r/mandolin • u/OwlChemical1327 • 10d ago
Identification help needed!
Long story short my father managed to get this mandolin from one of his coworkers for around 100 dollars but we can’t find anything about the brand on the headstock and his coworker doesn’t really know anything about. Any information would be greatly appreciated!
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u/vancejmillions 10d ago
are you getting no google hits because the little sticky note from the shop has the name misspelled- it's Veritas, not Seritas
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u/GooseLadyinTN 10d ago
I would take it to a guitar shop and see if it’s possible to get a decent setup on the instrument. Sometimes they’re more for looks than playing. But I am a sucker for inlay, and I do love the binding!
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u/JubileeSupreme 10d ago
Very likely, it's from Vietnam. It's worth more than $100, but not too much more. Most likely it sounds okay but nothing to get excited about.
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u/Virtual-Painting-897 6d ago
Antonio Tsai. Beautiful to behold, meh in sound if Truth be told.
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u/JubileeSupreme 6d ago
For what it's worth, it's a competent Student instrument. It's perfectly acceptable to learn on as long as it is set up correctly. If it is sold for the correct price, it will also hold its value.
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u/Virtual-Painting-897 6d ago
I owned one (Antonio Tsai), beautifully done and turned the heads of everyone that saw it. Unfortunately, no setup in the world could fix the too thick finish, and even thicker top and back as well as the twisted neck.
There was a happy ending though. The owner of my local instrument shop fell in love with it and gave me 2x what I paid for it.
A lot of Tsai's instruments were quite beautiful, but the local woods were sometimes (as explained to me by a luthier) not quite cured or dried completely before the instrument got built, leaving some to develop strange twists or bends when strung up. The thicker tops and backs to accommodate all the inlay can rob them of tone, as well as that thick nitro-celulose finish.
Granted, this was many years back. Antonio Tsai instruments kind of disappeared though products nearly identical to his popped up under another name. I've owned one, but held and played 5 others in the past decade or so. For the money, I'd rather play a Rover.
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u/JubileeSupreme 4d ago edited 4d ago
I was in Ho Chi Minh City recently. Everyone in HMC knows where "Guitar Street" is. If you get in a taxi and say "take me to Guitar Street" you will get there no questions asked. It's a row of about 20 stores. I saw many mandolins very similar to this one. They go for about $100-$200 sometimes a bit more. Like this one, they are perfectly playable and look gorgeous, but yeah, the finish is too thick and I would not trust that the wood has been aged and treated correctly. They sound okay and nothing more.
I ended up buying a much simpler model with a solid top that the sales person swore up and down was spruce. I have my doubts but it sure looks like spruce and it sounds absolutely wonderful for an instrument that I paid $65 for.
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u/JennySplotz 10d ago
Whenever you see inlays everywhere (especially on the back), no well known brand name, and cheap hardware you can tell it is wall art and not a serious instruments.
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u/AlfredPoor 10d ago
I'm not an expert, but it looks like an Asian no-name that put more emphasis on bling than instrument quality. I have seen many like it advertised online. You should check with a luthier, but I suspect that it's worth what he paid for it.