Handcarved Brauer Mandolin / Mandolin labelled "ITALIA".

A most likely prewar Brauer mandolin with cats' eye 

sound holes. This A type mandolin later was produced

under the Hoffner label but in this original design it

has some interesting features.

A nice back of the overall very carefully built instrument.

The meticulous woodcarving of the head is a first

luxury detail of the East european built instrument.

A fine Brauer guitar can be found on youtube where

a comparison with a Gibson jazz model is revealing!

  

The bridge the has been made out of two types of

wood: Rosewood and ebony and moreover the

compensation has been carved into the top.

A better sight on this beautiful made bridge.

As the formerly East european factories were known for

their woodwork the inlay of the edges can be seen here. 

Remarkable on this instrument are the rather poorly tuners

(at first glance)  but they do work well. Ebony fingerboard.

And again: the inlay, multicolored, on this instrument.

The sound is very good though suspects are that the

top hasn't been carved in a violin way and is not solid.

Mandolin "ITALIA"

A nicely decorated mandolin but besides that a good

sounding example of what most likely has been made

in the south of Italy (Catania) as the slightly bigger

soundbox points in that direction. It might as well be

a product from the Puglisi mandolin manufacturers.

A well preserved bowl back

And even the soundboard is free from cracks though

there is a slight deformation in the upper right part.

In fact it has no influence on playability and sound.

Mostly the soundboards are unfinished from mandolins

of the golden age. I give them just one tiny coat of a matt 

lacquer that keeps the soundboard fresh and clean.

Probably made for the international market: Most of the time 

musical instrument traders sticked in their own label.