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Thread: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

  1. #1

    Default can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    This Mandolin was sold to my brother as a 1920's Gibson A4.

    I would like to try and identify it correctly as I tyink that is likely incorrect.. The Gibson name seems to be displayed wrongly to be a 20's, the information I have found shows that only 36-38 was shown as "Gibson" earlier and later was shown as "The Gibson". Of course I may be completely wrong so if anyone can help it would be most appreciated.

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  2. #2

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    The most simple explanation may be that the mandolin was re-necked by Gibson in the 1940s as the headstock with that logo was used at that time. I assume there is no label with a registration number inside?

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  4. #3

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    Duplicate post/

  5. #4
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    From the front, the body looks right for an A-4, but the neck looks like it is from a plainer model.
    A-4 necks typically have a fleur de lis inlay in the head and a bound fingerboard.

    A couple of questions:
    Is the back of the body bound?
    If you shine a light through the soundhole, is there a number visible on the face of the neck block??

    If the back of the body is bound, I have two possible explanations:

    1. It is an A-4 that was re-necked at the factory sometime during the 1930's,

    -or-

    2. It is what is sometimes called a "floorsweep model," i.e. the instrument was assembled at the factory from leftover parts originally intended for different model instruments. We see this from time to time, most often during the 1930's, and most often on banjos; but we do sometimes see it on mandolins and guitars also.

    If there is a number visible on the neck block, it would help to date the instrument and might aid in the explanation.

  6. #5
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    Is there a serial number on an inside label under the sound hole? If there is no label is there a number penciled in there? Look towards the neck block through the sound hole. Is there a number stamped there?
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  8. #6

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    This 1942 Gibson A-50 has the same or very similar neck and headstock with the Gibson name inlay. It has typical early 1940s wartime Kluson tuners. I would assume that your mandolin if it received a new neck then would have replacement tuners from that time although it is just possible the original set was reinstalled. https://gregboyd.com/product/1942-gibson-a-50-mandolin/

  9. #7
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    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    OK, I just found a picture of a mandolin that is identical to yours in all respects, except it is missing the pickguard. It's in Retrofret's sold listings, and they are calling it a circa 1934 A-4.

    https://www.retrofret.com/product.as...andolin-c-1934

    Like yours, it also has a horizontal "Gibson" logo in pearl, unbound fretboard, and rosette that lacks the checkered outer bands.

    But . . . my Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars indicates that the 1933 [first year of issue] A-50 model also had an oval soundlhole and very similar appointments. Gibson mandolin models were in transition during this period, so call it what you will.

    At any rate, the simplified appointments reflect the declining importance of mandolins in Gibson's product line during that period; and also an effort to reduce labor costs during the midst of the Great Depression.
    Last edited by rcc56; Feb-19-2023 at 7:30pm.

  10. #8

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    A number of years ago, another well-known retailer had a very similar mandolin for sale as an A-4 but the FON number showed it to be a very early oval hole A-50. Quite shockingly, the retailer stated that the FON number was shown as an A-4 in Spann yet when I checked it was clearly stated as an A-50. I did email this retailer and got no reply- the mandolin was very expensive. It would be good if the owner checked out his FON number on the neck block and that way I am sure its identity will be revealed. It is very hard to find photos of early 30s A-4 mandolins as I assume they are rare. This ( second link) is being sold as a 1933 A-50 and it is very similar to the mandolin in question but as already requested, more photos would be welcome. Here is one from Jake Wildwood's site- I have posted its photo:

    https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/20...-mandolin.html

    And another:
    https://reverb.com/item/65325615-193...-a-50-mandolin

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  11. #9

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    Thank you everyone, the renecking idea had occurred to me as well. I shall try and find some markings anywhere on or in side (endoscope time) to try and help

  12. #10

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    Spann's Guide To Gibson gives 852 as the Factory Order Number ( FON) on the end block of the 1933 A-50 mandolin. I think your mandolin is more likely one of these than a re-necked instrument but it is possible. Of course, the number you find may be different but as I mentioned, the tuners may tell a story, too. Are the tuners on your mandolin like the 1942 A-50 or the 1933 A-50?

  13. #11
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    If the OP's fretboard is elevated off the top it would be a 1933 I believe. Look at the FON# as it should be stamped on the inside neck block.

  14. #12

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    after a little fun with my endoscope (I knew I would find a use for it one day) I found this:

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    the fretboard is indeed raised

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    and this is the back

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    and the front

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    so final opinion is a 1933 A50 ?

  15. #13

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    Yes, that seems to nail it down, all right. 852 is the identifier, it's an A-50. I just hope your brother did not pay an over-inflated price for it being sold as an A-4. The one I saw was being sold for about double what an A-50 would be priced.

  16. #14

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    well check this out: bought in 1997 from Musical Ground in Leeds.

    A father and son who were involved in a £1million plot to sell rare guitars stolen from Italy have been sentenced.

    Rick and Justin Harrison, who owned music shops across Britain, were caught following an international police inquiry when 157 guitars were stolen from an Italian collector in 2006.

    Thirty of the guitars - worth £170,000 - were traced back to the Harrisons’ Yorkshire-based business, Music Ground.

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  17. #15

    Default Re: can you help tto identify this Gibson Mandolin ?

    "Full refund if not genuine article" that's good but it's a bit late now! The shop that also made that mistake is a big name store in the USA and I will not name it. I should have checked to see if the listing and price were amended but I did not. I paid £900 for my snakehead 1923 A-2 about that time (1996, I think) from Andy's in Denmark Street, which was way too much. Andy was also notorious but possibly not quite as much as those Harrisons appear to have been. It's hard to know what the price should have been back then for your A-50 or what it is worth now- it's a much scarcer instrument in the UK and with the elevated board, it might be more sought after. A few years ago, my luthier told me my A-2 is one of the best he had seen- or heard, so it's all worked out but I did buy it for its tone at a time when I was completely clueless- but I knew I was being robbed to a degree. He also had a few choice words regarding Andy!

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