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Thread: A jrs

  1. #1

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    Can anyone tell me when A Jrs started sporting snakeheads as opposed to the paddlehead . In another post an A Jr with a paddlehead is described as from 1927. I have one, that as for as I can tell from a marred label #, is from 1925 yet it is a snakehead. Just out of curiosity....? Thanks

  2. #2
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    They went back to paddleheads in '26, I think, and were replaced by the A0 in '28.
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    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    Well the first snakehead I have recorded in the mandolin archive is probably a 1922, serial 71120. The last one is 84715, which is probably a 1926.

    Now if you narrow it down to Ajrs, the first snakehead I see is 75079, and the last is 83001. They went back to the paddle head on all models sometime around 1925/1926 probably when they used up the parts. We don't really know why they went back to the old design after Loar left the building!
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    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    It could not be summed up any better than Dan did.

    Shall I take a guess on why they went away from snakehead? #Maybe they thought the logo was too crowded and not visible enough. #There is fairly clear indication that Gibson changed the logo several times in what appears to be an effort to balance the peghead
    On the left is the first logo the 22/23 "closed" pattern, very crowded.
    Missing is the smaller open pattern from late 23 that fits well and appears on most snakeheads.
    On the right is an even smaller pattern that fits best but is rotated at an odd angle compared to the rest of the Gibson logos.
    That is just my opinion. Right or wrong, it appears that they kept playing with the peghead instead of getting happy with it.



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    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    The profile of the snakehead peghead itself also changed.. the very early ones from 1922 have almost no "lips" on the top, though they became very clearly defined later. At first I thought the early examples I'd seen were just worn down a bit as there is almost always a little wear there. But pristine examples I saw confirmed that the shape did indeed change a bit.

    The logo theory is an interesting possibilty!
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  6. #6

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    "Now if you narrow it down to Ajrs, the first snakehead I see is 75079, and the last is 83001. They went back to the paddle head on all models sometime around 1925/1926 probably when they used up the parts. We don't really know why they went back to the old design after Loar left the building! "

    The serial number on mine is ?7563. It looks like the backseam split enough to tear the label where the first number is, though it looks like the ends of a seven, ergo, 77563, could be the number. Also my headstock has no logo, and indeed looks like one of the ones that was to small to fit it on
    Thanks for all the info.

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Ajrs never had a logo, but Gibson used the same headstock shape across the entire A range. The A2 to A4 models had an inlaid "The Gibson".

    Martin

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    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    Mike, what's your stamp number? On a snakehead the serial can only start with a 7 or an 8. The stamp number is above the label on the neck block
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  9. #9

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    11205A is the number that I can make out. The A is a little unclear but I'm sure that's what I'm seeing. Does that sound correct or possible?

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    Registered User bradeinhorn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (f5journl @ April 12 2007, 10:38)
    It could not be summed up any better than Dan did.

    Shall I take a guess on why they went away from snakehead? #Maybe they thought the logo was too crowded and not visible enough. #There is fairly clear indication that Gibson changed the logo several times in what appears to be an effort to balance the peghead
    On the left is the first logo the 22/23 "closed" pattern, very crowded.
    Missing is the smaller open pattern from late 23 that fits well and appears on most snakeheads.
    On the right is an even smaller pattern that fits best but is rotated at an odd angle compared to the rest of the Gibson logos.
    That is just my opinion. Right or wrong, it appears that they kept playing with the peghead instead of getting happy with it.
    i heard the return to the paddle may have had something to do with lloyd's personality conflicts with some of the others at gibson. when he left, they returned to how it was prior to his inovations in the a model.
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  11. #11
    Formerly F5JOURNL Darryl Wolfe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by (martinjonas @ April 12 2007, 12:27)
    Ajrs never had a logo, but Gibson used the same headstock shape across the entire A range. #The A2 to A4 models had an inlaid "The Gibson".

    Martin
    Agree. No logo on Ajr. I was just trying to address the question of why they changed the shape. We also see silkscreened logos on some of the straight "A's", but have not seen one on Ajr
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  12. #12
    Steve S Salt Lake City
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    My 1927 Paddlehead has a silkscreened logo, if that helps
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    Mr. Wolfe, my '23' A-0 has no logo on the peghead. Was this normal for the lower A models? Thank you, Nick
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    Sorry for a little topic diversion, but when they went back to paddleheads, did they also go back to the pre-Loar wider necks? Any thoughts as to why or why not?
    Chuck

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    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
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    Yes, they did. The necks & pegheads look to me to be the same design 1912-1922 and then 1925-onwards. It looks to me like they went back to the original pattern. Could be as Darryl has been suggesting- the logo looks kind of funny on that one, could be as a slap to Lloyd, could be the snakeheads were a pain to make for some other reason?
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