Odd musical instrument traced to Osage craftsman

Associated Press - December 1, 2009 4:54 AM ET

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) - The owner of a music shop in Marshall, Minn., says he has traced an odd musical instrument he bought recently to the former workshop of a violinmaker in Osage, Iowa.

Van Harris of Van's Acoustic Soundroom bought the instrument he calls a "mando-cello" at an estate auction last Sunday in Storden, Minn. It's the size and approximately the shape of a cello and has a peg on the bottom that's obviously meant to be rested on the floor. But, unlike a cello, it has frets like a guitar or mandolin.

Harris says he has learned that the instrument was made by Osage craftsman O.M. Severson in the early 1930s.

Severson was best known for his handmade violins. He died in 1960 at the age of 85.

Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com