Mandolin
Maker
Albert Burton Shutt
Date1909-1911 ca.
Place MadeTopeka, Kansas, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsStamped on upper edge of head, each number from an individual metal stamp, first and second three digits divided by indent of decorative head outline: 027 367
Partially effaced repair inscription written in black ink on inside of back, visible through bass f-hole: Alfred C Perdue / [effaced section] / 2/17/25
Written and scratched out in pencil above previous inscription: A C Perdi
Scratched on underside of tailpiece cover: A P
DescriptionMore than a decade before Gibson brought the F-5 to market, Shutt had incorporated both f-holes and longitudinal bracing on an arch-top mandolin. This example is based on his first patent and decorated with his fanciest trim.
Albert Burton Shutt (1877-1963) was born in Pennsylvania, but his family moved to a farm in Blue Hill, Kansas by 1880. In the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Censuses, he is listed as a music teacher. Alfred Clinton Perdue (b. 1898), who repaired the mandolin and presumably owned it in 1925, was listed as a laborer in Humboldt, Kansas, in the 1920 Census. His father, Joseph, was a farmer.
NMM 13006 is based on Shutt’s 1910 Design Patent, D40,564. This is the only surviving example based on this design.
Stringing: eight steel strings
Soundboard: arched, one-piece, quarter-cut spruce or pine: wide grain; mother-of-pearl dots inlaid at center of scrolls at upper bouts
Back: one-piece, quarter-cut birch
Ribs: two-piece, semi-slab-cut birch; scrolls on upper bouts carved from solid pieces of birch
Head: mahogany; ebony veneer; inlaid abalone foliate decoration; bound in ivoroid; decorative cutout at upper end of head
Neck: mahogany; integral with head
Heel cap: none
Binding: ivoroid
Fretboard: black-stained dark brown tropical hardwood; 19 nickel-silver frets under D- and G-strings, 21 frets under A-string, 22 frets under E-string; single mother-of-pearl dot behind 3rd fret; mother-of-pearl lozenges with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving, behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets; single mother-of-pearl dot with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving behind 15th fret
Nut: bone
Bridge: black-painted dark tropical hardwood; compensated; later maple shim on underside
Tailpiece: nickel-plated stamped sheet brass with decoratively cut upper edge; secured to lower rib with one steel dome-headed screw and two flat-headed steel screws; foliate and floral engraving
Tuners: two pairs of nickel-silver-plated steel worm-gear tuners with enclosed mechanisms set into head, with foliate and floral engravings on nickel-silver covers, secured with five dome-headed steel screws per tuner unit; mother-of-pearl heads, two replaced with white-painted black plastic and one repaired
Endpin: ebony with abalone eye
Soundholes: two f-holes with strongly curved stems
Pick guard: none
Varnish: very dark red with slight craquelure on back, ribs and head, black on top with slight craquelure
Linings: kerfed birch
Neck block: dark brown hardwood; grain parallel to plane of top and back; extends across entire upper bouts
End block: spruce; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back; shallow, rounded edges
Top bracing: two maple braces between f-holes, fanned slightly from upper to lower bouts
Other: white cloth patch under bridge position, under braces
DimensionsTotal mandolin length: 640 mm (25-3/16″)
Back length (from heel to end block): 322 mm (13-11/16″)
Upper bout width: 261 mm (12-21/32″)
Waist width: 222 mm (8-3/4″)
Lower bout width: 269 mm (10-19/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 33 mm (1-5/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 35 mm (1-3/8″)
Rib height, at endpin: 34 mm (1-11/32″)
Head length: 163 mm (6-13/32″)
Head width, top: 81 mm (3-3/16″)
Head width, bottom: 63 mm (2-15/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 165 mm (6-1/2″)
Neck width, nut: 31 mm (1-7/32″)
Neck width, heel: 41 mm (1-5/8″)
Soundhole height: 102 mm (4″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): E: 344 mm (13-17/32″); G: 345 mm (13-9/16″)
Published Referenceshttps://www.harpguitars.net/history/shutt/shutt.htm
Credit LineGift of Curtis Teague, 2007
Object number13006
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