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Thread: Poor Old F2!

  1. #1
    Mandolingerer Bazz Jass's Avatar
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    Default Poor Old F2!

    This one has some sad stories to tell. That pickguard is gone gone gone!!!

    https://reverb.com/item/41022587-gib...m=Feed%20Email

  2. #2
    I really look like that soliver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    The way that second picture is taken makes the headstock look disproportionately large... you can tell it's not in later pictures but for some reason in that pic it looks like the headstock is almost the same sI've as the body... Perspective and poor photography ... and a hideous pick guard to boot!
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  3. #3

    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Quote Originally Posted by soliver View Post
    ... and a hideous pick guard to boot!
    The seller appears to have a good rep but that is a pretty sad specimen. I’d like to see what is underneath that pickguard!

  4. #4
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Ok I don't want to rain on your pick guard issue but during 1 or 2 years guards looked a bit like old school Dalmatian TShell! I wonder if thats just how it aged as to me it doesn't look disintegrated but I really didn't study the pix?

  5. #5
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    It’s not the saddest one I’ve ever seen but, it’s a bit rough.
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    It's not as bad as some might think. It needs some skillful attention, though.
    A good repairman could get rid of the tape on the back with minimal finish damage and clean up the sloppy peghead scroll repair. And some very skillful touch up on the peghead would help a lot.

    I've seen several pickguards on 1917 mandolins that were made out of the same green/brown celluloid. I owned one for several years, and it showed no signs of deterioration despite the odd looking color. Apparently, Gibson got one batch of the stuff and decided to use at least some of it rather than returning it to the vendor. I eventually sold the mandolin to a well known pro, who played it for 10 or 15 years. He traded it off a couple of years ago, and the guard was still stable when the instrument came back on the market at one of the established vintage shops.

    Having said all of that, the price on the Mike's Music instrument is much too high. Even if it was cleaned up and skillfully repaired, the price would still be way too high.
    Last edited by rcc56; Jun-05-2021 at 10:22am.

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  8. #7
    Mandolin Player trodgers's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    I find this mandolin charming. It has 100+ years of tales to tell.

    People bellyache about faux-distressed instruments not being the 'real deal.' Folks, this is about as real as it gets.
    If it were in my hands, I'd be very tempted to keep the buggered up headstock repair, as long as it was stable.
    “Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.” -- Aldo Leopold

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  10. #8
    Mandolingerer Bazz Jass's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Thanks for the education on the pickguard. Didn't realise they did that pattern, and it looked off to me. Like these pickguards sometimes go off.

    It has plenty of charm, but Carters has very tidy F2 with original case they can't shift for $3500. I think the $4500 price is optimistic to say the least. I'd think that heel repair would put a lot of people off?

  11. #9
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    You know, I was so busy looking at the tape, the peghead, and the top crack that I didn't notice the heel crack. Knock off another $500.
    If I did my best repair work on that instrument, I might be able to sell it in the low 2's on a really good day.

    The Carter mandolin will probably sell now that they've reduced the price.
    It's pretty tough to sell an F-2 for $4K when F-4's in nice shape have been going for $5K to 5 1/2K.

    But those of you who have been paying attention might have noticed that F-4's [and a lot of other things] have become rather scarce. Don't be surprised if prices start to go up.

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  13. #10
    Mandolingerer Bazz Jass's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    The more I look, the more I see.

    Some substantial fingerboard wear by the looks:

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    And the heel crack extends to the side. Must have taken a hard knock:

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    And what on earth is all that tape about??

  14. #11

    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Wow. That looks rough. As said earlier, the price is too high.

  15. #12
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Nobody's mentioned the two other cracks on the back? Or are they just scratches? They're at odd angles, rather than straight up and down. They worry me much more than the headstock curlicue, which is non-structural. For posterior:

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  16. #13
    Adrian Minarovic
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Those are not cracks but impressions from stand or such. The "healthy neck" doesn't look so healthy to me with the heel crack which is either open or very badly reglued. I wonder if the whle mandolin didn't get some overcoat... the brown looks way too opaque and you can see abrupt color change at the neck heel button but could be just bad lighting.
    Adrian

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  18. #14
    I really look like that soliver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Poor Old F2!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bazz Jass View Post
    ....
    And what on earth is all that tape about??
    Looks like there may have been a piece of paper taped to the back of it at some point... I've see this done by guys at the BG jams. They have a list of songs on a small piece of paper taped to the side of their guitar to remember what songs they know and can play right off. I wonder if this is the remnants of something similar.
    aka: Spencer
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