Givens at auction

[mythicfish]

The owner describes this Givens as a "plain Jane" model.
With standard models going between $3.5K -$4K, what would y'all reckon to be a fair price for this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....TQ:US:1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7409080996&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1)

Thanks
Curt

[J. Mark Lane]

I would call Greg Boyd and ask him (at the risk that he might just buy it himself <g>). He is the most knowledgeable person around regarding Givens instruments, I think.

It does look rather "plain", even for a Givens. An A4? I'm not sure what current prices are, although Greg has a couple of A's in the $4k range. My guess would be this is a really good mandolin. I would think it would fetch at least $3k.

FWIW, I have a Givens Legacy A6, built by Steve Weill (Givens's apprentice) after Givens died. I've played it next to an original Givens A6 from the early 1990's, and it sounded very similar. These mandolins have very nice tone, imho.

[Jeff Hildreth]

That is the model A-3.. I bought one new from 5th string for $650 with case
PAid $950 for my A-6

these were both Givens built by Givens

As to current price for an A-3.. the bidders will determine that

I prefered the tone and playability of the A-3 over and above the A-6

jjh

[Frank Russell]

Seems like anywhere between 3 and 4K is about right for Givens A's. I have an A4, which is also sort of plain, but has a much fancier inlay than the eBay Givens. It is excellent, enough so that I traded off a great Givens A6 (the much fancier model) that I had at the same time. The A6 was beautiful, and a pleasure to play, but this ugly A4 just has it all - chop, volume, tone, and a slightly wider fretboard or chunkier neck that just feels "better" to me. Any carved mando made by Givens is going to fetch 3K, unless it's a real dog or has many issues. I believe they are worth it. Frank

[Gail Hester]

I don't know but that's a beautiful Givens and not as "plain Jane" as allot of them I've seen. #I'm going out on a limb and guessing that one will go closer to $5K then $3K. #If it doesn't I'll wish I would have bid on it. #NFI at all.

[Mandobar]

could be anywhere between 3k and 5k. ebay has a habit these days of either flattening out the price or having it skyrocket. nothing in between.

[Dave Reiner]

Seller seems nice, but reports that the action is currently high with the bridge all the way down. Might be fixable with a bit of bridge surgery, or maybe the neck angle needs work...

Dave

[mythicfish]

I hope it's not the neck angle - spinal column surgery not be cheap.

Curt

[Gail Hester]

The bridge being too tall is a common problem with allot of mandolins, even real expensive ones and that's easy to fix. We need a picture from the side though to see if there is a problem beyond that.

[Frank Russell]

It's quite possible that this one, if it's a '91, may have the adjustable (through the endpin hole) trussrod, and the owner may not be aware of it. I've met two owners who were completely unaware that theirs had truss rods. Could be a matter of a simple 30 second truss rod adjustment. Also, if this baby gets up to 5K, I'll be the guy jumping up and down and hollering, because that would mean I finally invested wisely in something, and doubled my money. Frank