It’s for sale at £700 ono, including a soft case. We've restrung it and polished out a few minor scuffs Made in 2007, the mandolin is in perfect playing condition. It’s a shame in one way, but it does benefit a worthwhile cause. I've checked my records against the serial number, and it all seems to fit.

This mandolin was donated to a charity in Preston and I've offered to sell it on their behalf.Ī lady took it into the charity shop and said she had bought it but hadn't played it. It’s a lovely thing and there can never be another one like it. We’ve refinished the back, sides and neck. We have even kept the original Lignum Vitae nut- much better than bone. The tuners are the original Schallers, nicely bedded in now after forty plus years and working perfectly. Four layers of red and green ABS twisted together over a flame, then sanded flat. The neck isn’t as big and chunky as many of the early Falstaff’s, but it’s not a modern adjustable style either. It was originally so stiff that I could not get any relief into it and it was difficult to set up, but we’ve now fitted a new Ebony fingerboard and bridge and reset the neck to make all that work just fine. The neck is laminated from Bocote and Burr Rosewood, with the heavy aluminium reinforcement that I used at the time. The centre panel is Burr Indian Rosewood - which I’ve never seen or heard of before or since and is very difficult to work with. The sides, and two outer panels of the back are “Bocote” although I didn’t know what it was at the time. The top is German Spruce, which was just about all I used in the early days, it’s in good condition apart from a few minor marks. Did you follow that? Pity it doesn’t have a passport with visa stamps. Earlier this year, I took it in part exchange from a customer in Germany, who had bought it from the USA. The history didn’t stop with John, he part exchanged this guitar with me for one of the newer Oberons he has now, and I sold it on to somebody in England, then I heard it had been sold to somebody in Ireland. John played this alongside his Oberon for many years and it featured in a lot of his publicity. I made it for John in 1977, paired with one I made for Dave Walters. It doesn’t get much more interesting than this, the guitar is a piece of English musical history.

Morris guitars serial number