bronze for Mandos-It just sounds so much More "Crispier"! : )
Jerry use the Renaissance wax on your polished wood very sparingly it goes a long way and really does nourish and protect the wood, I have used it on a genuine Stradivarius violin after cleaning with mineral water and cotton tips and the result was awesome. Another great video looking forward to another guitar video soon.
I've always used woodwind instrument bore oil ( never knew what it's made of ) on dry fretboards. Seems to resist moisture / perspiration without swelling the wood.
Nice job! FWIW, not all of these were 'starter' mandolins. A friend 'way back in the day made pretty good part-time money playing Thursday night Country dances at a VFW club. He never even shopped for a better mandolin. The dances maybe didn't pay THAT well. :-)
You produce great videos with a lot of explanations. My compliments. May I ask you a question? I have a similar mandolin the one you show on this video. It is almost 80 years old. I wanna replace the old frets with new ones. Is the thickness of mandolin fret smaller than guitar fret? What size should I request? Your answer will be very much appreciated. Thank you.
'Hokey' Nope. Effective, yes. Flat razor blade technique really does work. I was watching a guy do restoration on a 90 year old Gibson L5 guitar [ $25,000 ? ]. He used the same method of scraping the ebony fretboard in some parts that needed it Leveled the board, filled tear out from previous work, re-fretted, polished, etc. He did a fine job. He also replaced all of the MOP inlays, as some were very yellowish. He was a meticulous guy. The old instrument looked really nice; not new, but beautiful. Non-electric, of course. Personally, I though it sounded thinner than the later Gibson acoustics. Just me...
It's my understanding that the difference between boiled linseed oil and raw linseed oil is, that the boiled oil is a drying oil and the raw doesn't dry. For furniture and other indoor stuff, I use boiled linseed oil. For rough, weathered outdoor wood, I use the raw linseed oil. The point is that I don't rub in the raw oil, I just leave it to soak in. After the repeated applications, the gray wood turns darker almost black. Through time It becomes sort of fossilized. It will never rot.
Also BLO is cooked at high temperature with chemicals so it changes the length of the molecule chains (if I remember well), making it dry faster and harder.
I had one of these years ago but w/natural back and sides, not black. That one looks a little thicker, however, and probably accounts for its mellower tone. Like you said, great economy beginner's mando -- good idea setting the action for that reason. Fretting a high action instrument can be painful for beginners and tends to discourage any lengthy practice sessions. Good job. Thanks for sharing.
I have an old Kalamazoo Mandolin in need of some tic so this vid was a big help. Q: I used to have a Gibson F5 (unfortunately no longer have it ) is the scale length o the Kalamazoo the same as the F5?
I COULDNT TURN MY STRINGS AT ALL X USED BOTH HANDS X STILL THEY WERE JAMMED X BROKE STRING ,ON OLD MANDOLA,WITH TORTOISHELL ,MUSIC SHOP DIDNT HAVE SREINGS X ARE LOOKING FOR STRINGS FOR IT KEYS STRINGS LOOK OLD X WORN,ABOUT TO BREAK X RUSTY IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL ON WALL BUT I really want to learn to play it,I,Has beautiful sound! Thankyou for restoration lesson ,wish Ide seen it before breaking string!God Bless!
Worth noting for anyone who has never used linseed oil before,if you use it on a rag or a towel DO NOT BALL IT UP AND THROW IT AWAY!! Linseed oil produces heat as it dries and it isn’t uncommon for it to spontaneously combust.
Just looking over Reverb today I see similar mandolins going for $300 - $400, so pretty nice starter. Good job on the restoration. I was glad to see the ferrules. A headstock without ferrules always looks naked to me.
It looks lovely! Was there nothing to be done about the pick guard or did the owner not care? I know you spoke with her... It just looks like it would bite! LOL
C'mon, Everyone knows what "wallered out" means (except the uneducated). However, the bridge is "eat up" is incorrect word usage. The proper term is "buggered up". Grammer has rules! Ain't ya got no learnings? Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, I watch them all the time.
Great video once again! My question is, why you didn't simply reverse the machine heads to opposing sides to reverse the direction of pressure the string tension was placing on them against the worm gears? Is it possible they were previously installed backwards?
First they were incredibly tight even out of the mandolin though they did turn a little easier. Second they would turn backwards if you do it that way. 3rd they weren't the original tuners anyway and it was inexpensive to put on a new set like $25.
Fats Domino was a "stride master" on the 88s. He came from a New Orleans tradition and he rock and rolled the beat still striding with his left hand. He had zero to do with the twist which is by the way just about the best senior workout in existence. I teach and I never ever use that terrible oversaxed song in 62or 3, whenever. Fats had nothing to do with the fake stuff and that song was not rock and roll. Fats was and will always be the Stridemaster to me. The wood in the Stratolin is beautiful.
Smashed it putting wood in the furnace. What's really nice is I have now smashed the other one on the other hand. So the fingernail is just coming back on the first one and I'm just getting ready to lose it on the second one. Oh well
I like to kill trolls. Do you know of a place to buy a dulcimer with a banjo in it. It plays like a dulcimer an sounds like a banjo. Thank you for your time. Enjoy your channel a whole lot.
I wish you would say what tools you’re using. Not many tips or tricks in this video if I have no idea what you’re using. It’s a very nice video, and you did a great job, just not very helpful.
I have never seen a luthier moan and groan and gripe and complain, always huffing and puffing and complaining about problems with instruments he's been hired to repair.
i love watching you bring these old forgotten, unloved in a long time, instruments back to life so they can keep making music. This thing sounds pretty good when you get done.
I actually liked the sound of that, seems just a little richer somehow. Pretty nice for a budget job. A tip on heat adjusting plastic. Always heat on the side that you want it to move toward, then cool with air or a damp rag only on the hot side. You will swear that it's going the wrong way as you are heating it, but as you found out as it cools, it constricts more and will draw it tighter on one side thus making it curl that direction.
Your videos are like therapy after a hard day at work. So calming. I fall asleep to these every night.
Excuse me, but I charge extra for that. Lol
that is one of the better sounding mandolins' I have heard on here. deeper and mellow pleasant ring.
I found a Strad O Lin 2 point model with similar issues (especially with the tuning keys). I told my friend if she really got tired of the hard tuning keys, I would do some more extensive work on it. Thanks for the upload!
Wow! What a cool old mandolin.
I inherited a Stradolin that my grandfather once owned. They were an east coast company (NY) that existed for only a few decades from the 1930s to the 1960s approximately and then went out of business. My grandfather was a CEO who lived in Albany, NY and probably bought it there or in NYC while on business. I have seen only A style mandolins, no F style. No truss rod and a short neck. Mine has a solid spruce top, but a laminate side and back. It has surprisingly good tone, but not as good as a solid wood instrument. I had the same problem with my tuners. I got some ideas about further restoration work on my vintage, American made mandolin!
I have heard of Srado-lin before, I think I saw one back when I worked at a used music store in Boulder CO back in the 80's. A bummer on the twist in the neck, that's always a pain.
BTW, it was Chubby Checker with the twist. Fats Domino did "I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill", among others.
That is the best sounding Instagram I’ve ever heard
Most of what I found on Stradolins says they had rosewood fingerboards and bridges. Maybe this one was petrified from years of sweat and nicotine lol. Great work reviving the old girl!
I got a chuckle out of your Budget Job definition? I thought the tailpiece looked great cleaned up that way. That heat gun trick took bravery!
Hope you are enjoying your new toys! A friend of mine back in the 60's ordered a mandolin from Monkey Wards and dang if it did not look like this one! Best I remember. The give away was the f holes. They looked strange to me then and I have not seen any like them in a long time. Good memories. Thanxz
A very good video as usual Jerry! It gave me some ideas on how to tackle a similar neck problem on my 1973 Suzuki M-1492 The neck goes a little like a roller coaster, because it has been wasting away for almost 7 years in a workshop since my stepdad died. It is only of sentimental value, but I would like to see it playable and a bit more shiny. Only found this baby this weekend, I thought it had long been scrapped. These little things look like an elongated watermelon gone brown and it has amazing inlays, rosetta and bindings with a variety of colours. I will put it on my Facebook page and contact you. All the best to all of you from Cornwall, over the pond :o)
Thanks a lot, I like your video very much. Greetings from Netherlands.🌹🌹🌹
I own a Strad-O-Lin and I've fixed up a few as well. This is an excellent instrument, far batter than any of the other cheapies of the period, like Kay.
Bill Monroe himself owned at least one and said that it was the only thing that equalled a Gibson for chop. I do believe he was correct!
By the way, that isn't the original bridge.
I picked up one of these the other day for a great price, especially for an instrument that's 80+ years old. I'm guessing it hasn't been played in well over 30, or so.. years judging by the rusted strings, make-shift picks made from plastic container of sorts with old-school typography, etc.
Action is crazy high, but the tone is great. So, I'm dropping it into a luthier/builder tomorrow to get it sorted out.
It actually sounds rather good and now I'm sure looks/plays much better than it ever did before!
That Strad-O-Lin sounds really good. Thanks for sharing this video.
Great Job Jerry, thanks for sharing.🎶😉🎶
I think you could fix the pick guard by boiling it in water (more even distribution of heat than the heat gun), and then clamping it flat until cool before re-installing. Unless the pick guard was warped when it was formed, that process usually restores the "memory" of plastics.
Nice warm sound on that old mando...nice work.
Great job Jerry, you could make a walking stick sound great lol. Take care my friend, another interesting and informative video from you as always. thank you for your time in sharing your skill and knowledge. Peace and Love from Bonny Scotland.
Great Video! Love watching your videos and taking in all your wisdom! Thank you.
Love the pickguard..1930s-40s
I wiped down an old Framus guitar with linseed oil too. It did make it look a lot better.
I once had a mando from Kay/
It was made way back in the day/
It's tuners so tight, I gave up the fight/
And sold my old Kay away.
Good vid as always.
Great video Jerry 👍🇬🇧
Great video Jerry!!!!!!!))) 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😊
It turned out pretty nice. I really like the color of the fingerboard after your scrape job. It seems to have a different sound (woodier) than most mandolins, but a nice sound.
Fine work Jerry
Fun to see it come together.
Nice work bringing this one back to playing condition, it does have a neat sound!
Looks real nice Jerry and the sound is good too. I like the woodier sound of those types of mandos. I think the combination of oil and shop towel actually shine up the old finish.
What a great sound...you gave it...its voice
Givin' It Your Best-As Expected!
I've Used the Lighter Gun Oil for Tuners, myself.
I've Always Preferred Nickle Strings above Bronze for Mandos-It just sounds so much More "Crispier"!
: )
** Chubby Checker did 'The Twist'.....Maybe it's twisted because Fats Domino SAT on it by mistake, after someone left it on his piano stool?
it does sound good! I've heard of that brand before but never saw one.
Great video as usual. Good job Jerry!!
Great job Jerry
Great job and with a surprisingly nice sounding end result.
Jerry use the Renaissance wax on your polished wood very sparingly it goes a long way and really does nourish and protect the wood, I have used it on a genuine Stradivarius violin after cleaning with mineral water and cotton tips and the result was awesome. Another great video looking forward to another guitar video soon.
Lovely. Worth the effort you put in. Thank you.
Thanks Jerry! I learned a thing or three!
I've always used woodwind instrument bore oil ( never knew what it's made of ) on dry fretboards. Seems to resist moisture / perspiration without swelling the wood.
Great video Jerry have you ever tried Lem-Oil to clean your instruments its really good and leaves the Instrument smelling lemon fresh give it go 👍
I really liked the way that fret board turned out. Good enough for government work. It does sound a bit muddy to me.
Nice job! FWIW, not all of these were 'starter' mandolins. A friend 'way back in the day made pretty good part-time money playing Thursday night Country dances at a VFW club. He never even shopped for a better mandolin. The dances maybe didn't pay THAT well. :-)
turned out nice, also sounds nice.
Another satisfied customer !
You produce great videos with a lot of explanations. My compliments. May I ask you a question? I have a similar mandolin the one you show on this video. It is almost 80 years old. I wanna replace the old frets with new ones. Is the thickness of mandolin fret smaller than guitar fret? What size should I request? Your answer will be very much appreciated. Thank you.
nice work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steel frets 😃😆 that looks amazing
'Hokey' Nope. Effective, yes. Flat razor blade technique really does work.
I was watching a guy do restoration on a 90 year old Gibson L5 guitar [ $25,000 ? ].
He used the same method of scraping the ebony fretboard in some parts that needed it
Leveled the board, filled tear out from previous work, re-fretted, polished, etc. He did a fine job. He also replaced all of the MOP inlays, as some were very yellowish. He was a meticulous guy.
The old instrument looked really nice; not new, but beautiful. Non-electric, of course.
Personally, I though it sounded thinner than the later Gibson acoustics. Just me...
From the fingernail ruts, in that Very hard finger board, it
seems that mandolin has been well played, over the years.
As alwahs, nice job Doc!!
It's my understanding that the difference between boiled linseed oil and raw linseed oil is, that the boiled oil is a drying oil and the raw doesn't dry. For furniture and other indoor stuff, I use boiled linseed oil. For rough, weathered outdoor wood, I use the raw linseed oil. The point is that I don't rub in the raw oil, I just leave it to soak in. After the repeated applications, the gray wood turns darker almost black. Through time It becomes sort of fossilized. It will never rot.
BLO has chemical hardeners added. These are not very pleasant but the raw oil won't set in the same way.
Also BLO is cooked at high temperature with chemicals so it changes the length of the molecule chains (if I remember well), making it dry faster and harder.
Gee wheez, I keep learning stuff even though I'm a pathetic , geriatric case. So. are these chemicals like japan drier?@@stratocactus
Also, I've always thought that old Strad-O-Lynns were wonderful, inexpensive instruments.
Sounds good
I had one of these years ago but w/natural back and sides, not black. That one looks a little thicker, however, and probably accounts for its mellower tone. Like you said, great economy beginner's mando -- good idea setting the action for that reason. Fretting a high action instrument can be painful for beginners and tends to discourage any lengthy practice sessions. Good job. Thanks for sharing.
I have an old Kalamazoo Mandolin in need of some tic so this vid was a big help. Q: I used to have a Gibson F5 (unfortunately no longer have it ) is the scale length o the Kalamazoo the same as the F5?
I have seen several Strad O Lins dated from the late 30's and 40's, shabby, but worth something to someone?
Great video as usual. What's the gage that you used. Never seen it before
I don't remember. I think I mentioned it on the video.
You mention Evaporust - are you a fan of the Hand Tool Rescue TH-cam channel? He's pretty much a one main advert for the powers of that product!
I watch a lot of machinist and they use evapo rust
How's the weather going Jerry old chap?
I COULDNT TURN MY STRINGS AT ALL X USED BOTH HANDS X STILL THEY WERE JAMMED X BROKE STRING ,ON OLD MANDOLA,WITH TORTOISHELL ,MUSIC SHOP DIDNT HAVE SREINGS X ARE LOOKING FOR STRINGS FOR IT KEYS STRINGS LOOK OLD X WORN,ABOUT TO BREAK X RUSTY IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL ON WALL BUT I really want to learn to play it,I,Has beautiful sound! Thankyou for restoration lesson ,wish Ide seen it before breaking string!God Bless!
Terrific work. I think those old tuners were getting bound up as there weren't any of the ferrells in there keeping the shafts straight
They were still Binding off of the mandolin although they did turn a little easier
Worth noting for anyone who has never used linseed oil before,if you use it on a rag or a towel DO NOT BALL IT UP AND THROW IT AWAY!! Linseed oil produces heat as it dries and it isn’t uncommon for it to spontaneously combust.
Just looking over Reverb today I see similar mandolins going for $300 - $400, so pretty nice starter. Good job on the restoration. I was glad to see the ferrules. A headstock without ferrules always looks naked to me.
I'm surprised you didn't try using the old tuners with the ferrules. That might have forced the pegs to be centered and the tuners easier to turn.
It looks lovely! Was there nothing to be done about the pick guard or did the owner not care? I know you spoke with her... It just looks like it would bite! LOL
Can you use clear wax on a bowl mandolin all over. Pls?
When you heat the molecules expand when it cools it shrinks
I've melted in a lot of plastic and formed in many ways this stuff has a memory. Plain and simple
yes, It may be old plastic..it actually shrinks..the old style.@@RosaStringWorks
C'mon, Everyone knows what "wallered out" means (except the uneducated). However, the bridge is "eat up" is incorrect word usage. The proper term is "buggered up". Grammer has rules! Ain't ya got no learnings?
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, I watch them all the time.
Naw,....it's BOOGERED up !
that fingerboard could be heart of pear.... it is tough to work with and tends to twist and turn as it ages
No entiendo porque cambiaste las llaves originales
Great video once again! My question is, why you didn't simply reverse the machine heads to opposing sides to reverse the direction of pressure the string tension was placing on them against the worm gears? Is it possible they were previously installed backwards?
First they were incredibly tight even out of the mandolin though they did turn a little easier. Second they would turn backwards if you do it that way. 3rd they weren't the original tuners anyway and it was inexpensive to put on a new set like $25.
@@RosaStringWorks Thanks Jerry.
Remember sometimes money is no object, and sometimes the object is no money.
My first mandolin was a stradolin they sound pretty good for a mandolin that only cost $19.99 brand new lol
Fats Domino was a "stride master" on the 88s. He came from a New Orleans tradition and he rock and rolled the beat still striding with his left hand. He had zero to do with the twist which is by the way just about the best senior workout in existence. I teach and I never ever use that terrible oversaxed song in 62or 3, whenever. Fats had nothing to do with the fake stuff and that song was not rock and roll. Fats was and will always be the Stridemaster to me. The wood in the Stratolin is beautiful.
The sound is nice. It is a little darker than the normal mandolin. Good for Baroque Music
That's a tough mandolin 😃lol
10th fret neck joint...
It looks so much better. What happened to your finger? It must have been painful. I'm sure you weren't able to play for some time.
Smashed it putting wood in the furnace. What's really nice is I have now smashed the other one on the other hand. So the fingernail is just coming back on the first one and I'm just getting ready to lose it on the second one. Oh well
I fear you have a camera focus problem with this one! Still appreciate your comments and approach, many thanks
Were the Strad-O-Lins built by Lorett-O-Lin? 😂😂😂
And you get cold pressed organic linseed oil in health shops, can't imagine how that tastes, it stinks bad enough...
Chubby Checker ! Not Fats ! LOL
Chubby Checker did the twist not Fats Domino
That was chubby checker not fats.😉
I like to kill trolls. Do you know of a place to buy a dulcimer with a banjo in it. It plays like a dulcimer an sounds like a banjo. Thank you for your time. Enjoy your channel a whole lot.
Take that - you troll!
Looks like paste wax
Excuse, please - Strad-O-Lin. Always respect names that you will forget in 7 minutes anyway. Ukuleles for street people!
I wish you would say what tools you’re using. Not many tips or tricks in this video if I have no idea what you’re using. It’s a very nice video, and you did a great job, just not very helpful.
It sure doesn't sound like a Rosa does it.
I have never seen a luthier moan and groan and gripe and complain, always huffing and puffing and complaining about problems with instruments he's been hired to repair.