I had a 1980 F5, made in Kalamazoo, signed by Herman Meintz.
I had a 1980 F5, made in Kalamazoo, signed by Herman Meintz.
Yup I had one of those Stan Rendell signed wondo-lins also -- it was as heavy as a brick and had a voice about equal to a Morgan Monroe MM-3 I happened to have at the time.
I told myself for 6 months that the Gibson sounded better but I don't think it really did. I finally came to my senses and passed it on.
Isn't Rendell the guy who scolded Roger Siminoff for his suggestion (in 1980) that Gibson should try to recapture the glory days of their mandolin builds?
Where would this world be without CEO's who understand $$ but not their product line? The old argument often made in business schools is that a good manager can run ANY program. This may or may not be true I do not claim to know.
But what is forgotten in the application of this theory is that critical adjective --i.e., GOOD manager!
Bernie
____
Due to current budgetary restrictions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off -- sorry about the inconvenience.
Bernie
____
Due to current budgetary restrictions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off -- sorry about the inconvenience.
The first F5Ls came out in late 1978. by 1980 they were in full swing production in backorders.
Mandroid:
You are technically correct. This has been discussed here before - several years ago I thinks - but the state of Tennessee does not allow the term "engineer" or "architect" to be used without a degree in those fields and I think you have to be registered (also in Tennessee). I am a golf course architect - have a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture - but have a different letterhead when I do work in Tennessee that says I am a "golf course designer". There is no registration for "golf course architects" in Tennessee, so I can't be registered there and therefore cannot use the term "architect". I argued with a lady from the state for 45 minutes one day about it, but eventually realized it was not an argument that I was going to win. Her argument was that any title that has "architect" in it assumes that you design vertical buildings - and you have to be registered as such. Same with engineers - any title with the term "engineer" in it assumes that you are an engineer. It is totally silly (IMHO) to assume that whomever signs a mandolin label is a bona fide college trained "engineer", but that's not how the state looks at it.
I guess stretching it to its silliest conclusion, maybe you could sue Gibson if your mandolin did not sound as good as you thought and the only reason you bought it was because you thought it had been designed, built, or inspected by an "acoustic engineer"!!!:
Linksmaker
I am interested in Gibson instruments made in 1980 that were signed. I have seen one signed by Richard Doan, and another by Mac Morris. These were both F-5Ls I believe. Does anyone have any information about Mac Morris?
I can't find anything about Mac Morris in the Cafe archives. Someone may pop up but if you have a picture of the signed label please add it to this thread that lists all that have signed Gibson labels. Richard Doan is already on that list.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Or did it become a different job title ?. production manager QC head inspector?
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
I think mandroid may be correct. While researching this I came across some info that implied that after Roger Seminoff convinced Gibson to try to go back to the Loar specs and they introduced the F-5L in 1977(ish) that they may have allowed individual luthiers to sign the label perhaps thinking the personalization might be perceived positively by the purchasing-community. It may be that during this brief re-introduction stage they experimented with a new signing protocol. I will eventually add the information on my 1980 F-5L to https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...luthiers/page7.
I communicated with Mr. Seminoff about this. Because he was a contractor he didn't spend as much time in the factory and wasn't aware of how they were signing the labels. He did however suggest that most of the F-5Ls of this era through sometime in 1982ish would have included tops and backs that he had carved remotely. I, of course, love mine and think it sounds great;-) It plays well, and I consider it a gem.
This feature from 2010 authored by Roger Siminoff is exhaustive on some of the subject matter touched on here relating to the F-5L. May be worth reviewing for those interested in a very deep dive into the subject:
The F-5L Mandolin - A turning point in the history of Gibson's acoustic string instruments
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Apparently whomever they wanted to let sign them they let sign them at certain times. There are a few labels in this thread signed by people that others said never signed a label yet here it is in writing. That acoustic engineer thing was just a throwback to Loar as that was what he was called. The rest I don't think it mattered much. Plant managers, production managers, janitors, whatever.
I should note that after a certain point in the modern Gibson/Flatiron mandolin era they actually had people that knew what they were looking at signing labels.
Last edited by MikeEdgerton; Jan-28-2022 at 10:55am.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
i can imagine a Gary Larson toon(the far side), showing a late night janitor cleaning up, seeing a pile of labels on a desk, looks around, signs his name to one label only and slides it in the middle of the already signed pile-then walks away grinning/whistling. decades later people on a forum are perplexed with a name that is not able to be traced.........
Anybody who has ever worked in a factory environment will tell you that there are a whole lot more than just signatures that get written on the inside of instruments, many that would be...."impolite"....to mention here, usually related to management actions on that day!
I am glad Mac Morris signed mine and per j.condino any of the illegitimate graffiti artist;-) Clearly when they tap-tuned (deflection-tuned) mine they went a little too far and it needed a few micro-grams additional mass. The ink from Mac Morris' signature was just what it needed to add that mass back and to make it sound sound extra sweet;-) I genuinely am very happy with the instrument. When I got it the truss-rod was completely loose and it was a bit dull sounding. It was buzzing on the higher frets of the G strings and my only real complaint with it was the the G-string-slots on the saddle were VERY close together. I eventually replaced it with a Cumberland bridge and saddle and while it probably improved the overall tone incrementally, it really helped the G-strings clear up. In any case, I know 1980 isn't a vintage year for Gibson mandolins, but it sure sounds great to my ears. I really appreciate all of you who have added to this conversation.
Please take a few minutes and upload a picture of the label so we can add it to the list in this thread.
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...luthiers/page7
"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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