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Thread: Gibson Mandocello

  1. #1

    Default Gibson Mandocello

    Can anyone give me info about a Gibson mandocello K4 serial# 67196 and what it could possibly be worth.

  2. #2
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    That's a 1922 serial number. Value is dependent on its condition, originality, appointments, and who the seller is. Does it have a truss rod? Original tuners, pickguard and clamp, bridge, and tailpiece?

    I see K-4's starting at $8k if they are in good original condition. If they are very nice, quite a bit more. Missing parts, extensive finish work, heavy wear, poor repairs, etc. will devalue any collectable instrument significantly.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    i don't know much about them but fairly certain can get it for $800-$1000 ish. I know the guy that has it has been in his family since his grandfather. He said he had it appraised last year and guy told him $800. I looked at it and looks pretty nice always kept in case original pick guard doesn't appear to have and damage. I really don't know what im looking at so flying blind. I would think that i would take a flyer for $800

  4. #4
    acoustically inert F-2 Dave's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    If you don’t, tell me where it is and I will.
    "Mongo only pawn in game of life." --- Mongo

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    Registered User G7MOF's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    So would I.
    I never fail at anything, I just succeed at doing things that never work....


    Fylde Touchstone Walnut Mandolin.
    Gibson Alrite Model D.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    just spoke to him. Said i can have it for $600. anyone know where i can look up values and stuff

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I don't believe in taking advantage of people. If it is indeed a K-4 and it's more or less in one piece, it's worth a lot more than $800 even if it has been painted green. The appraiser was either not competent, or had his own agenda.

    It is not up to me to look into another man's conscience, but I would not sleep well paying only 10 to 20% of an instrument's retail market value. Reputable dealers who have to make a profit would give him considerably more.

    These instruments are worth thousands, not hundreds. Gruhn had one earlier this year that was listed at $8500, if I remember correctly. It has since sold. Is that a good enough reference for you?

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  9. #8
    Registered User slimt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by jim1966 View Post
    just spoke to him. Said i can have it for $600. anyone know where i can look up values and stuff
    Post a picture.. but to be honest if its a True Gibson.. dont hesitate.. its 600.. money back guaranteed.

    But I make sure to be fair with folks.. they will return in time, in kind..

  10. #9

    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    i can appreciate that but i didn't offer $600 and I don't know anything about them myself. He made the offer to me and i accepted.

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by jim1966 View Post
    i can appreciate that but i didn't offer $600 and I don't know anything about them myself. He made the offer to me and i accepted.
    Get it..

  12. #11
    acoustically inert F-2 Dave's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I don't believe in taking unfair advantage of others either but you are willing to meet HIS price. If your conscience is troubled, you can tell the seller that the mandocello is worth more than what he's asking. He can do his own homework. He may just see that you're interested and wants you to have it. It's not always about money.
    "Mongo only pawn in game of life." --- Mongo

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I'll take it for $700! Or more.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by F-2 Dave View Post
    I don't believe in taking unfair advantage of others either but you are willing to meet HIS price. If your conscience is troubled, you can tell the seller that the mandocello is worth more than what he's asking. He can do his own homework. He may just see that you're interested and wants you to have it. It's not always about money.
    True.

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Another question: Would it be possible to use only four strings on the mandocello (every string only once not twice)
    like on a tenor guitar? Or would this make the MC distort?

  17. #15
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by greeenhorn View Post
    Another question: Would it be possible to use only four strings on the mandocello (every string only once not twice)
    like on a tenor guitar? Or would this make the MC distort?
    You can always try it. I doubt there would be any "distortion" as such, but it might be pretty quiet, due to lacking enough string tension to "drive" the top properly.
    Emando.com: More than you wanted to know about electric mandolins.

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by jim1966 View Post
    just spoke to him. Said i can have it for $600. anyone know where i can look up values and stuff
    But before that offer (post#6) you had already been told it might be worth much more than $600 (post #2)? Am I confused on the timeline?
    Bernie
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  21. #17
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    OK: Mandolin Brothers fairly recently listed an excellent-condition K-4, with original case, for $7,500. The late Stan J of Mandolin Brothers was not known as a discount dealer, so that would have been, at the time, a collectors' market price.

    If you Google, you can find K-4's with ridiculous asking prices -- $18,000, $22,500 -- sky's the limit. But be aware that this is a rare bird; Gibson mandocelli aren't that common, and the K-4 was the top of their mandolin-bodied 'cello line, only surpassed by the guitar-bodied K-5.

    Any price below $5K, for a K-4 (with pickguard and case!), is a bargain, IMHO. Any price below $1K is a complete steal. The $600 price your seller's asking, may be realistic to him/her, based on considering it an old, unplayed instrument. But you've enough curiosity, and have received enough information, to know that you're probably paying 10% of its value on the current market, or less.

    We all don't have a few thousand dollars lying around, with which to buy instruments. So saying, "You oughta pay the seller several times the asking price," is a luxury that some of us could afford, but others couldn't. And the seller may well be satisfied with $600 for an instrument that was sitting in a closet for decades, doing him/her little good at all.

    But you should be aware that, if that seller contacted a vintage instrument dealer, he/she could probably get five times what you're paying for the K-4, as a wholesale level price. How this information affects your decision as to what you pay -- well, that's up to you. If I felt that the seller knew all the facts, and was still willing to sell at an unrealistically low price, I'd make the deal. But I'm guessing your seller doesn't know all the facts.

    So: take advantage of the situation, or not? Your call.
    Allen Hopkins
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  23. #18
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I'm reluctant to respond further. but I will by asking a couple of questions.

    Did you inform the seller that the instrument was worth much more than he was asking?

    If you were to sell the instrument, would you be willing to split the profit with him?

    How would you feel if you were the seller who had been given an inaccurate appraisal and only found out the instrument's true market value after you had sold it?

    This thread and some of the responses disappoint me, and makes me quite sad.

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Quote Originally Posted by rcc56 View Post
    I'm reluctant to respond further. but I will by asking a couple of questions.

    Did you inform the seller that the instrument was worth much more than he was asking?

    If you were to sell the instrument, would you be willing to split the profit with him?

    How would you feel if you were the seller who had been given an inaccurate appraisal and only found out the instrument's true market value after you had sold it?

    This thread and some of the responses disappoint me, and makes me quite sad.
    Both a quick sale and the failure to educate yourself seem to be expensive. Is the seller qualified for legal acts?

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  27. #20
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I understand that you should not take advantage of people because you have knowledge about something and they don’t. But, that being said, doesn’t it happen all the time? I am a big fan of “Antiques Roadshow”. You see that scenario all the time. “Where did you acquire this lovely end table?” “Oh, there was this little off the beaten path antique dealer while we were on vacation”. “May I ask what you payed for it?” “Oh, I think it was around 100 dollars.” “Well, I am happy to be able to tell you this table was crafted in the workshop of the famous American designer John Blah blah, and if this piece were to come up for auction. I conservatively estimate it would sell for at least 50,000 dollars!” Camera pans to stunned looking owner. “Well. I suspected it was something special!”

    Now, in that scenario, does the person sell it, go back to that little shop, and split the profits with that shop owner? Nah!

    This is why I am reluctant to sell anything that I might see on Antiques Roadshow for 20 times what I sold it for. It’s a recurrent nightmare of mine.

    In this case we have a seller who seems clueless about the true value. And a buyer almost as clueless. Only he’s not clueless now. So where does it go from here? Let your conscience be your guide.

    High level instrument collectors are always full of stories about how they found a closet queen 50’s Strat at a yard sale for a song, or some such. And they are always exceedingly pleased with themselves. Wasn’t there a thread here some time ago about a Loar F-5 someone found at a yard sale and paid pennies in the dollar for it? I have a pretty clear recollection of that discussion and that there were questions of the morality in that case too.

    It’s hard to know what’s in people’s hearts. If the buyer is as clueless as the seller about the true value, is that somehow different from one party or the other having inside knowledge? And where is the line between a bargain and effectively robbing someone blind?
    Don

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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I have no problems with the buyer or seller. Now the appraiser on the other hand....

    Phil

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  30. #22

    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    As i stated in the original post I have no idea what its worth. I know what COULD possibly be worth BUT don't know anything about it until I have a professional appraisal. The seller stated that he had an appraisal done and the appraiser told him the value was around $800.I can't help it if the appraiser either 1) didn't have a clue what he was looking at OR 2) was trying to take advantage of him OR 3) is accurate in his appraisal. So what the high and mighty's are saying is that i should pay to get a professional appraisal then pay the seller what the appraiser says or what the seller then deems fair. Is it me or does that seem kind of ludicrous. I am a man of pretty high integrity and take exception that i am intentionally going out of my way to take advantage of someone. I am sorry that i used this forum to ask any questions and i will remember this in the future and i only hope that someday that we all can live up to the high moral standards of some people on this forum.

  31. #23
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Wow. Just...Wow.

    If we take what you say at face value, you had no idea what it’s worth in your original post but by post #2 you had am approximate value of $8000 and by post #17 you had a recently sold example which sold for $7500. You asked where one could look up “values and stuff”. There are several reference books where you could do just that, but the truest measure of value is finding recently sold examples. That shows exactly what people are willing to pay. This is the way value is determined everywhere anymore. So the $7500 was a really good indicator. Yet you are still willing to accept his $600 offer. And in this latest post of yours, with all the indignation and rationalization, I noticed that you never answered any of the questions in post #18, particularly “Did you inform the seller that the instrument was worth much more than he was asking?”. We all waited for an answer, but all we can hear is the crickets. Surprising I think from a person of “pretty high integrity”.

    I don’t pretend to be “high and mighty” nor do I put myself up as an example of “high moral standards” . All I do is try my best to do the best I can in this world of woe. It is too bad you feel sorry about coming here for advice, but that does happen sometimes when people ask a question and don’t get the response they want to get. You wanted everyone to tell you it’s ok to buy a $7500 instrument for $600 without the seller knowing the true value. And, sadly, a couple of of our fellow members chimed in and said they would do the same thing. So you did get the validation you were looking for, in a way.

    The important thing is of course that both the seller and buyer walk away happy. If that is the case, well, best of luck to you both. I don’t know what you mean by “I will remember this in the future”, but I will say that one thing I learned a long time ago is as follows: don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer.
    Don

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  33. #24

    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    Just like BM tried to talk the barber into accepting more for his Loar... and the late JV also got one for a bargain. There are lots of stories of swap-meet finds, estate clearances, garage sales... all you gotta do is meet the asking price, and sometimes you buy a pig-in-a-poke... course there are always begrudgers that wish it was them that found it...

  34. #25
    Registered User slimt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson Mandocello

    I dont think I could live with myself knowing I got the best of someone..

    if it was a pawn shop( Sure) .. I wouldnt have a problem screwing them over as they do it everyday all day long to others..

    How ever.. this thread is kind of useless with out pictures anyways..

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