I have an F2 with the serial number 24731 . I was told it is from 1914 . Can anyone confirm ? Other feature is , inlaid tuner buttons .Attachment 187285Attachment 187286Attachment 187287
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I have an F2 with the serial number 24731 . I was told it is from 1914 . Can anyone confirm ? Other feature is , inlaid tuner buttons .Attachment 187285Attachment 187286Attachment 187287
or 1915.
Nice looking!
Thankyou .Quote:
Originally Posted by jim simpson
Love a good looking red F2 :) I have a 1916
I have a black top with serial number 26563. If you shine a flashlight inside the sound hole up towards the neck block, there should be another number stamped in black ink. That's called the factory order number or FON which is used to more accurately date the manufacturing of the instrument. The FON in mine is 2742 which I'm told makes it a 1916 model. Generally, the FON is stamped inside as the mandolin is being assembled and the label with serial number is placed inside when the instrument was shipped to a dealer or customer. You have nice mandolin for sure and the Handel inlaid tuner buttons are a lovely touch that Gibson used up to around 1918.Quote:
Originally Posted by audiorep2
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
That's very nice considering most F-2's are blacktop! I had a sweet 1912 F-2 blacktop-another I wish I would've kept! Oh well can't keep em all!
Nice looking F2, Audio! Len is right, if you send the number stamped inside, the factory order number or FON, we can look it up in Joe Spann’s excellent Gibson book to determine the production year.
Notice that Audio’s F2 is from the period where the top of the mandolin body is not fully bound, the section from the inside of the scroll to the side of the fretboard was purposely omitted. Fully bound F2 tops seem to coincide approximately with the change from inlaid tuner keys to plain ones around 1918. Does anyone have more info on this detail?
Only that my '16 is bound in that area of the scroll. Frankly, I've hardly ever noticed that detail, thanks Mark!!
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
Len, that is very interesting, I guess it proves the old adage about Gibson being unpredictable! Many of the other F2’s in the Archive have the omitted binding It seems the omitted binding may have been a feature of a batch or some other reason yet to be discovered.
BTW I checked the Spann guide and your F2, FON 2742, the production date listed is 1914, not 1916.
I also checked an 1915 F2 in my collection FON 3246 and it, like yours is fully bound.
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/32803
Mark