The Quadrifecta is complete.
We welcome to the home a Vega Cylinder-Back mandobass; one of the two Cylinder-Backs that we are aware of, and one of 4 Vegas total. ‘Grandfather’ has come back home to Boston.
This mandobass was owned by the Los Angeles Mandolin Orchestra, and upon its dissolution, was sold to one of the members who has had it for 30+ years since. It is featured on the cover of their album ‘A Classical & Folk Concert’.
It was also featured in Paul Ruppa’s seminal ‘America Mando-Bass History 101‘ article, which includes a table of comparative measurements among the major makers of the time.
This Mandobass has been played. There are various signs of finger/pick wear at the end of the fingerboard, and a lot of the wood on the headstock and along all the edges is abraded to the point where the original wood shows through the stain.
Additionally there are many cracks on the top, sides, and a few on the back at bottom. There is a curious set of 4 holes on the bottom of the instrument around where the tailpiece attaches that suggests that maybe this was mounted on a stand of some kind to play? We cannot think of any other reason they’d be there. The ‘Cylinder’ has been reinforced with some cloth patches in parts which has obliterated the label. There was likely a headstock fracture at some point, as there is evidence of a crack underneath the tuner plate as well as a what looks like a dowel inserted into the back of the headstock.
‘Grandfather’ has had a long rich life.
On the upside, all the hardware and appointments seem original except the tail pin, the rod of which at least, has been replaced. Unlike the Gibson’s it has no side pin, so it was intended to be played upright, which may explain the extent of the pick wear on the side of the neck, because it is much harder to pick laterally than vertically. The top is bound by an ivoroid nearly the whole way round.
Unlike other models, the neck joins the body at the 10th instead of the 12th fret; but has a longer fingerboard allowing for a higher top range by a minor third.
From a period catalog
“The Vega Mano Bass is the instrument which as created such a sensation in the Mandolin Fraternity” No such tone qualityfrom an instrument of this kind has ever been heard. Its construction on the lines of the Mandocello is a marvel of fine workmanship. At the Guild Convention its big powerful tone was a revelation to all.
Body: Mahogany, dark finish
Neck: Mahogany neck, durabel brass plate, double bass screw machines, rolled plate German silver frets.
Trimmings: Ebony compensating bridge, ebony nut and tailpiece, reinforced selected strings. French Polished. Length over all 63 inches. Depth at bridge, 8 inches. Length of scale 37, inches.”
The Ruppa article identifies the top of this bass as spruce and not mahogany as the catalog would suggest.
New, it was $200. Now, it is not.
