Oliver Apitius is a well-regarded mandolin builder with quite a long wait list these days. This “Grand Classic” model features more ornamentation than other offerings from Apitius, including invoriod/black/white bindings on the body, neck & headstock, paua abalone position markers, and the “Apitius Vine” headstock inlay. Other features include a hand-carved spruce top, beautifully matched figured maple back & sides, figured maple neck, ebony fingerboard with compound radius, 1 5/32” nut width, hide glue construction, hand-applied spirit varnish finish, and gold open-gear tuners. This particular mandolin was ordered without a pickguard, and the engraved tailpiece was swapped in favor of a hinged tailpiece

This mandolin is in excellent overall condition, with very little evidence of play wear. A small ding on the top’s treble side below the f-hole (roughly the size of a ballpoint pen tip), an even smaller chip on the back of the headstock at the point, and a minor imperfection near the lowest G string tuner on the side of the headstock are the only cosmetic imperfections noted. The frets appear almost unplayed! Comes in a hardshell case.