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c.1931 Kel Kroydon KK-20
These are unique sounding mandolins with much more warmth, openness, and overtone flower in the lower mids and bass than a carved Gibson A, and perhaps a bit less attack and dimension in the trebles in favour of a bit more shimmer and sparkle. Added up, the Kel Kroydon KK-20 differs from a carved A much the way a flat-top guitar differs from a similarly sized archtop guitar. Surprised?!
The KK-20 is also nothing like Gibson’s other flat-topped mandolins built in the first 2 decades of the 1900s; the Alrite and Army Navy models were tone-bar braced, which made them less like flat-top guitars and also much more prone to top sinkage.
This example is in very fine condition and offers excellent playability thanks to a somewhat recent refret and a more recent fret dress and setup in our shop. Apart from the frets, the instrument is completely original. The bridge has been cut down in height to achieve standard action, and the headstock corners’ radii were made rounder and touched up for a reason we’re not privy to. Perhaps there was a chip in a headstock corner that a previous owner found unsightly? Who knows.
Spruce and mahogany body with white top and back bindings. Ebony fretboard and bridge, bone nut, and clamshell tailpiece. Flat fretboard with guitar-sized fretwire, 1-3/16” nut width, 13-7/8” scale. Rounded U neck carve with a 1st fret depth of .860”.
No cracks or structural repairs; all braces are tight. Original finish throughout apart from on the upper corners of the headstock sides.
With original hardshell case.
