# General Mandolin Topics > eBay, Craig's List, etc. >  H3 mandola

## mrmando

Very intriguing Gibson just sold on eBay: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-RARE...vip=true&rt=nc

It is a mandola with pre-1910 A3 appointments, including the wildflower headstock inlay. Only H3 mandola I have ever seen.

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Dobe

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## F-2 Dave

Very cool. Someone got a good deal. Love the wildflower inlay.

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## journeybear

I'm a bit confused. That link brings me to a 1906 A-3 mandolin.   :Confused:

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## Jim Garber

I think it is a mandola from the fretboard extension. BTW it didn't sell. It was relisted *here*.

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## F-2 Dave

Dang. I was hoping it was gone. Now I'll be checking on it every day for the next nine days.

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## journeybear

It was gone - went for $1075 - and now it's back. Something happened there - or didn't. And it's still listed as an A-3 mandolin. Will it stay that low this time? Is it what you think it is? Can you stand the suspense? Stay thirsty, my friends ...

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## Mike Black

It's odd that the fingerboard meets the crosspiece at the 11th fret.   :Confused:

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## mrmando

> It's odd that the fingerboard meets the crosspiece at the 11th fret.


Yes. Hm. There are a couple of other early mandolas in the Archive where this is also the case. Then there's one dated 1908 where it hits at the 12th fret. Dare we hypothesize that until 1908 mandolas had somewhat shorter necks? 

I asked the seller about the scale length on this one and the measurement he sent makes me pretty sure it is in fact a mandola. There could be a number of reasons it's been relisted. Maybe the seller hoped to get a higher price, or maybe the buyer figured out it wasn't a mandolin and didn't want it. The heel crack gives me pause, plus it would be financially irresponsible for me to buy this right now.

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## journeybear

Same for me. I'm quite happy with my current arsenal, which includes a 1916 H-2 in very good shape that I've had for nearly thirty years. As much as I would like something with a pineapple tailpiece cover, that is nowhere near enough reason to justify such an expense, an extravagance, given my situation. It piqued my interest, though. Sure is pretty. Thanks for the jolt.  :Wink:

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## journeybear

Well, an opening bid has been placed. Let the games begin!  :Cow:   :Chicken:   :Popcorn:

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## barney 59

A heal crack to me is a game changer---either give it a pass or it get it for an extremely low price. Other repair problems aren't usually that big a deal to me but I tend to shy away from instruments that have that issue. One particularly high end dealer had an F4 for sale at what was a price that was less than half of market value and this from someone who is noted for charging --and getting ---the highest possible prices for his instruments. When I asked him about the instrument he pointed to an almost invisible and repaired heal crack --I figured if he discounted an instrument that much because of a heal crack then it must really matter.

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## Eddie Sheehy

I'm confused is a HEAL CRACK another way of saying a repaired crack (healed crack?), or is there a break in a particular area of the instrument (neck?)...

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## Eddie Sheehy

Aha!  I found the re-listing...

"The neck heel has a repaired crack. On the side where the bridge is attached there is a repaired crack there."

Although it would appear that from the above statement that there are two repaired cracks since the neck heel and the side where the bridge is attached are hardly the same...

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## mrmando

By "bridge," he means tailpiece. There's a repaired side crack, bass side, near the tailpiece.

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## mrmando

Odd. Here's another mandola, an H1, from the same period, with the silkscreen logo ... but no fretboard extension, and the 12th fret at the crosspiece (end of the riser block). 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1902...p2047675.l2557

The H3 is 6294, the H1 is 6829.

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## Jim Nollman

I just saw that H1. With a Seattle address i thought it might be yours, Mrmando. Maybe you ought to check it out in person and report back. Of the two mandolas, this one is in much better condition.

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## Jim Garber

> Odd. Here's another mandola, an H1, from the same period, with the silkscreen logo ... but no fretboard extension, and the 12th fret at the crosspiece (end of the riser block). 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1902...p2047675.l2557
> 
> The H3 is 6294, the H1 is 6829.


That listing ended in April of this year and i don't see it on their web site. Strangely it also has a neck heel crack. Must be a parallel mandolin universe.

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## mrmando

The H1 is listed as sold. I don't know if the condition is better, but the photos certainly are.

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## mrmando

It's possible that the fretboard on the H3 is a later replacement, of course, since there are mandolas with later serial numbers that do not have extended boards.

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## Ken Waltham

I don't believe there is any such thing as an H3. This is a nice, early mandola with a cool peghead inlay. None of the other appointments are like an A3. I think it's an H2, but early, so perhaps they are not standardized at this point. But, I LOVE the peghead inlay! I've seen it before, and wish it would have been standard.

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## mrmando

Ken, check out A3 #5989 in the Archive: 

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/5989

I may have seen one or two other wildflower headstocks, always on A3 mandolins. 

I'd love to have a look at the label in this mandola and see what, if anything, it says about which model it is. 

There are so few mandolas from this period it's hard to make a definitive statement about any of them. That being said, I admit "H3" is something of a stretch, since that model number wasn't listed in the catalogs.

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## Ken Waltham

Hhhmmm....
The mandolin in the link has no model designation, but, the inlay is right. One thing I did forget was that the "pre whiteface" A3's have the same rosette as this one does. I was thinking of the solid, double line rosette that the white A3's have.
I am not entirely convinced the mandolin the archive is an A3, or just a cool, pre designation, Gibson mandolin. Regardless, I love the inlay.

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## Eddie Sheehy

Nice tuners, peghead inlay, tailpiece... Is that a 1-piece back?  And a RETURN policy... and cheap shipping...  I'm tempted...

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## Eddie Sheehy

Wow, almost $1,725...

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## pfox14

There was definitely no mandola model H-3 that appeared in any Gibson catalog. However, I agree that it's appointments are very similar to an A-3 mandolin. Very possible they used an A-3 peghead overlay on an H-2. Calling it an H-3 is an interesting idea.

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