MIMF

Since there are two identical store labels, my guess is that one is hiding the maker's label. This mandolin had a full pearl fretboard, thin fluted ribs on the bowl and a neck and headstock overlaid with tortoise shell. It also has a monogram on the headstock so was probably a custom order from some...

I thought I had read something in the past that Frank Ford had posted and sure enough he pointed me in the right direction. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ... alnum.html

Now, to just get up the nerve to do it.

Just get it fixed up, and don't worry about removing the labels. It won't gain you anything even if you did manage to get one off. These bowl back mandolins are not worth a lot anyway, and you stand a chance of messing up ALL of the labels by fooling with them...so my vote is just fix it up and be ...

I guess my question is how to apply that moisture and heat without destroying the labels or affecting the bowl of the mandolin which has a large number of narrow fluted ribs. This thing was kept under poor conditions and I am trying to determine if it is worth restoring.

I have an old ornate bowlback mandolin that I believe was made in Italy but which has two labels from a New York City dealer or store glued on to the inside of the bowl. I believe that at least one of these may be covering the label of the actual maker of this instrument. Is there a way to remove th...