Mandolin Levin 375

The Internet Site Vintage Guitars (Stockholm, Sweden), in its “Levin Information Pages”, mentions this Levin 375 Model of 12 strings mandolin as introduced by the famous Swedish factory ca 1937. The earliest known examples is the number 108465 of 1938. It is the instrument seen below, bought to Reverb, that testifies that it is now in private collection (ill. 1-4).

Ill. 1.

Ill. 2. – Levin 375 In private collection with number.

Ill. 3. – Levin Model 375 in catalogue.

Ill. 4. – Levin Model 375 in the 14-10-2018 “Levin Information Pages”.

The top, in sunburst finish, is in spruce (épicea), the flat back and sides are in maple (érable), like in most of the guitars of that time (ill. 5). Unbourn rosewood fingerboard (touche en palissandre).   No black pickguard in the catalogue and in this exemplar.

Chr. Séguret has classified the warranty labels that was indicated on the internal face of the back of the instrument (Vintage Guitare #25, oct.-dec. 2016, p. 32 . He writes: “From 1900 to ca 1933, this label is printed with hot iron , like in Martin, label that will be simplified from around 1918. From 1931 to 1935 appears a warranty under the form of an oval paper pasted upon the internal face, which will take on various profiles according to the dates and according to the fact it is a warranty of one or ten years. At least, in 1936, appear what we could call the “mediallion warranty” that has the form of the metal plate given to the farmers in the competitions at agricultural fairs !” (ill. 5-6).

Ill 5. – Warranty labels according to Chr. Séguret’s list.

Ill. 6. – Warranty labels according to Chr. Séguret’s list.

A first take of a 1928 song also played by Canned Heat and Rory Gallagher – a composition by William Harris.