I have in for some work a teens K1 mandocello. Can't verify year of manufacture as the label has been previously removed for a back splicing strap and it appears the neck block has also been sanded, leaving no trace of a serial number. I'm guessing it is a mid to late teens, what do you think?
The neck is two pieces, a long scarf joint from the first fret down to the neck heel and I can only assume, on into the dovetail. The back has obviously been off at some point to install the back strap at the center seem, so I can't rule this out as a repair but the neck and body finish all appears matching and rather old. The added back strap doesn't look as aged as the neck finish either and I believe it to be relatively recent. Anyone see anything like this that either left the Gibson factory this way when new, or as a factory repair? As a repair, this seems very unusual to me as the splice is on one side of the neck. The length has not been broken anywhere. I can only suppose that it ended up in a seconds pile at the factory but was then utilized at some point and sent out the door.
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