The day before Christmas Eve, I received an unexpected package. Unpacked it and there it was, Levin's most mythical instrument. Number 244 in the number series. A double necked guitar with both a mandolin and a guitar neck. The only patent that Herman Carlsson Levin knowingly applied for me, the patent was taken in 1897 for the USA and Canada.
Could not hold me but started to renovate it, it was not in playable condition when it arrived. Also couldn't keep me from making it better than original with a carbon fiber rod in each neck and new and better ribs in the lid. Otherwise, it had to retain grip boards and tuning screws, the stall and the mandolin string holder had to be re-manufactured. Both necks were banded with brass bands.
It is now ready and sent to the customer. I think both instruments sounded extremely good, I keep the guitar as the top five of the instruments I renovated, the mandolin also sounded very good with muted guitar strings (otherwise it became too much string reverb in my taste). You can say that a mandolin with big body is a very good idea!
Think about putting the renovation thread on the site, otherwise it is already posted here.
Pictures of the finished instrument.
Hi, can you buy such an instrument, newly made or old?
Christians
No, not to my knowledge. However, I know of two replicas that are being manufactured by talented builders. Both use my pictures and dimensions as a model. Has nothing good to say about harp guitars, but this combination mandolin + guitar is a sensible instrument. Playing a guitar does not interfere with the mandolin strings, however, you may need to dampen the guitar strings when playing mandolin to avoid too much string reverb. The mandolin with muted guitar strings sounds big and good.