Vintage 1906 Jupiter Mandolin ("Jupiter2")
In early May 2008, while taking a brief rest from working on the 1898 "Jupiter1" Mandolin (see
Jupiter1 Mandolin Restore) I was browsing on eBay and saw a mandolin, apparently left over from an estate sale. It was exactly like my Jupiter1. These are fairly rare so I decided to watch it for a few days. I ended up winning the bidding for it in the eBay auction. My primary interest at the time was parts for my original Jupiter. But after receiving it and doing some preliminary work on it I decided to go ahead with fully restoring it. It had obviously been unused for some time (probably several years) and likely just stored away in a closet or attic. Upon examination, all bracing was securely attached (inside), the neck had begun to separate, and the soundboard was fairly warped from being stored in uncontrolled hot-cold, damp-dry conditions. The fretboard had some grooving--typical of a heavily played instrument, and some minor grooves in the frets themselves--particularly the 1st thru 3rd frets. The bridge (the original ebony bridge) had been modified--probably by a luthier for the original owner--to compensate for the soundboard warpage, so that the strings were all the same distance from the fretboard.
It was intriguing to imagine the story behind this old instrument. I imagined a long time owner playing this instrument all his life. He may not have known that extremes of temperature and humidity can have a devastating effect on an instrument. Most of us who were never professional musicians never knew about such things. So some instruments survived, while others gave in to the effects of climate and poor storage conditions. The owner likely had it set up again after the soundboard warped due to the prevailing conditions, and continued to play it until he could no longer do so...then stored it away in a closet or attic. When he passed on, and the estate was settled, someone found this in a closet or attic, and sold it along with all the other things at an estate sale, and I ended up with it. That may not be the story, but in my own silly romantic way, that's how I imagined the history behind this mandolin.
This part of my web site is devoted to that 1906 mandolin--which is referred to as "Jupiter 2".
I started by first getting Jupiter 2 cleaned up so I could know what I had to work with. It had "player rash" on the soundboard, and some waviness from getting dried out some, but overall was in good condition. Still, after I cleaned it, I temporarily discontinued any further work on it, opting instead to complete the restoration work on Jupiter 1. I finished Jupiter 1 in late July, then took sime time away from working on mandolins--devoting time to guitars. I sold Jupiter 1 in late October, then decided to resume work on Jupiter 2. The below link is the preliminary work I did to Jupiter 2 before finishing the restoration. To see the restoration process on Jupiter 2 -- just to prepare it for full restoration, click either on the picture below, or on the link below it to see May-July refurb/cleaning/repair work. When prompted to SAVE or OPEN, I would choose "OPEN" if I were you (but feel free to 'save'). But be patient...it does take some time to open.
Subsequent work on this mandolin resumed in October 2008. Links on the left-hand side of this page show that full restoration.
When prompted, simply choose either open or download. To move to each successive slide, simply click anywhere on the current page, and the next one will appear.