Received an unusual Levin parlor with floating stables. Unusual in that it is a late model with a cut head and the last type of Levin medallion. Guitars with a flat head without a medallion are first found in the 1928 catalog. This is a typical "unburst" where the original dark brown paint has been bleached by the sun and not a little! You can see it clearly in the shadow behind the sheet metal string holder on the lid and the bottom, which almost retains its dark brown color. In addition, there were several dark brown spots on the side, I think it's about improvements after the first varnish that didn't turn out quite well with the same color but with a different varnish that didn't fade in the sun. I've seen the same thing on other Levins, including this mandolin.
Converting from floating to solid stable has some special problems. On the other hand, the neck has a different angle and the lid is thicker for the most part. A new replica stall must be manufactured. You can also stand the shade from the string holder, on this it seemed very clear! But besides that, there is no difference in the end result, at least if you scratch the lid like I always do.
The bottom and lid were thinned out. A new replica of Madagascar rosewood was made for both fretboard and stables. The fretboard had a radius of 20.. The bottom had 5 ribs, I followed the original but replaced the 4th with a flat rib. The tuning screws were replaced with new ones with modern distances between the posts. Nowadays I always mount metal bushings for all posts.
Levin's neck attachment is tricky. To prevent the neck from being pushed in by the string pull into the soft necklace in spruce, I cut a shim in hard wood (birch / maple) into the bottom of the neck pocket.
Used my new jig to measure the tone. Nowadays I can rely on the dimensions of the stable leg!
It got a K&K, plugs, segmented stable legs and oversaddle toning. The sound with a fixed stable is so much better than with the floating stable!
