What kind of a Fake Gibson F5 do we have here?

[f5loar]

Okay I'll admit I've never heard of Doug nor seen any of his mandolins. I do admit there are way more F5 mandolin builders in the world than one man could ever sample in his lifetime so i'm not surprised I've not heard of Doug's banjos or mandolins. But if Doug is this good why is it he is not in the top five buidlers with Nugget, Dundenbostel,Gilchrist,Montolene, etc.?? Is there any pro picker out there on the road with his Unger F5? Is he still building mandolins? What is his price range?

[Marty Jacobson]

Are those tuners really 40 years old? Looks like there may have been a refurb job on the finish, tuners, possibly binding at some point. That might explain some of the question marks.... it might not have been this good 40 years ago. That'd be my theory... would love to hear what Doug has to say about it. Does anybody know him? No contact info online that I could find.

[sunburst]

...if Doug is this good why is it he is not in the top five buidlers with Nugget, Dundenbostel,Gilchrist,Montolene, etc.??

A good question (the answer is complicated, but it is "the market"), but the fact is there are lots of builders building in that quality range at price points that I sometimes cannot understand. Some I don't understand why their prices are so high, others I don't understand why their prices are so low.
Doug Unger is well known in some circles, mostly as a 'banjo guy', but I don't know him myself.

[jesserules]

"We've long admired the work of Doug Unger, art professor emeritus, friend, and customer since the early days of StewMac. Doug restores and reproduces exquisite turn-of-the-century banjos and mandolins." (StewMac Trade Secrets Newsletter, July 12 2007)

There's a video about his work on youtube.

[fretbored]

That's a pretty good endorsement i'd say then... The guys at StewMac are top notch.

[Jim Garber]

The $9k Unger A5 is still for sale on Elderly's site. There are also a few banjos.

Here is an online article about Doug. Bob DeVellis had him make a new neck for (I think) his Lyon & Healy.

Here is a video:

[barney 59]

Doug Unger has had a long time relationship with the Music Emporium going all the way back to when the Music Emporium was in Pittsburgh. It was through Stu Cohen's, very famous at the time, "Scrimshaws" as he called them, that I first met Doug Unger.
I think in Banjo circles he would be more well known and I had heard that maybe he did some work for The Smithsonian and other museums. I think maybe the "jack of all trades' bit might explain why he isn't so well known, what with the teaching and the painting and the playing, and the restoration work he still found time to build instruments. It would be interesting to get some background on that mandolin. I find it really interesting that the seller didn't name the builder in the listing. If the mandolin had been in the possession of the builder until recently that could explain it's fine condition.

[Perry Babasin]

The Flowerpot is wrong for the 70's Gibsons. They looked like this (exactly like the early 70's Ibanez flowerpot).

[Steve Johnston]

Well this mandolin has been relisted on ebay. I sent the seller a question asking who the maker was since he claims to have bought it from the maker. (I would remember that, wouldn't you) and he has chosen to to answer my question. There was recently a mandolin listed in the Cincinnati Craigslist as a beautiful Gibson copy. It was selling for $700. I had to check it out. It was garbage. It was a Gibson copy. But seemed to me to be a cheap Chinese copy.

[Steve Johnston]

Chose to NOT answer my question...sorry for the typo.

[Jim Garber]

This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.

Someone made him an offer he could no refuse?

[Bernie Daniel]

If you zoom in on the headstock the logo is either a decal or a poor attempt at inlaying.

I'm thinking that "The Gibson" inlay may well have come from a guy who sells regularly on eBay -- I've seen his stuff several times when searching on the site.

Hmmmm I see F5Loar already said that....

[barney 59]

It's back up on ebay with a $1500 starting price and no bids as of yet. If this is a Doug Unger, as the seller said when he responded to me, it might very well be his first. I've been tempted to get in touch with Doug and ask him if this is in fact his. The flower pot inlay is a little rinky dink coming from someone who developed into possibly the worlds greatest inlay artist. I don't actually get why the seller isn't using the builders name in the listing.