American Conservatory Venetian Tupoint Style 4983 Flat Back, Bent Top Mandolin, made by Lyon & Healy (1925)
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Item # 11346
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American Conservatory Venetian Tupoint Style 4983 Model Flat Back, Bent Top Mandolin, made by Lyon & Healy (1925), made in Chicago, serial # 2520, satin lacquer finish, mahogany back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebonized fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
"American Conservatory" was Lyon & Healy's "B" list brand in the 1910s and '20s, less expensive than the top-line Washburns but still quality instruments. This plain but elegant little mandolin appeared in the 1925 Lyon & Healy catalog as the American Conservatory "Venetian Tupoint" at a list price $22.00. plus case. It is similar in design to a number of period Chicago-made instruments, but better constructed than many, with good quality materials all around. L&H used the term "Venetian" rather loosely, as would Kay and Gibson later on. The design has no notable links to the Italian city, but presumably the reference looked classy in the catalogs.
Construction wise this is a typical "Lute Style" (a period misnomer) mandolin with a bent top and slightly arched back, retaining some of the playing characteristics of the old bowlback pattern in an easier to hold (and conveniently easier to build) design. The "Tupoint" body shape was borrowed from the expensive high-end Lyon & Healy carved mandolins, which cost many times what this one did. The L&H catalog touts the "hand rubbed satin finish" and calls this model "a very popular instrument of unique design". It is a nicely made, fine sounding and excellent playing mandolin, similar in many ways to period Vega instruments and an delightful find in this sort of condition a century on.
Overall length is 24 1/4 in. (61.6 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) across at the widest point, and 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 13 in. (330 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
For being just about 100 years old this mandolin is amazingly clean, and in excellent structural condition. The finish shows only minor wear with a decent amount of superficial scratching and a few deeper scratches and dings. There are no visible cracks or repairs and the top in particular is in far better shape than many similar instruments, which have often folded up over the decades. The mandolin is original and complete except the oft-missing tailpiece cover is (predictably) missing. The neck is quite straight, the frets excellent and the instrument plays very well with a surprisingly loud and punchy sound, retaining the tonal sweetness that is characteristic of this style of mandolin. A really neat find in a 1920's "Non-Gibson" mandolin, ready to play housed in a modern HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.
"American Conservatory" was Lyon & Healy's "B" list brand in the 1910s and '20s, less expensive than the top-line Washburns but still quality instruments. This plain but elegant little mandolin appeared in the 1925 Lyon & Healy catalog as the American Conservatory "Venetian Tupoint" at a list price $22.00. plus case. It is similar in design to a number of period Chicago-made instruments, but better constructed than many, with good quality materials all around. L&H used the term "Venetian" rather loosely, as would Kay and Gibson later on. The design has no notable links to the Italian city, but presumably the reference looked classy in the catalogs.
Construction wise this is a typical "Lute Style" (a period misnomer) mandolin with a bent top and slightly arched back, retaining some of the playing characteristics of the old bowlback pattern in an easier to hold (and conveniently easier to build) design. The "Tupoint" body shape was borrowed from the expensive high-end Lyon & Healy carved mandolins, which cost many times what this one did. The L&H catalog touts the "hand rubbed satin finish" and calls this model "a very popular instrument of unique design". It is a nicely made, fine sounding and excellent playing mandolin, similar in many ways to period Vega instruments and an delightful find in this sort of condition a century on.
Overall length is 24 1/4 in. (61.6 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) across at the widest point, and 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 13 in. (330 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
For being just about 100 years old this mandolin is amazingly clean, and in excellent structural condition. The finish shows only minor wear with a decent amount of superficial scratching and a few deeper scratches and dings. There are no visible cracks or repairs and the top in particular is in far better shape than many similar instruments, which have often folded up over the decades. The mandolin is original and complete except the oft-missing tailpiece cover is (predictably) missing. The neck is quite straight, the frets excellent and the instrument plays very well with a surprisingly loud and punchy sound, retaining the tonal sweetness that is characteristic of this style of mandolin. A really neat find in a 1920's "Non-Gibson" mandolin, ready to play housed in a modern HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.