Fender / Electric Mandolin / 1962 / Sunburst Three-tone / Stringed Instrument For Sale
Offset asymmetrical contoured double cutaway solid body. This 10-inch-wide electric mandolin weighs just 3.50 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 1/8 inches and a scale length of 13 3/4 inches. Solid alder body, one-piece maple neck, and slab rosewood fretboard with 24 original medium frets and clay dot position markers. Single "butterfly" string tree on 1st and 2nd strings. Headstock with 'spaghetti' with "Fender" in gold with black trim. "Original Contour Body Pat. Pend." decal on the ball end of the headstock. Closed-back "single-line" Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with the original (slightly shrunken) white plastic oval buttons. Four-bolt neck plate with serial number ("01534") between the top two screws. One oblong (black bottom) single-coil pickup with transparent reddish-brown plastic cover and four concealed polepieces with an output of 5.22k. Celluloid tortoiseshell over three-layer (white/black/white) plastic pickguard with nine screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack socket, all on lower treble side of the pickguard. Telecaster-type chrome knobs with flat tops and knurled sides. Combined micro adjustable (threaded) two-saddle bridge/tailpiece. The neck is dated in pencil "3-62" and the potentiometers are stamped "304 6340" (Stackpole October, 1963). Inside the pickup cavity is a small piece of tape with "16" written in pencil. This instrument is in exceptionally fine and totally original (9.00) condition, with just a few very small and barely noticeable surface marks on the body. Complete with the original chrome bridge cover. Housed in the original Fender tan Tolex hardshell case with brown leather ends and orange plush lining (9.25).
A previous owner has engraved a six figure number on the neck plate, just below the serial number.
"First introduced in spring 1956, the Electric Mandolin looks like a mini Stratocaster. This is were it derives its value. As an instrument, it has limited usability because it has only four strings and a solid body instead of the usual eight strings for a mandolin. Oblong pickup with reddish brown cover, no visible poles, "Fender" decal with no other markings. These Mandocasters were probably made in batches, so often the body and neck dates can be up to a year or more apart. Also features like an Ash body can be seen as late as 1959, even Fender stopped using Ash on sunburst instruments in mid-1956. The first years of Fender Electric Mandolin production (1956, 1957) used a slab body style, much like a Telecaster. This changed in 1958 to a more Stratocaster style body with contours. Sunburst was the standard finish, though Blond is also seen. Custom color Fender Mandocasters also exist. The Mandocaster also used a metal anodized gold pickguard until mid-1959, like the pre-1959 Precision Bass. Usually they are strung with .008, .012, .019w and .028w strings, and tuned like a mandolin [G D A E]" (http://www.provide.net/~cfh/mando.html).
"Fender looked back to a traditional instrument for its other new model for 1956 [in addition to the Duo-Sonic and the Musicmaster]: the electric Fender Mandolin. It sold for $169.50, with a Fender-style double-cutaway solid body and four strings rather than the regular mandolin's eight (in four pairs). Perhaps surprisingly, the Mandolin lasted in the line until the mid 1970s" (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Fender, p. 22).
When introduced in 1956, Fender electric mandolins were used extensively by Western swing bands of the era, including Billy Gray's band who endorsed the instruments of Fender. By 1976 they were discontinued from the Fender product line. Today's collectors of Fenders endearingly refer to them as Mandocasters.
Fretted Americana , USA 
We specialize in acquiring and offering the finest specimens of American vintage electric guitars with particular attention to those in their complete, original state. We are the only dealer to embrace a written code of ethics (in Terms & Conditions). We encourage you to read it.
HOW WE WORK
We want to inspire and win your trust and confidence. You don't want to have any negative surprises upon receipt of an instrument that you've invested yourself as well as your money into. Nor do you want any untoward surprises should you decide to sell it in the future.
To that end, every guitar that we offer is catalogued to a degree and depth of detail that is fast becoming the standard in the trade. When we declare an instrument to be completely original, it is. If it is not, we tell you exactly in what manner it has been altered.
We photograph each guitar at many angles to provide you with the broadest, clearest sense of its appearance. We will, upon request, provide you with images of all electronic components, inside and out.
Each guitar we acquire is skillfully and painstakingly dissected by David Brass, who is a trained luthier as well as a dealer and collector. All parts, no matter how small, are meticulously examined. We have an enviable reference library of wide breadth and scope that we refer to when necessary for crucial facts. The instrument is put under a black-light: original finish or refin? Even the most skillfully masked ding is uncovered. David then fastidiously reassembles the instrument. It is then cleaned with the finest products available for wood and metal.
An inspection certificate of authenticity signed by David is provided with every guitar you purchase.
We keep our inventory relatively small and highly select. We choose our guitars with extreme care so we can offer you the finest examples of the finest rare guitars in the world.
We are client focused to an extraordinary degree. If you expect or would like to be surprised by courteous, professional client service, we will pleased to accommodate that desire.
It is our fervent wish to establish a long-term relationship with you.
CODE OF ETHICS
We wish to establish an ongoing relationship with you based upon your trust in our knowledge and judgment.
To that end:
We meticulously inspect in detail every guitar that we offer. We check the finish, all of the electrical components, serial numbers, etc. With over thirty years of experience collecting and handling vintage guitars and our enormous reference library, we bring to bear all that is known about guitar manufacturers, models, and annual production.
We provide full, detailed descriptions and specs to each guitar.
We openly disclose any and all flaws we discover in writing. If the instrument is not completely “straight,” we will tell you so and why.
We endeavor to conduct ourselves to the highest standard of professional behavior.
We will deal fairly and ethically; no surprises, flim-flam, dubious business practices or shenanigans.
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We allow a full 48 hour honeymoon period when you buy a guitar from us. If you are not 100% satisfied with it we will refund the purchase price in full, less shipping, upon return of the guitar in the same condition as sold. Please call us before returning the instrument.
Please inspect your new guitar immediately upon receiving it. If any guitar we offer is found to be not as described, we will happily refund the full purchase price, less shipping, upon return of the guitar in the same condition as sold. Please call us before returning the instrument.
