1906 Gibson A3 Mandolin, Orville Label, Craigslist Tampa

[your_diamond]

1906 Gibson A3 Mandolin - Orville Label - fantastic playing mando! - $999 (tampa)

https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/msg/6124925309.html

I have heard these are not as good players as the Teens models but I have never tried one.

Still an interesting piece of history.

Anyone know how to price this?

[William Smith]

It looks nice, tailpiece cover is wrong..But the seller says he has a couple Lloyd Loar mandolins and this A hangs with em find that real hard to believe, someone is phishin

[AlanN]

One aspect of this era mandolin is the neck angle (zero). See the last photo on the right. That alone results in its singular tonal characteristic. I had a 1904 A-4. No way did the tone of that one compare to a Loar.

[pops1]

I love the look of the inlayed pick guard, but the sound of the teens is far superior to this era Gibson.

[BradKlein]

...the seller says he has a couple Lloyd Loar mandolins and this A hangs with em find that real hard to believe, someone is phishin

That goes on the list of the most ridiculous ad copy. There literally could not be two more different Gibson mandolins. Sheesh.

[nmiller]

I have an A-3 from the same year; it's fairly average as the old oval-hole Gibsons go. Not the finest mandolin they made, but far from the worst I've heard.

[mrmando]

Maybe he has a couple of The Loar mandolins ... factory seconds perhaps.

[mrmando]

I would hesitate to call that an A3, anyhow. It does have the cherry red back, but ... no back binding, and no wildflower inlay on the headstock. More like an A1.

[Scot63]

I have a 1908 A1, very similar to this one, and it definitely has a different sound than teens instruments and certainly twenties and Loar-era instruments. The low neck angle provided by the nonadjustable bridge limits its ability to chop, so it's not much good for bluegrass (which, of course, didn't exist at the time), but it is a very suitable instrument for classical music playing and has a very consistent, reassuring tone throughout the instrument. It's also much closer to Orville Gibson's original vision for his instruments—1908 was the last year he had anything directly to do with the company that bears his name.

[your_diamond]

Maybe he has a couple of The Loar mandolins ... factory seconds perhaps.

He might have bought The Loar mandolins at Gibson's July 4Th 1924 Every Thing Must Go "Christmas in July" Scratch & Dent Sale.

Must have been a Two for One (BOGO) sale... that would explain why he has "a couple" Loar mandolins.

[Mandoplumb]

He might have bought The Loar mandolins at Gibson's July 4Th 1924 Every Thing Must Go "Christmas in July" Scratch & Dent Sale. Must have been a Two for One (BOGO) sale... that would explain why he has "a couple" Loar mandolins.

Wish I could have been at that sale, scratch and dent or not.

[Jeff Mando]

Wish I could have been at that sale, scratch and dent or not.

For years, the Nashville vintage guitar show was almost like that. Gibson employees would bring stuff from the dumpster and try to sell at the show. I bought more than one genuine Les Paul that was made into a clock, believe it or not, as well as various banjo, mandolin, etc., rejects.......fun stuff!

[allenhopkins]

...he has a couple Lloyd Loar mandolins and this A hangs with em find that real hard to believe...

No, it's true; it hangs right next to them on the wall.

Oh, we're talking about sound? That's different...