# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  1963 Gibson A 5/Jethro

## Rick Schmidlin

I know Jethro loved his 1959 A 5. I played one yesterday and it was okay, but did not rock my world. What would a 1963 a 5 be worth and and players out there that it has rocked their world? :Coffee:  :Popcorn:  :Mandosmiley:

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## jefflester

Last time I noticed one on the sites I frequent they were running in the $2500 range. It was a very nice one at Mandolin World HQ with a beatiful cherry sunburst back that looked just like my Les Paul.  :Smile: 

There's one (a '66) currently at Gruhn for the same $2500.

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## MikeEdgerton

I think that's at the top of the market for that mandolin. Brad Einhorn at Kings County Strings sold one of those recently. You might PM him and ask him what he got for it.

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## jefflester

Speaking of Brad, he seems to have stopped coming 'round these parts as of late. Only a single post each of the last 3 months. 

And I agree that $2500 is probably at the high end for a 2-point A-5 these days.

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## barney 59

I have never seen Jethro's A-5 but I asked him about it and he said he particularly liked it for studio work. Sometimes you don't want in a studio what you might want in a live session. All the times I had seen him play live he had an F5 of one sort or another & his stuff was set up really well. I wonder if anyone knows who did his set up work? I have seen old Homer and Jethro  comedy videos with him playing the A5. An A5 is pretty much the same as an A anything in my book but it does look cool. It wouldn't matter much what Jethro played he'd still sound better than .........(Fill in the blank.)

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## John Rosett

Let's not forget that Jethro's mandolin was a custom made, one of a kind instrument. I would be willing to bet that along with the custom color, extra bindings and pearl inlay, they paid a little more attention to the carving than the standard model.

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## f5loar

I don't think Gibson was into tap tuning the mandolins for ulitmate best sound in the late 50's.  What made Jethro's Custom A5 (and it sure was a pretty thing to look at) sound so good was Jethro not the mandolin.  There are guys on here who have played this mandolin maybe they can tell us how they thought it sounded in their hands.

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## johnparrott

Jethro let me fool with that instrument from time to time. While I'm just a guitar player who has played a few mandolins, I thought it was one of the best sounding and playing mandolins I'd ever heard. I don't know about the A versus F tone issue...you all will have to dip into your adjective arsenal to sort that out. 

It had that fullness and woody depth that mandolinists are always talking about, much more so than any other red A-5's I've played, and you didn't have to push it at all to hear that gorgeous tone. Jethro was using a light or medium Fender teardrop pick when I knew him, and even with what most of you would consider a flimsy pick, the thing sounded much bigger than a mandolin to me (no offense meant) . People tell me that was partly because of the scale length, which they say was the same as that of an an F-5. That may be so, but from what I know of arch-top guitars, I also think that someone at Gibson took special care making that top. 

To me, you can hear its tone best on the "Straight" and "Square" records, the "Back to Back" record, "Tea for One" (it made for some nice, beefy chord solos), and the record he made with Larry McNeely in the mid 1970s. 

It was his wife Gussie's favorite mandolin (she knew her stuff!) And as Jethro said, "Besides all that, it looks good on TV."

All the best,

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## jefflester

> It had that fullness and woody depth that mandolinists are always talking about, much more so than any other red A-5's I've played...


There are other red ones? I've been under the impression (further supported by John Rosett's post above) that Jethro's was a one-of-a-kind color.

http://www.mandozine.com/index.php/i...bson_a_5_1959/

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## johnparrott

Sorry to confuse you Jeff...you're right.

Jethro's is, as far as I know, one of a kind. 

The other A-5 mandolins I've played that are 2 points have had a red tint to them, and I've heard them called "Jethro" mandolins. I forgot that there's really only one "Red". 

Someone asked who did Jethro's set up work for him. I believe it was Terry Straker at the Guitar Works in Evanston, at least from the late 70s on. 

All the best, 

John

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## woodwizard

> I think that's at the top of the market for that mandolin. Brad Einhorn at Kings County Strings sold one of those recently. You might PM him and ask him what he got for it.


Except for maybe the one Sam Bush owns. Doesn't he actually have Jethro's?

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## f5loar

Gibson refered to the standard A5 in the 60's as being
"rich red mahogany finish on rims,back and neck with Golden Sunburst top.  They started out more like a cermona light brown golden sunburst in the 50's and then kept getting more red sunburst as the years went on to where in the late 60's they were pretty much a cherry sunburst.  Jethro's was solid red cherry finish like they used on the Trini Lopez, ES-345TDC and ES-355TD-SV model guitars.

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## Gail Hester

I had a chance to look one of these over last year at Wintergrass.  It was a red burst and was being offered by a local music store.  I was surprised that it was transverse braced just like an old Gibson "A".  It was a really good, loud and open sounding mandolin even though it had a loose transverse brace and a sinking top.  The asking price was around $2500 and that would have been well worth it except fot the top problem.

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## Mike Snyder

I had the distinct pleasure of playing one a week ago. Belongs to a fellow in his seventies. His father bought it new in Kansas City. It has a store sticker on the back of the headstock, and I cannot, for the life of me, remember the stores name. It needs a set-up real bad, has the leaning bridge thing. I whipped it pretty good for two hours or so, and that last hour it was sounding pretty good. Definitely an oval hole sound, tubby on the G and D courses, and a little thin on the A and E. It had an odd neck profile, very shallow of depth, D shaped and very flat on the back. The width seemed like standard Gibson A style. Wider than I'm used to, but very comfortable. The owner had a manila folder full of research he had done on it. I didn't look. The thing was immaculate. Vey few dings in the top, the back was clean, binding all intact. There was a little sinkage, but nothing exessive. I think he said '65 or '67, not sure. Color was beautiful, red burst to the max, fairly tight grain spruce and Maple with nice flame figure. The guy's a fiddler, and it is evident that he seldom plays this treasure. He's thinking well over three grand. He is a good guy, and a friend, so I didn't let on that he might be a smidge high. Who knows?
   That flat neck really threw me, never seen one like that before. There was no indication that the original finish had been disturbed. Everything looked factory, even the wonky stubborn tuners. He told me a couple years ago that he had an A Gibson he'd sell, and I'm always looking, but this is too rich for me. With the bridge set right and a set up, really nice. One of the sisters who run (ran?) Snyder Bluegrass Park In Missouri (no relation) has been playing one as long as I've known her, but she won't let anyone touch it. She's a strummer, and I have no idea what that one sounds like.

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## TerryBurnsKing

> Except for maybe the one Sam Bush owns. Doesn't he actually have Jethro's?


Yeah, Sam's got the one. There are pictures of him with it on the "Laps In Seven" cover and also on his website.

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## Danny Clark

i'm thinking early Ricky Skaggs was seen using one of these A-5's

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## Timbofood

I believe there's a shot of Levon Helm with an A-5 on "Rock of Ages" by "The Band."  Not Jethro's but, those guys had some pretty interesting case fillers!

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## Don Stiernberg

The assertion that Jethro's sound came from his hands and mind and heart is quite true. At the same time, as John pointed out, that is a special mandolin also.You need only to listen to "Playing it Straight" and "It Ain't Necessarily Square" and realize that the mandolin was essentially new at that point in history, and still making those glorious tones.It makes a great case in the realm of new versus vintage--what "vintage"was Django's guitar? Bird's sax? Bix's cornet?They were all closer to off the rack than found in a barbershop or by a dealer 40 years later..

 What did Gibson do to make "Red" unique? I don't know if John Monteleone looks at these boards, but I have a vague memory of Jethro lending him the A-5 for an afternoon while in New York with Steve Goodman. Could an examination with mirrors have revealed an unusual bracing pattern or top thickness? I can't remember for sure.

 That red finish was also found on a few George Gobel model L-5 guitars in that 1960 time frame. Homer may have had one.It would make sense if Gibson made a set for the two superstars. Maybe the fire engine red was intended to reflect on how hot their career was at the time.

 The appointments were also unique to Jethro's A-5 Florentine: F-5 appointments(block inlay, fancier binding and headstock inlay..)on the A-5 platform. Regarding the scale length, John, I'm still not sure--the Kellog's Corn Flakes ads I have seem to indicate a short neck, like an A-4. Perhaps Tony Williamson(or another Gibsonologist) can set us straight on that..I wish I had been smart enough to pay attention to that sort of thing decades ago.

 But what about the most important thing, THE SOUND? I also got to see and play that instrument on many occasions and it NEVER disappointed. The Great One(a/k/a The Legend or 'Coach")would have it strung with light guage Black Diamond strings, or Jethro model Stay-in Tune strings, or ...whatever. It always had a full, open, and even sound. Jethro loved it the most out of all in his collection and not only said so but recorded with it more frequently.I'm pretty sure he played it every day.

 In an effort to be like my teacher and hero, I got an A-5 Florentine of my own. Not the same, but not bad either. I think David Harvey may have it now, and certainly his perspective would be interesting in this discussion. In retrospect I think the sound or quality of these things has to be taken instrument by instrument rather than model by model or design by design. Even the prestigious Lloyd Loars show the occasional dud now and then, right? D'Angelico guitars can show workmanship flaws.George Benson can get a phenomenal tone from a plywood guitar that has a (seemingly) dipped polyurethane finish. And what about those cats playing "planks"--you know who they are.

 As a young student I presented myself to Jethro trying to play a 1918 F4 that I had borrowed $500 from my parents to buy.I'll never forget what he said: " Donnie, you like them old ones, huh? A lot of people do, that's allright. Me, I like 'em new and shiny. That way they show up better on TV."

 It's been 20 years since Jethro passed away. I miss him more than ever.

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## kudzugypsy

ha - this is what i love about the MC - thanks for being here Don, et all - i'd love to just have a jethro board!

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## bobby bill

I've got to ditto the thanks to Mr. Stiernberg.  For those that love and remember Jethro, these recollections and reflections mean an awful lot.

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## TerryBurnsKing

When it comes to Jethro, Don is the expert! He knows more than I do about him and he was my Dad! Thanks Donnie, you're the best!!

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## Jack Roberts

> As a young student I presented myself to Jethro trying to play a 1918 F4 that I had borrowed $500 from my parents to buy.I'll never forget what he said: " Donnie, you like them old ones, huh? A lot of people do, that's allright. Me, I like 'em new and shiny. That way they show up better on TV."
> 
>  It's been 20 years since Jethro passed away. I miss him more than ever.


Never met the man, but I remember laughing so hard it hurt when I was a little kid and watching Homer and Jethro sing "The battle of Kookamunga".  When I got real old I had the opportunity to buy an A5.  The only thing I knew about mandolin was that it was what Jethro played.  But he did play some old ones as well, didn't he?

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## j. condino

I've got a 1968 A5 on my bench this week. It is an interesting instrument, with its own feel and sound. The neck profile is a pretty unique "D" shape, and it definitely has that "tubby" sound on the G and D strings. It also has the thickest top I've ever seen on a mandolin- I've actually seen some upright basses that were thinner in the center, but still sounds great. I made a complete blueprint of it, so if anyone is interested, PM me for the details.

j.
www.condino.com

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## Jack Roberts

Hey, Rick:

Here's one from 1958.

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