# Instruments and Equipment > Videos, Pictures & Sound Files >  Vintage Gibson Shot of the Day (or week)

## danb

Here's a recent close up of a Torch & Wire F4

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## danb

Another shot

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## danb

Here's F4 # 13092, a very late 3-pointer. 

The back on this one is off the scale:

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## danb

Double Flowerpot on the peghead too, only one I know of on a three pointer:

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## danb

Deep carving in the scroll

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## danb

Two pickguard clamps

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## danb

And just a beauty overall..

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## danb

A2z #74106

Here's a nice macro of the black/white binding that is (largely) unique to this model:

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## danb

7 rings round the soundhole..

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## mandopete

Dan,

These photo's are off the scale!

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## danb

A4 #73626

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## danb

Thanks Pete, I've been practicing

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## danb

Unusually early tuning pegs for a snake, normally they are the arrow-end type! Compare my brown snake, 
A #71261 which also has the same smoother peghead profile

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## PaulD

I kinda like that deep carving around the scroll. I hadn't noticed that before, so I went back and looked through the archive. I found this one that I thought had a very interesting scroll carving...Late 3pt F2. Amazing artistry! 

Paul Doubek

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## mandoryan

Is that a replacement fingerboard for 73626 A4? Sure looks like one. Not in a good way either in my opinion.

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## danb

I think 73626 has an original board, very white binding is all. What do you see there that makes you wonder?

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## mandoryan

The little extension doesn't look right. It looks like it was kind of sloppily copied from an original. It could be that it was made originally that way though. I haven't seen enough to really know for sure.

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## danb

This one is similar.. I think it's right..

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## Eugene

Shot of the day (or week)!? There's enough here for a good month!

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## danb

Well I'm hoping to keep piling them in

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## danb

Here's one of the first of the raised Pickguards, with "Patent Applied for" stamp..

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## danb

And here's the clamp, made from modifed violin chin rest hardware..

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## danb

Underside view

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## danb

Almost completely a teens A, except for the "pineapple" tailpiece cover..

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## danb

Oof. I did 55 new images in the archives today, now bringing the total to 4673 pictures of 3172 instruments.

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## danb

Ok folks, this instrument (F4 #5713) is quite literally the reason I got into this whole archiving business in the first place (note the archive logo). These spectacular photos by Dave at Elderly instruments:

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## danb

The Back..

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## danb



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## danb

Senor Torchio:

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## danb

Handel tuners.. appear to have been left natural brass (like the tailpiece cover) which gives a sort of "gold hardware" look..

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## danb



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## grandmainger

Those pics are incredible. It's so har to take good photos of metal parts.

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## danb

yes, I've been in touch with the photographer at Elderly who took them- they are fantastic shots.

I think the brass parts aren't quite as tricky as chrome to photograph, they are more "scattering" of light than those mirror-finish ones are. Still, amazing details. I particularly like the shot of the Handels, the detail on the stamping is nice to see that sharply.

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## kyblue

Wow! Thanks for posting these.

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## danb

Playing with the flash tonight while I had the strings off. Here's a nice shot showing where the FON is on a snakehead..

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## danb

Another nice detail showing the serial that's pencilled under the bridge. The "T" and "B" are markers for Treble & Bass sides. I posted a shot of this once before, but this one came out nicer

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## danb

Kind of a nice view of the tailpiece cover. Stamp looks like it was wearing out a bit?

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## mandopete

Dan - You are the King Of The Camera!

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## Darryl Wolfe

Nice bridge top. It looks like it has some sort of stamp on it

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## danb

Sunken original on the base in this shot, Darryl's saddle on the top. *enormous* difference in tone for the better with the replacement..

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## Darryl Wolfe

Notice how I don't cut the compensations down so low on the saddle. #It may not be exactly/perfectly correct, but I have not heard of one cracking in that lower right corner where the original eventually do. I also cut the wheel relief a shade deeper so that the top will go all the way down to the base

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## MANDOLINMYSTER

Hey Darryl& Dan,

I remember reading someplace, (probally here) that you don't want the saddle resting on the base, keep it raised off the base via the thumbwheels for better vibration transmission (more focused) from saddle-thru the posts- to base- to the the tone bars. B.S.or truth?

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## goose 2

Wow, that's weird. Just last night I was talking to Sharon Gilchrist who is a good picker out of Santa Fe and she has a Gilchrist F-5 made in the 80's that had the exact same headstock inlay and vine that that 3-pointer has. I had never seen the inlay before and now within 24 hours I have seen it on a vintage gibson and a modern gilly. Kinda cool.

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## danb

Nugget did several of them too.. recenly, so has Hans Brentrup!

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## uncle ken

I had the strings off my F4 so I polished the abolone on the headstock. I can't seem to capture the depth of the color though with my camera. They did some nice work back in those days.

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## danb

Here's a truss rod F4 with an amazing back..

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## danb

Very nice..

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## danb

This image and the previous two are of #70946, a 1922 F4

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## neal

You guys see this one yet? It's a 1924 A-4 snakehead on ebay right now. It's really quite nice, I thought the bridge might have been replaced because of the small wheels, but feel free to enlighten me on that...here's the pic.

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## Charlie Derrington

Bridge looks period-correct to me.

Charlie

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## neal

Thanks Charlie.

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## PaulD

> It's a 1924 A-4 snakehead on ebay right now.


WOW!!! That's one amazing looking vintage mando! 2nd owner no less! I wish I had several thousand $$$ sitting around for a mando right now... I would love to own that instrument.

Paul Doubek

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## danb

I agree with Charlie, looks all original. I saw that one last night and made the appropriate Whoaaaaa noise. Very clean. One hint on stuff like that is a complete lack of scuffs on the case too!

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## Darryl Wolfe

I suspect that mandolin has a Virzi in it too..just not mentioned in the listing

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## levin4now

Dan,

There are many observant people commenting on these instruments, people who who know something about these instruments. I love irony, and found that one of your pics on this thread indicated an unusual location for the "flowerpot".

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## danb

heheh, yes.. that is also a flowerpot 

Darryl- I'll bet you $20 there's no virzi, it'd have the rounded end '25 tuners if so

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## ffpizza5

A few Black Face Gibson I had laying around.

Conrad

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## stevem

Wow. That is one awesome collection.

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## Darryl Wolfe

> Darryl- I'll bet you $20 there's no virzi, it'd have the rounded end '25 tuners if so


come on Dan...see 78660..arrow ends, Virzi, only a few numbers later

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## danb

doh

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## mandophil(e)

Dan:

You still win the $20. No Virzi--I checked with the seller. Were arrow ended tuners just used for a very short period on the A4's? 

Phil Laub

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## danb

Most of the A4/Virzi ones I know of have the '25 style rounded tuners. There are some anomalies, but Snakehead a4 rarely = virzi.. it was an option, not standard.

Arrow-end tuners roughly correspond to late '22 through end of '24, almost exactly the Loar period. Some snakes have the earlier style (like mine!) and a few have the later ones with the rounded ends..

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## Ken Waltham

Snakes with earlier style tuners, ie notched end, have had them replaced. Arrow end tuners definately appear on A4's that have Virzi's.

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## danb

I disagree Ken, serials roughly between 70000 and 72000 will have notched ones, arrow-ends after that.. There is no evidence that my snakehead (71261) had the tuners replaced..

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## danb

Here's 71462:


71598:


71249 (same batch as my 71261) also had identical tuners and the peghead "lips" were smaller as in my personal one.. and the F4 pictured earlier in this thread also has the notched tuners

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## danb

As for the virzi with arrow ends, you guys are all right.. there are some of them. There is a cluster of them, however, with the "bump end" style like so 

80618:


81564:

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## Darryl Wolfe

The notched end tuners vrs the arrow end tuners follows the same timeline as F5's and any other applicable instrument. Arrow end tuners appeared enmass early to mid 23. I've seen Feb 23 mandos both ways. Dan is right, the majority of Virzi A4's appears to be the "25" ones with the later tuners. But there were '24's with arrow ends too. I owe Dan $10 since it doesn't have a Virze (but there were Virzi A4's with arrow ends)

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## Charlie Derrington

They used what they had when they had it.

I've seen snakehead 4s with all three tuner configurations and although they do seem to follow a rough time-line, it appears that they just used what was handy at the time.

Charlie

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## danb

These 2 shots shows nicely two variations between roughly 71xxx and 72xxx.. Shape of peghead top, and tuners used

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## danb

Front..

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## danb

Pretty similar otherwise!

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## Ken Waltham

I'm going to respectfully disagree. Snakehead A4's, especially, should not have notched end tuners, unless they're changed.
Fluer dis lis, or later Waverly's for sure.
Having said that, I don't really think it's a big deal, but, there are a lot of spare parts floating around auction sites. They come from somewhere.

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## Darryl Wolfe

OK, there is no real argument here. That is because they made no snakehead A-4's until well into 1923..when they more or less ran out of the notch ended ones. My 73001 has a paddle head with arrow ends, 72795 is the earliest snake A-4. It should be noted that A-4 73656 is a snakehead and does have original notch end tuners. I see no more after that. It is probably the only one, and as Charlie said, "they used what they had". One set of tuners within only a month or so..big deal

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## Darryl Wolfe

I can assure you, these have not been changed

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## danb

It could be Ken, I suppose. The thing that makes me think they are original is the fact that they correspond to the serialization though, after around 73000 I've only seen a few.. my take on it was that whatever was in stock had to get used up eventually.. that sort of thinking helps explain some of the oddball Loars and later with interestingly different hardware, or finish.. or features. I personally think that there is a "trend" to features, where "most" have a certain set before serial XX, and most have a different after.. but if you find another box of notched end ones late in the game they'll get used, etc.

Personally, I think the arrow-ends were a new thing to the Loar specs, and they started rolling them out as the old stock of parts dried up. Same applies for some of the curious hold-over paddle-heads into the snake era!

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## keithd

Dan and Darryl,

A bit off topic, but were the snakehead, oval hole, mandolins braced the same as teh teens ovals, with a short transverse brace just south of the hole, or, was there some Loar influenced tweaking of the bracing?

Keith

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## danb

Same brace as far as I know

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## danb

A little 3-pointer scroll..

What do you guys think of the red marks up around the scroll? Any theories as to how those could get there? The case is red, and there's a wear pattern there, but I've not seen color transfer like that..

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## danb

Also got a better one of the back today

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## danb

Some nifty stamping on the Handel tuner plates:

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## danb

Probably just about enough pictures of this mando! One of Darryl's pickguards will go on soon, as well as hopefully a replacement single-piece bridge. I also need to decide if I should get a calton for it, or something else maybe. The original case could use a break!

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## danb

This is the scroll on 1922 F4 #70946

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## danb

And this is a detail of the peghead..

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## danb

There aren't many out there that sound as nice as this one either

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## mandoman15

oh about the red around the scrol area, it's probbably due to pigments in teh finish that sort of settled there, th finish was probbably mixed with several colours to get that pumpkin color, and red it was probably one of them. On a concave surface, especially if the mando was hung to dry, het heavier red pigment may have settled there, also a bit off topic... in my enthusiam in answering this question i didn'tmanage to spell "the" correctly once...except for just now.

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## mandoman15

also note the really nice closed inlay of the gibson. thats a right swell axe ya got thar

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## danb

Arr, I wish it were mine. Belongs to a friend.. Here're some nice shots of 1917 f4 #37254

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## danb

This one is pretty big (apologies to modem folks) but sure shows the coolness of it all

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## danb

I was feeling arty-farty..

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## danb

Finally, the tailpiece and a little bearclaw figure

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## phriend2spin

I have always wanted to know somehting about vintage mandos. So, how is the action (was it good back then) and are there not some serious problems like warping and cracking?

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## danb

Some problems sure.. they were pretty much just well-built. The F4 above had a neck heel crack repair.. that's about it. The action is roughly where it was then. They used a dovetail joint for the neck to body, and Honduran Mahogany for the necks (mostly) or adjustible truss rods later & adjustible bridges.. that particular 1917 above didn't need aything done at all to it in 88 years by the looks of it..

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## PaulD

Gorgeous instruments! I also wanted to comment on the quality of the pics... great close-up shots. 

pd

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## mandoman15

Dan, those pics are huge! in a very good way, for 88 years that tailpiece is rather mint, the stamp is soooo perfect. 

also another thing not on the topic of your amazing photos, some of the scroll carvings on the old gibson f's are different than others in their own batch! how were they carved, by duplicators, or by hand? also we know that Gibson was just pumping out their mandos in this time period, i was wondering what kind of persons did they have working on them? Certaintly not fifty master builders...anyways, along the lines of the scroll ridges, i have seen many different ones how many were there....some of these questions may be impossible to answer but i find these old instruments fascinating and would love to learn more.

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## danb

> The case is red, and there's a wear pattern there, but I've not seen color transfer like that..


OK, this is interesting. I was attempting to steam-clean the case (some nasty gunk in there) and my yuck-soaking cloth picked up the exact reddish-ping stain that's on the scroll. I think that red came from the case..

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## danb

I can't believe I didn't post these on the archive before.. just was cleaning up some folders and found these images from Rick Van Krugel that I hadn't posted to the site before.. this is mandolin #2526, possibly the 26th one made..





Can you see now why these are called "pan backs" ? 

How do you like your eggs...

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## danb

This is an unusual view too..

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## mandoman15

was the top braced at one point or is that the reason for teh large crack running down the center of the top...

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## danb

First ones didn't have the top brace..

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## JEStanek

Those split open pan-back ones almost made me ill. Kinda like seeing brain surgery. Dan, any chance of posting a guide of how you shoot your photos (camera, ideas on angles...etc.) My photos all look like junk compared to yours.

Jamie

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## danb

Those pan-back ones come from a friend.

My method is pretty low-tech.. I can compose well (ie make sure there isn't a pile of dog vomit in the background), but mostly I just go outside on a slightly hazy day and snap them with the digicam (Canon G5). A few are posed with backdrops etc.. Frank Ford has a very nice explanation of his setup somewhere lurking in the pages of Frets.com. Some day soon I'll upgrade to an SLR type digicam.

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## JEStanek

Thanks. I get tons of glare off of polished surfaces. I'll check out frets.com
Jamie

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## danb

That's one reason for slightly cloudy days. Not hard to come by in England

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## Spencer

With my old SLR, I used to use the bounce flash off a white ceiling. That's before built in flashes. If you use a kind of velvety blanket for a background, you can get lots of interesting effects with shadows and texture. The bounce flash gives good illumination without glare, and you can see a lot of features in the wood. Eats batteries in a hurry, though.

Nice pictures Dan!

Spencer

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## danb

Yeah, Jamie Wiens has been attempting to teach me bounce flash. My latest groupings shot with 3 fs was that trick. Needs work, and a better camera

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## danb

OK, this one takes the Biscuit. It's one of 3 known vintage Gibson Lefties..

#32618, now appearing at a mandolin archive near you..

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## Ken Waltham

Very cool.
There is alledgedly a lefty F7 around these parts. Someday I hope to find it.
Ken

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## c3hammer

Oh, my! I might actually be able to get MAS as a lefty afterall 

Cheers,
Pete

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## danb

I've heard from Frank Ford that there is a lefty three-pointer in circulation as well. I think it's time to open a new page on the archives.. "rumored instruments" to track down. I have a couple of doozies myself that I've hit a wall trying to locate

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## Darryl Wolfe

As always..The F5Journal has been there. Left handed 3-pt..pic taken at Tut Taylors in 1966

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## Darryl Wolfe

ps...the slide is not backwards...look at the clock. Of course Dad was interested in the Dobro Mandolin

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## f5loar

Makes sense they would make them afterall Orville was left handed!

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## PCypert

For photos, simply use bounce flash as noted above if possible (you'll need a DSLR for this but should have one anyways  ). Also, the cloudy day thing works. Cloudy days tend to have neutral, uneventful light for most pics, but are nice in the fact that you get even light with loads of saturation to your colors. Rainy days are the best for colors. For cheap, consumer cameras your options are limited. One major thing people do wrong is shoot with auto white balance if you camera will let you set it. If it will pick the white balance manually and learn the effects for your camera. Read your manual for this as each camera is so different I couldn't even explain. Also try and shoot raw if you camera offers it. Takes more time but great shots result. Lastly if you have a direct flash don't use it unless you absolutely have to. Turn it off, tape it over, etc. You can put some kind of translucent tuper ware dish or some other slightly opaque thing over the flash to difuse the light. You could even hold a small miror to direct the light up to the ceiling and then back down again. Trust me, most of the light will make it back. Speed of light is quick. Some of the best lighting you can get is inside around 12-2 near a window. Perfectly difused light, not too bright, good contrast and saturation. I'd love to get to photograph all these mandos. Get to play mandolins and take pictures...it's my dream day. Best of luck,
Paul

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## doc holiday

Hmm 32618. Just when I thought it was safe to gaze.....Thankfully there can't be too many lefty F4's out there.  It would be the perfect affordable vintage mando..  I'm drooling like a banjo player on a level stage, out both sides of my mouth!  Doc

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## Jim Hilburn

Darryl, I wonder what that F-hole A was in '66. A Givens?

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## Darryl Wolfe

I'm not really sure on that one

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## Jim Hilburn

After looking closer, I'd bet it's whatever Gibson was making at the time. It's a 12th fret neck and the trussrod cover looks like something they would have used. The only hint that it's an F hole is the little dot of reflection on the right.

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## danb

"Tulip" has a unique inlay:



And a very early patent stamp:



Cool finish cracking around the older style Gibson logo:

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## danb

And she looks a little like a water balloon..

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## PaulD

Very cool, Dan. Do you have a full-frontal shot?

pd

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## mandolooter

Dan, when you say water balloon what do ya mean...i suspect , if it's like mine, when compared to my 1914 A1, it has the same rim measurement but the front and back arches are HUGE and it holds way more air/sound. Gives it a different sound. Your tulip is a beauty, and mine as ya mention on the Archives, still needs a bath! It's wearing new fret now and the playability is so much better. Tha originals where down to the fret board. 
Jeff

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## Tom C

Left handed F-4 - You'd figure they would have angled the Gibs*n logo in the right direction so it would not be upside down while holding mando on angle of playing.
but I guess it's hard building backwards.

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## danb

Yeah, by "Water balloon" I mean it's super-arched, looks like it's hanging off the neck even. Quite funny. It took a little jiggering.. the tone is splendid! The G string needs tweaking (change gauge I think), but the DAE are very LOUD and have a very nice "ploonk" to them. It's remarkable how different from 3263 it is...

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## danb

3376 full frontal/oblique

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## mandolooter

wow Dan...that is sweet!!!! Yea that arching on the top is the sam as mine..maybe I will give it a bath soon...it just has such a "well used mojo" to it.

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## mandolooter

Dan...a few more things I noticed...mine has a 2 piece neck but instead of 2 pieces side by side they are one on top of the other. I've never seen that before. Its listed in the archives as black but it's brown. The top is dark except for inside the soundhole ring which is a lighter color. Fingerboard is the dyed maple also.

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## Bill Halsey

Here's something I did just for fun...Gibson Factory Order Numbers are stamped on the headblock and are not always noticed. Here are a couple, one in an F-4 and one in an A, both from c. 1915.

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## Bill Halsey

Oops, here's the F-4:

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## Bill Halsey

BTW, I did a series of these, and in each one the glue beads around the top linings and blocks indicated that the tops were glued on after the backs. Anyone know if the F-5s were done in the same order?

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## danb

Here's my 3263's Handel tuner button, with new macro lens..

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## MML

Holly "S" you could see a hemmoroid on a fleas butt with that lens

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## danb

That's as big as it gets

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## craigtoo

i feel so small...

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## mandolooter

I just found this place during a non-related web search...lots of goodies to interest us mandogeeks and music instrument lovers as well!
museum 
Check out the whole place if ya have time it's cool.
As for the guitar i don't CARE how it sounds, it's awesome!!!

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## danb

Wow.. I've never seen one of those before. Here's the dated Orville Label as an appetizer.. that's just too cool for words!

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## danb

2nd view

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## mandolooter

Dan..I had you in mind when i posted that BTW! Glad ya like it....it's too cool for words huh!
Hey and thanks for the heads up on that ebay mando...didn't have the moola but it was a great idea and i'll keep my eye and browser posted...kill 2 birds with one stone...TP & MAS
Jeff

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## mandolooter

Dan if you wanna take the time heres a link of Music related museums...

http://www.usd.edu/smm/links.html#coll

There's a few weeks of looking around easy...lol

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## Paul Hostetter

While we're stretching the bejeezus out of this page with oversized images, how's this for a signed Orville item?



These were taken by Michael Darnton of Chicago.

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## bluesmandolinman

this 3-pointer is a killer ! Thanks for the photos !

Look at the extra scroll at the fretboard extension  

Very nice bridge and very nice tailpiece ...and...and...and.....

this is so cooool !

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## danb

Fantastic Paul! I'd love to know more about that instrument. 1906 is a very late date for an Orville!

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## danb

Ah.. looks like the same instrument as this one George Gruhn wrote about**:

"Orville Gibson's Last Mandolin"

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## mandolooter

His "final glory" He did well! I'd love to hear that one.

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## Michael Gowell

I really like the way the banjo-style tuners leave the peghead shape uncluttered. #Since there are now geared banjo tuners available, have any builders used this idea? #Admittedly the tuners would be a bit crowded, but the use of a winder when changing strings would relieve the primary physical disadvantage of this design. The minor inconvenience of using crowded tuners while perfecting tuning in everyday use would, to some, be more than offset by the clean aesthetics.

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## Paul Hostetter

Yeah, the photo I posted was taken at Bein and Fushi just before it was sold to George. Strange back story, too. 

Banjo tuners like on this one are really not good: they're friction 1:1 pegs that work poorly even with gut or nylon strings, not to mention metal ones. Geared banjo tuners weigh a ton. I actually installed some on an old Mexican mandolin. The headstock weighed more than the mandolin, but it was easy to tune. Geared banjo pegs are 4:1. which is not the ideal ratio for high tensions strings like one routinely sees on mandolins and guitars. I think there are very good reasons for the types of gears we usually find on mandolins.

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## Philip Halcomb

You don't see those tuners too often anymore...

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## mandolooter

I like everything about that mandolin but the bridge is really intriguing and it's lightweight look has superseded the one one Fret's.com as my choice for a 1 piece on my Clark F5...I made a similar one for my OM but it wasn't near as intricate. I like the challenge! That's a 7 scroller mandolin...lol!

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## mandolooter

oh yea before i forget i have a banjo with those same tuners on it...they suck bad! No matter how tight ya go they still lose there tuning and mando's have even more tension.

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## mandomick

Outstanding!!! Wonder if it ever gets played?

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## danb

My wife convinced me to read a photo book..

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## danb

The gear/plate.. both exposures were really really silly,

f/45 30 seconds exposure @ISO 100

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## danb

Detail of the gear, a little extra sharp via photoshop

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## danb

Getting the hang of this finally I think... Cool to see that detail on the plate eh?

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## MML

As always... great pics Dan!!

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## Bill Halsey

Wowie! Dan, tell us about your camera & lens...(sorry if I missed it)...

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## Dfyngravity

Amazing detail! Dan what camera are you using and what's the megapixels? Lets hear some details about the camera.

That gear looks like something you wouldn't want your fingers getting caught in, and here I though mandolin playing was fairly harmless!! Other than stabbing yourself with the end of the A or E strings that come out of the tuners.

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## danb

Canon EOS 20d (8.5mp) and those are a sigma 50mm macro lens .The shots were fairly absurd, f/45 30 second exposures to get decent depth of field. I'm a brand new baby in the photography world, I'm finding. My new camera isn't drool proof, so I've started reading the manual

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## johnwilson

Well I'll be damned! #I didn't think you could "expose" pixels with long shutter speeds. #Guess I better get oout the manual as well.

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## man doh

Danb, Those photos are awesome. Looks like your really getting into the photography. It can be really rewarding.

Quick tip. Park youself next to a window in the early morning just after the sun comes up. you will get alot of strong natural cross light to take detail pics without a flash and quicker exposure times. to get true colors a camera is more gear toward natural light than bulb light.

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## danb

Unfortunately I'm in England in winter, so you blink & you miss the daylight here 

Agreed. I'll probably get a ring flash for the macro to do these kinds of close-ups indoors when needed, but the camera's achilles heel is incandescent light

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## mandolooter

3 years later im just getting used to the seemingly 2 second delay between when i thought i took the pic and when it actually happened!

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## danb

Hah! That's actually the biggest advantage to my untrained hands of this SLR so far. from power on to picture taken is well under a second.. and the focus-lock happens quickly

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## Lynn Dudenbostel

Dan... I've got a 10D and I know what you mean about shooting in incandescent light. Are you shooting jpg's? If so, that's not helping your color temperature issues. If you shoot in RAW format, use a good RAW converter (later versions of Photoshop, Phase One, or even the converter that came with your camera), you'll have a lot more control of the color balance. RAW is an unprocessed (for the most part), uncompressed file as opposed to a jpg that is highly processed and compressed. You can process the RAW image and convert it to a tiff (less compression) for printing/storage or to a jpg for e-mail/net use. Just offers a lot more control. I make it a habit of shooting an 18% grey card (available at phot stores) in the first frame for a reference to balance on. If you forget to do that, a solid white area will do almost as well.

Dude

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## Joe Parker

Lynn-do what??  

JPP

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## Darryl Wolfe

FWIW...yep, Lynn be one 'o the best photographers I've seen....he goes way back, and has always had 'da good stuff"

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## danb

Lynn- so far yes, jpegs. Need a better lens and less reliance on photoshop!

I have a great macro lens, and understand how to make a pinhole aperture and wait 45 seconds.. but I need a good wide-angle lens now. I think the main thing hurting me is the 20d kit lens

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## danb

Here's my calibration bar btw.. I also ordered a nice metric photgraphers rule form a crime scene company!

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## Lynn Dudenbostel

What lens came with your 20D Dan? The standard Canon zoom that comes with the 20D outfit is a really decent lens. Not a Canon L series, but darn good. If you are looking for a good all around Canon lens, the 28-135 IS is really nice for around $400. The 17-40 L series is fantastic, but quite a bit more expensive. Also, if you are going to get really serious about digital and want to get the most from your equipment, a top of the line CRT monitor (yes, they still beat LCD screens) and a colorimeter to calibrate your monitor are essential. You'd be suprised how poorly set-up most monitors are. If you want to skip the high end monitor, at least spend $100 on a Pantone Colorvision Spyder to set-up your monitor. You'll get a lot more consistent results this way. Your final images are only as good as your weakest link, and in most cases, it's the monitor set-up!

Dude

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## jasona

I'm going to need to invest in a professional digital SLR (heavy on the macro use) in the near future and this camera talk is really helping me. Do carry on!

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## Lynn Dudenbostel

Jasona... as you might can tell, I'm big on Canon. My brother is a professional photographer and has had Nikon and Canon digital. Both are fine cameras and both will give you great results, but Canon has far better customer service. Depending on your needs, a digital Rebel or Nikon D70 may just be the ticket at a reasonable price. Digital SLR's are great. None of the shutter lag associated with the "point and shoot" models and a larger sensor means better images with lower noise levels (at higher ISO settings). It's an addiction as bad as instruments. I shot and developed my first black and white film with my dad's help while in the 4th grade. I've shot everything from 35mm all the way up to 8x10. Didn't do much besides family photography for years, but digital has the juices flowing again. It's a blast, and my hands don't smell like fixer anymore!
Dude

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## JEStanek

And your shirts aren't covered in coffee colored splots. Thanks for chiming in with good advice, Dude. I did a ton of B/W photography/printing in college and am poorly satisfied with my point & shoot digital. The choice over the next year will be mandola or Rebel? Do you know if the Nikon lenses from their film SLRs will work on their digital cameras?

Jamie

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## danb

Lynn- it's the 18-xx lens.. I think I need it cleaned actually. Noticed this morning that the sigma macro shows perfectly clear, some fine black specs in the Canon one. I suspect it was dusty, it was a demo at the store.. this is probably the source of the noise.

dpreview suggests I get rid of the kit lens and get an ultrasonic. Hmm, those are about $750 

Regarding color- yes.. my wife is a graphic designer from a former life. We have a pretty good (BENQ) LCD for colors, but a CRT beats the pants off it on any given sunday. I've got it working pretty well at the moment, my prints match my screen color and the real world fairly well, but I could certainly tweak it!

I'm planning to shoot as many Loars as I can in bakersfield with the colorbar on them. Jamie's also going to help, we should have a big pile of content after that event!

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## Lynn Dudenbostel

The 18-55 is a good lens. You "should" get good results with it. If it's not giving you sharp photos, and it's still under warranty, have the dealer send it and the body to Canon for calibration. Most of the Canon's have ultrasonic motors. Just makes the lens focus faster. The 28-135 is a USM (ultrasonic). Best thing to do is totally ignore most of what is said in dpreview.com. About the only forum that is decent is at www.robgalbraith.com Mostly pros there, or at least use to be.
The Spyder colrimeter is down to about $99 now. Works with LCD and CRT. I've got a 19" Lacie CRT with a Mitsubishi tube. I don't think they make CRT's anymore though.

Jamie... as I understand it, the Nikon lenses that worked with the autofocus film bodies should work with the D70. Just remember, the sensor on the D70 and D100 aren't the same size as a piece of 35mm film, so you have a 1.5x crop factor. So, your "normal" 50mm lens becomes a mild tele equivalent to a 75mm on your old film camera. There are full frame Canon SLR sensors, but you are looking at $3000 up. The crop factory is why you see such wide zooms on the digital SLR's.

Dude

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## Darryl Wolfe

See, I told 'ya Dude knew his stuff

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## Lynn Dudenbostel

Thanks Darryl.... but I'll tell you, watching these guys frame up my shop right now shows me how much I DON'T know! I guess they couldn't build a guitar or mandolin though. I send Dan a photo of what's up already. He's welcome to post it if he wants. I'll send it to you too.
Dude

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## mandolooter

You guys are flaring up my CAS, now stop it! I got a Olympus C-720 and it's a great camera but the Canon I tried at Christmas made it feel like a 110 cardboard disposable! My film setup is all Canon but i haven't used it since I got the digi 2 years ago! Why would I...?

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## Darryl Wolfe

Same here mandolooter. Canon A-1 and EF laying in the drawer, along with the 24mmFD and 50mm1.4FD and 100mmFD macro. Sony DSC S85 now at shot number 5500

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## danb

oops, posted in the "Hey Dude" thread!

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## danb

Here's a close-up of an inlaid guard.. 3376

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## danb

Virzi Label in A4..

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## danb

FON (just above the virzi label)

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## danb

peghead

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## danb

Tuners are "Bump-end" type from '25

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## danb

More of Snakehead A4 #81564

It's nearly immaculate.. you can see some finish flaked near the pickguard clamp. Thos flakes follow a couple of crazing lines. Under very bright angular light you can see the fractures in the lacquer topcoat (it is a '25, they started to get that finish from there out). 

The pickguard comes by way of Mike Compton.. it was a spare he had that came from a 1925 or later Gibson. Michael Lewis kindly fitted it for me (as well as doing a superb setup on the mandolin as a whole). It was also fitted with a stew-mac saddle (upside down!) which came off in favor of one of Tony Williamson's replicas.

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## danb

Virzi..

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## danb

Back

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## danb

Cool case latch.. G&S is short for "Gieb & Sons", the Chicago company that made the cases for Gibson, Vega, others

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## danb

Serial

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## danb

here's an mp3 sound clip of me practicing a bit on it, gives a reasonable idea of the tone. It's opened up a bit already since recording this snippet..

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## red7flag

Very pretty tone. Thank you for sharing.
Tony

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