# General Mandolin Topics > Vintage Instruments >  Gibson A40

## mandosonthemarsh

I have been looking at purchasing  a used Gibson.  I came across a nice looking  blond color   A40.  These Gibson's are considerably lower in price than the A00 and A50 models. Is it just a no frills model or are there there major differences in constructin and sound? Is it true it has a laminate body?  Thanks,  Bruce.

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## mandroid

Back is a mold formed laminate of 3 ply mahogany..  at least the interior/exterior veneers were .. on my A40.
 sides are solid mahogany ,  shaped in the usual way, carved spruce top.

made a bunch O music on mine , it was my 1st good mandolin , back-in-the-day.. 
Trouble free [apart from the unstable plastics used for those Kluson Tuner-buttons]

held onto it for many years..  

Now .. there are buttons to stick on there as replacements..

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## f5loar

Who can forget little Ricky Skaggs on the Flatt&Scruggs TV show with his big A40N (your's should be an A40N if it has the blonde/natural top).  Some had back braces in them but bascially they were the same from the late 40's until their demise in 1970.  Sound wise most were as good as the more expensive maple body A50.  These mandolins were more common then you would think among the pros back in the 50's.  Price usually related to condition and originality.

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## 8ch(pl)

I expect that laminated back would absorb less sound than a solid mahogany piece.  Those laminating adhesives are pretty hard and the back would be stiffer.

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## AlanN

My first 'vintage' mandolin, bought in 1978 from Mando Bros for $325 (still have the accompanying Stan letter, with its flowery prose). Dandy neck on that little feller.

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## Robert M Campbell

i've got a 52 and i love it. i'm primarily a guitar player but it's been a great addition to my current duo "the wingdamramblers" is there replacement machine heads out there? i've contacted stewmac and everything in their catalouge has pins/posts that are 1" long. the pins/posts on my A40 are only 3/4" long. help!

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## pops1

> i've got a 52 and i love it. i'm primarily a guitar player but it's been a great addition to my current duo "the wingdamramblers" is there replacement machine heads out there? i've contacted stewmac and everything in their catalouge has pins/posts that are 1" long. the pins/posts on my A40 are only 3/4" long. help!


Those mandolins had really thin headstocks, i would just put tuners on and wind a few more times to get the string down where is should be.

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