This instrument is not supposed to exist.
In all my research about Mandobasses the only mention of a mandobass crafted by Lyon & Healy was the sub-brand Leland, which looked nothing like the typical Lyon & Healy/Washburn Style-A models of the late teens and twenties.
When I saw this beauty come up for sale, I was immediately skeptical. There was NO MENTION AT ALL, anywhere of one of these. The only definitive call to Lyon & Healy is a stamp on the tailpiece. So after some research and some consultation with Lyon & Healy mandolin owners to compare the general appointments of the bass, I went to see it in person.
Everything about it screams, Lyon & Healy. The shape. The headstock scroll. The detailing. The tone is very mandocello, but, obviously, deeper. The flamed maple sides and back.
It is about as deep as a Gibson, but noticeably smaller in height, but interestingly with a longer fingerboard. Top is carved spruce joined at the center, and the back is a single piece of carved maple (just think of how big that tree was). Overall it is in amazing condition. The tuners work well, the frets are in great shape (since it probably wasn’t played all that much). There are several cracks on the top repaired, seemingly, with hide glue. They’ll be reinforced soon. There is also a small crack top near where the neck joins the body.
After speaking at length with Tom Crandall I learned that the instrument was found some time in the 1970s in a violin store in western Massachusetts. The previous owner had no knowledge of its provenance beyond that.
After a very friendly negotiation, it was safely packed in my car and headed home.
Pretty sure that this one needs to be called ‘Moby’.
Everything is for sale, theoretically, but you’ll need to really knock my socks off to get this one. 🙂
After considerable research using the online copies of the Cadenza and Crescendo Magazine I am convinced that this bass was created as a Guild of American Banjoists, Mandolinists, and Guitarists prize for their chapter contest in October 1915. Note that the bass is specifically Lyon & Healy made. If it were to be a Leland, which was the only mando-bass in their catalog, I would have thought it would be explicitly mentioned.
Lyon & Healy began advertising their “own make” mandolin, mandola, and mandocello lines in 1917, but not the mandobass. The 1916 timing works if they were still in development and refining their designs and construction and wanted to make a showing at the convention in advance of the formal marketing push.
If it did indeed go to W. Holt and the Nordica Mandolin & Guitar Club, it could have been used in their subsequent concerts. No specific model information is available in the programs, but mandobass players included: LW Teller, JB Trotter, HF Plews, JE Barry, OL Simpson, and AL Williams (all hard to trace without first names).
There is only one picture of the Nordica orchestra from 1923 but it is much too dark to discern whether there is a mandobass at all, let alone the L&H gift.
While I cannot definitively prove that my L&H mandobass is the one referred to in the Cadenza, it is compelling circumstantial evidence. If it is, what happened between the time it was part of the Nordica club and it ending up in a violin store in Western Mass before being bought by the person who consigned it with TR Crandall remains a mystery.