Loar era snakehead mandola tailpiece

**j. condino** · Jun-14-2020, 5:16pm

I took this image a few years back of the original Loar era snakehead mandola and was looking it over this afternoon. Does anyone know what the three digit stamp in the base of the tailpiece is or have you seen anything similar that were factory issued? Prototype or in house numbers?

Having handled and played this instrument in person, as well as the Griffith Loar and others in the historic significance, I've got a theory for the sequence of the instruments:

Loar was a know good performer and experimenter. There is an early photo of him with Ms. Fischer where he is holding an oval hole ten string mandola that is currently unknown. Next there is the Griffith snakehead A5. I'd venture that this snakehead mandola was the next model in his experimental sequence. That one was followed by his personal ten string snakehead mandola, the most complicated of the lot....

Back to the stamped tailpiece numbers:

**MikeEdgerton** · Jun-14-2020, 6:25pm

I don't recall anyone posting anything like this before. I've seen instruments that were stamped with social security numbers, phone numbers, and driver's license numbers to identify in case of theft. For whatever reason they are there I am assuming it wasn't something that the factory did every day if indeed it was done at the factory at all. I remember the day that instrument was posted.

The original thread is here.

**rcc56** · Jun-14-2020, 7:40pm

I've had dozens of the old Gibson mandos on the bench, and I don't recall seeing a tailpiece with stamped numbers. Most of the ones I have seen were from the 1910's, though.

It does looks like factory work to me. The 3 digits "621" don't fit into the factory order number sequences for the period, not even if they're only a partial number. I suggest it was a prototype or sales sample number.

You might forward a picture to George Gruhn. He's seen more of these instruments than just about anyone else.

**MikeEdgerton** · Jun-15-2020, 7:04pm

It could also have been a salesman's sample that Gibson had on hand. That might have been a catalog number for a supplier's catalog (not Gibson's). If this instrument was by chance an experiment it would make sense to use that tailpiece. Chances are we're never going to know for sure.

**Ray(T)** · Jun-16-2020, 3:39am

At some time in it’s history it’s clearly been owned by someone with a bad case of MAS and they stamped numbers on all their instruments so they could kepp track of them. I can’t imagine why Gibson would have done it, the builder would simply have grabbed a tailpiece from the box and screwed it on; they would have had hundreds of them.