It’s always great to get something in that has a history. Although we can’t reveal the name of the Nashville sessioner, who used this Martin 2-15 mandolin for almost fifty years, the instrument practically radiates classic country tunes!
Hand carved
Featuring a fully hand carved top & back, (Spruce top, Maple back), the Model 2-15 was in production from 1936 until 1965, the longest lasting of any of the Model 2-series. The more expensive 2-20 and 2-30 were fancier models, but the 2-15 is the one that players revere, for its particularly warm and sweet tone.
Premium quality
Ebony fingerboard, carved Ebony bridge, tone-bar bracing, Rosewood headstock overlay, polished bone nut, mother-of-pearl dot inlays, 3-ply front binding, single-ply rear binding – a simple, but premium quality package that all comes together so beautifully that you will immediately understand why this was a favorite instrument.
Deserves to be played
When settling her father’s estate, several years back, the daughter sold off the majority of his gear, but retained the mandolin, as she could recall it being the one instrument* her dad reached for the most. Not a player herself, she hung it on the wall of her apartment, where it eventually became part of the background. One evening, when she had friends over for dinner, someone asked about the mandolin on the wall, and she shared its history. One of the guests was a player, and said, “It’s nice to have something from your dad, but you don’t play, and a nice mandolin like that – specially with all the history it’s got – it deserves to be played.”
A world of difference
It was another several months before she was able to take the big step of letting go, but after a short visit with one of our associate dealers in the US, it’s now here in Australia, ready to make a world of difference to your sound.
Monkey-on-a-stick
With the extraordinary bonus of an original DeArmond “Monkey-on-a-Stick” pickup, (see pics 6 & 7), the mandolin has clearly been played – some – but is in fantastically pro-maintained condition. It’s almost a given that many other dealers in Australia would have split up the mandolin and the pickup and sold them separately, as original Monkey-on-a-stick DeArmonds regularly sell for $900 - $1200, but we don’t do that here.
Condition
There is hand wear on the back of the neck, (pics 2 & 5), with another patch adjacent to the nut on the treble side, which the daughter told our dealer friend she would occasionally see her father coloring in with marker pen – or even boot polish! We have left the original strings on – you may wish to absorb some historic Nashville mojo – but will include a new set of Martins in the case. (Also in the case, a veritable “string history” of spares!)
Free courier delivery
With our FREE COURIER DELIVERY to any address in Australia, this is an exceptional vintage Martin mandolin buy. Hand built by Martin in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, 73 years ago, and ready to keep making great music for decades more!
*Nowadays a doctor in New York, she remembers her mother telling her, shortly after her father died, “That little mandolin put you through med school.” That’s a serious amount of session work!
Just Guitars
