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Thread: Gibson A9: Wow

  1. #26
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    Thanks all for the comments and friendly banter. After playing it for a few days it seems to have opened a little. It sure has the woody Gibson sound that I like (regardless of who makes a mandolin that sounds like that), and pretty substantial bark to the chop.

    It needs a bit of set-up, which is fine. I've really grown to like the clean (some might say spartan or plain) look.

    Cheers.

  2. #27
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    A month ago, I adopted a fretworn A-9 from '03 that was appropriately priced so, after a week of welcoming it home and deciding if it was worth the investment, off it went to my luthier for a new bone nut & a total re-fret with Jescar FW43080-S (stainless steel wire). Like the title of this thread, I have to excitedly say, Gibson A9: WOW. I wanted a different personality than my Collings MT and late 20's A-Jr. and I got it. Not to mention the back and sides are unusually highly figured maple. What a way to bring in the New Year! Who needs booze when you got good looks, tone and playability?

  3. #28
    Certified! Bernie Daniel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    Quote Originally Posted by frshwtrbob View Post
    A month ago, I adopted a fretworn A-9 from '03 that was appropriately priced so, after a week of welcoming it home and deciding if it was worth the investment, off it went to my luthier for a new bone nut & a total re-fret with Jescar FW43080-S (stainless steel wire). Like the title of this thread, I have to excitedly say, Gibson A9: WOW. I wanted a different personality than my Collings MT and late 20's A-Jr. and I got it. Not to mention the back and sides are unusually highly figured maple. What a way to bring in the New Year! Who needs booze when you got good looks, tone and playability?
    Great to hear all your efforts on the little jewel paid off! There are luthiers who can get more money for their mandolins than Gibson and one can argue about who makes the best mandolins -- but everyone else is pretty much standing on Orville's shoulders. Gibson mandolins still have that signature sound and now you've got a piece of it!!! Congrats!!
    Bernie
    ____
    Due to current budgetary restrictions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off -- sorry about the inconvenience.

  4. #29
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    I've got an F9 on the way. Cn't wait fot the brown truck to get here.
    Living’ in the Mitten

  5. #30
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    Several times on this forum I've held the position that The A9 is "The Perfect" 1st mandolin. Even if you have to buy it on credit you can buy a A9 used for around 1000.00 play it for 6 months and decide the mandolin is not for you and resell it for 1100.00. The experience hasn't cost ya a dime. Or you can buy a pac rim new for 600.00 to 800.00 and decide the mandolin is not for you and attempt to to sell it for 375.00 if your lucky. So maybe you decide your going to continue your mandolin studies. With the A9 your going to be satisfied with the tone and playability much longer than you would with the pac rim. At least that was my experience and I wished I had understood that spending more can save you more in the long run. I know a thousand dollars can be a lot of money for some but you can use the stability of A9 pricing to your advantage.

  6. #31

    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    There is no one "pac rim" and for that matter there's no one A9. I had a "pac rim" LM-400 that was as playable as any mandolin could physically be and sounded great to me. Would I have been happier spending 2x as much on a used A9? Well probably pretty satisfied if a) I had a thousand dollars in my pocket and b) the one I got was as well set up and in as good a condition as the LM-400 that Robert Fear sent me.

    Based on my own experience the odds of a used A9 needing nothing but to be taken out the box, a little fine-tuning and off we go (like my LM-400) are somewhere between "maybe if you're lucky" and "you're dreaming". Call it 1-in-4. And the idea of borrowing money to pay $1,000 for a used mandolin that is going to magically be worth $1,100 a year later is silly. Why not just say "Look around and find a good A9 for $14.95 and you can make a killing by reselling it.

    I will say that the one used Gibson I bought was resold for exactly what I had paid for it. Minus of course the cost of a couple times shipping it a few hundred miles and various PayPal fees and what have you. But when I sold that LM-400 I lost maybe two hundred bucks total which is only a bit more overall. As for satisfaction I found that neither the LM-400 or the Gibson were as satisfying as the mandolin that's now my everyday player (neither Gibson or imported). Satisfaction is where you find it, it doesn't come from a nameplate. Or from avoiding the dreaded "pac rim" insult.
    The first man who whistled
    thought he had a wren in his mouth.
    He went around all day
    with his lips puckered,
    afraid to swallow.

    --"The First" by Wendell Berry

  7. #32
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    "the odds of a used A9 needing nothing but to be taken out the box, a little fine-tuning and off we go (like my LM-400) are somewhere between "maybe if you're lucky" and "you're dreaming"."

    When it arrived, I expected the worn frets and the Corian nut slots to be cut a little off kilter and I built their replacement into the total cost but I wasn't expecting the truss rod to be non functional & one way....or should I say "NO WAY".
    The seller agreed to knock off another hundred towards the repair and my luthier / friend replaced that truss with a 2 way Cumberland truss & made the repair + my cost = the 11 or 1200 that they are going for in today's market. Not that I'd ever want to sell it !!!! (at least @ the present moment-there's no MAS) but I can't help but do the math so it makes me feel better about spending my hard earned $$.
    Now I understand why they are considered by most to be in the same league as my Collings MT, even though they are an apples to oranges comparison. Again, I love the way it feels and sounds ...An A9 and upgrades = WOW A9.

  8. #33

    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    That sounds a bit worse than the usual luck of the draw and of course someone somewhere got one that was ready to rock and roll right out of the box. But any used instrument is likely to have a thing or two Not Quite Right. Stuff that on a brand new on you'd send it right back and say send me a good one.

    After you've been in it a while you figure out how to deal with that stuff but for a new player, there's a lot to be said for not having to fix up stuff before you can even get started.

    P.S. Unless of course you have easy access to a top-notch repair/setup guy who can make everything better-than-new in a jiffy. Most of us aren't so lucky.
    The first man who whistled
    thought he had a wren in his mouth.
    He went around all day
    with his lips puckered,
    afraid to swallow.

    --"The First" by Wendell Berry

  9. #34
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    "Most of us aren't so lucky."

    I agree, Brent. It could just be the "Luck o' the Irish" rubbin' off of all of the Celtic songs I've been playin' since I started.

  10. #35

    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    Hmm, I have to be careful of that then.
    The first man who whistled
    thought he had a wren in his mouth.
    He went around all day
    with his lips puckered,
    afraid to swallow.

    --"The First" by Wendell Berry

  11. #36
    Registered User John Kinn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson A9: Wow

    I had a 2002 A9 for a couple of years which I felt was a GREAT mandolin. but when economy forced me to let one go, it was the A9, because I regarded my1949 A40 a better mandolin for me. The A9 was louder, but the A40 had (for me) a more refined sound, better sustain and was a better all round mandolin.If I was playing only bluegrass, I would probably have chosen to keep the A9. I have played some Collins mandos, as well as a couple of Webers, but none of them spoke to me like the old A40. And in the end that's what matters: An instrument that speaks to YOU!
    Enjoy your A9 and Happy New Year!

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