This f-hole mandolin with a hand-carved, solid spruce top, sports a shaded (sunburst) finish. The neck, sides and hand-carved back are of maple. The fretboard is unbound ebony. The great Martin craftsmen put this little beauty together in 1964.

There are many different types of mandolins, and at least one manufacturer has been in business for centuries. To learn more about mandolins, pick up a copy of Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments: A Photographic History" by George Gruhn and Walter Carter. The 320 pages of this book include hundreds of beautiful color photographs, not only of mandolins but also of acoustic guitars, banjos and other related instruments.