Mandolin Identification Help

[Jakjag]

Hello! I have just been given my great grandfathers mandolin and would like to see if I can learn anything about it. There is no label on the inside and I have not been able to find any serial numbers on it. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[Dave Hanson]

The clue is the name on the headstock, probably a Gibson A40.

Dave H

[NickR]

At a quick glance it appears to be a Gibson A-40. From what you have shown it looks like it might have had original parts replaced. You might like to show the back of the headstock and the tuners, the back of the body, and a close up of the tailpiece and this will allow someone to confirm if the mandolin is 100% original or not as this will affect its value. The style of Gibson logo on your mandolin was used in the late 40s until about 1951, I believe- the key factor being the dot on the i in Gibson being attached to the G.

[MikeEdgerton]

The tuners and tailpiece cover are not original.

[Bill Cameron]

Nice player-grade instrument from the most esteemed and prolific manufacturer. That ‘Gibson’ on the peghead adds intrinsic value. Don’t know what a fully original A-40 goes for these days but this one was clearly owned by someone who played it and maintained it, that’s a plus in my books. It’s a vintage instrument but not one of the golden era classics of the 20s and 30s, so the hardware changes won’t affect the value -that- much. I would expect to see an instrument like this, hanging at a decent music store, priced at maybe $800-$1200. Possibly more if it is fully, comfortably playable with a great sound.

[allenhopkins]

Here's what the old Vintage Guitars collectors' website, now Guitar HQ, had to say about the A-40:


1948 A-40 specs:
Symmetrical body, "F" holes, arched top and back, laminated mahogany body with cross brace, clamshell tailpiece, single bound top, rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays, natural or sunburst.
A-40 discontinued 1971.

So, made for a bit more than 20 years. If you can use a dentist's mirror, and a flashlight -- or some such -- to look inside the body up toward the block where the neck's attached, you may see a number stamped there. This is a factory order number, FON, which was a batch identification used during production at the Gibson factory. Using the Guitar HQ website, you can get an idea of when the mandolin was made -- if there's an FON. Gibson's notorious for leaving out numbering of its less expensive mandolins; for example, your mandolin should have a label with a serial number visible through one of the f-holes. But it doesn't. Could never have had one; label could have been detached during servicing of the instrument.