I recently bought a '21 A Jr which sounds and plays exactly like I hoped it would. The flat fret board doesn't bother me. It does take me a song or two to get use to the small frets after switching from my Northfield. It almost feels fretless sometime due to the tiny frets. It sounds great and is fun to play. No regrets.
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
Correct, 1922 with a TR and the slimmer neck profile. I really liked it and it's not a bad way to get a Loar era mandolin given the overspray, but I think I'd have to do the re-fret (or possibly replace the FB, but I admittedly didn't check on the intonation issues some of these mandos from that era have).
Chuck
When I bought my A1 1916 model it was only because of the sweet sound. That was in 1997. Nothing's changed.
My late 20's A Jr. doesn't have much in the way of tubbiness. Not sure if it's just pure luck, or if the back and sides of this one are maple. And it's easy to play. Don't seem to have much trouble with the neck width or shape. It's the later Gibson sharp V neck that does my hand in.
The neck is definitely different than my bandmate's 1909 A, and from the 1910 A I had for a while. Had that one refretted with larger wire and had a new bridge installed. Both made it better playing, but not sure I liked it as much after. Did end up selling it off at a huge loss.
For the type of music I play, tubbiness in the mandolin is not necessarily a bad thing. Just has to be able to be heard through the other instruments.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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