Gibson mandocello repair or refinish

[Scot63]

I bought a very playable 1911 K2 for a low price, realizing that, at a minimum, it would need to be refinished—it had been refinished (or, rather, painted/stained/oversprayed, possibly twice, with no apparent sanding down two or possibly three times before). I have attached a couple of pictures that show condition issues once the instrument is stripped. I'm going to meet the refinisher this afternoon, and If need be, I can get some very competent luthiers involved (though they live an hour and a half away) before getting the refinisher to work. I know I need to check to see how stable that fill spot on the back is, as well as the long crack above and below it. Also looks like there's a sizable chunk out on the front, as well as some nonstandard (bondo-like?) material on the binding. Is there anything else that I should be checking?

[Don Grieser]

Make sure the interior brace is solid and the glue joint tight.

[Bernie Daniel]

Should be a nice old Gibson K-2 when you are done. Like Don says be sure to check the transverse brace just below the sound hole opening --check both sides to see that the brace is glued down.

Since it has been refinished before, do not be surprised if it has some, or a lot, of top sag under the bridge when you tune it up.

Many did (do) and those that have been sanded are especially prone because the design of the top board strength was marginal on all the old Gibson ovals especially the mandocellos. If it does sag (like mind did) you can readily ix it (with no loss in performance) with another brace under the bridge. I have a string on the repair on mine on this forum someplace.

[Scot63]

Thanks for the advice, especially about potential sagging. Good news is that the big splotch on the back was just a sloppy fill job and, once sanded finely, disappeared and revealed a stable crack. The spot on the front was actually in much better shape than the picture seemed to indicate. All the braces seem stable after close inspection. So, fingers crossed for the refinishing! Will post a pic of the final product.