The Traumas...

[gmando]

Oh the Agony!!! Some of you may have read my earlier posts. My friend found a Beautiful Black 1912 Gibson A model in his attic and brought it to me to "tune up and see how it sounds", not knowing what he had. I almost did a backflip, and after playing the instrument for ten minutes I fell in love with it, it sounds better than any mando ive ever played(which isnt saying much, but i think yall know what old Gibsons sound like). So I got all worked up that i might be able to strike a deal, and i went over to ask him if there was any way i could strike a deal, and he said,"My dad wants to keep it in the family, because it was my grand-dads", and that he wanted to try to learn the mandolin. Knowing my friend, he wont ever be too dedicated to learning to play this thing. What a buzzkill! It is such a shame that such an incredible piece of work will just sit around as a family relic and not get used for what it was truly meant, and i will be stuck playing my midmo, knowing that i could have a Gibson in my hands had a few things gone the other way. Have you ever heard of such a dissappointment???
-G

[Trip]

that is a shame, but youll find another magic mando or 2, hes lucky the heat from the attic didnt affect the glue....that would have been a real tragedy

[JiminRussia]

There's more pretty girls than one.
There's more pretty girls than one.
Any old town I've traveled around,
There's more pretty girls than one!

[atetone]

Yeah, it's a killer. I feel for you. One good thing though- you now have a burning desire.
You will now have to get yourself one someday. There are lot's out there but of course you have to have the bucks. Being 17 years old, that must seem like an insurmountable task to you, but now you have a motivation.
You are going to have to work on it. If you really want one you will find a way given time.
The other thing is to not give up on this one just yet. Maybe the situation will change and your friend will lose interest and talk his Dad into letting him trade it for a pair of those flashy running shoes or something. (They cost quite a bit don't they???).
I know I shouldn't be making jokes with you feeling the way you do, but chin up. You will get one sooner or later.

[mrbook]

Years ago, a friend had me "tune up" his F-2. His family also wanted to keep it in the family, although they were willing to let me play it provided they could have it back anytime they asked. I didn't want to get attached to it and then have it snatched away, so I politely and sadly declined. A couple years ago, I asked him about it, and they had sold it for $800, a bargain at the time. I would have bought it for that at the time - or even now. Luckily, I never got attached to it.

[Jack Roberts]

I was shown a old bowl back last December. Same story, different instrument.

[MikeB]

gmando, tell these folks what a nice instrument they have; that it should be played, not kept in a closet. #Respect their decision to keep it--in fact, you might say you DO respect that. #Then ask only that if no one in the family gets around to playing it, that if they ever consider selling it, would they please give you first right of refusal--at a fair market price, determined by a third party. #(I would even offer to get an estimate of its value for them.) #You will not feel good if you offer less, but they might very well sell it to you for at least a little less. #Things do change, but you can't force them. #Just do the right things now.

Something similar happened to me. #I met someone who had an "old mandolin." # I asked if I could see it. #A 1924 A-2Z. #It had some problems, obvious to us all. #I offered to find someone qualified to repair it for them, had the work done, told them to find out what it was worth (I really didn't know--almost didn't want to know), and then let me know if they wanted to sell. #I waited awhile, then called and the women offered it to me for $1000. #I bought it. #Later traded for a mandolin I liked better worth twice that. #Win, win. #Happy, happy. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Dan Adams]

I fell into one of those deals. The owners at least wanted it to be played instead of being kept in a closet. My 17' A Model looks like it rolled off the factory floor. Pictures in the archive. Nothing like the vibration through the body of the instrument when played. I hope you can get this one, or find another. Its a sound that can't be matched.

All That Glitters is not Scrolled! Dan

[gmando]

Mike-
I had already done exactly what you said to do, and told him that he needed to realize what he had("Oh, i do" he said, but i dont think he really does), and that it needed to be played. I told him i respected that decision, but just that it needed to be played. He said if he ever were to sell it, id be the first one he contacted, but im still not getting my hopes up. I'll find another one one day I'm sure; they are truly incredible instruments.
-Gmando

[MANDOLINMYSTER]

Yup, my own Aunt, she sold my Grandfathers fiddle, made in vermont in the mid 1800's at her garage sale for a $100.00.
She said it was the first thing to go. It blew me away, she knows I go GA GA for that kind of stuff...errr some things just aren't ment to be http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[AeroJoe]

My wife took the time to befriend a fellow and his wife (they have no kids)...in time, they were like family, she'd pick with them whenever we went to a local jam/shows where they were and they happened to be there...they were not they greatest pickers in the world, but she always stayed with them because they were kind to her when SHE was beginning to play mandolin...they were patient with her, and she became like the daughter they never had. One day, the husband informed her that she would be willed his old Gibson F5 when the time came...
...course that made the campfire circle, jam sessions and whatnot rumor curcuit, and it upset her terribly...
She said she'd rather have him around and ALIVE to play music and have fun picking than have his mandolin or anything else...(Now I know why I married her...)

Point? Some things just belong in a family. Period. I know, I know...what if the old widow lady up the street has a Loar and NOBODY to give it to or that happens to be playing it? You have nitemares of it going to the pawnshop, dumpster or worse, the preverbial yard sale. Yeah, I'd be grittin' my teeth more than a little and and curling my hands in my pockets if widow lady would not want to sell it...but I'd walk away...I had to do that that one time (not over a Loar, but over a pre-war Gibson banjo) and the thing was pristine, and the couple would not sell it...I first saw it at our county school bus repairshop, a freind who happens to work there saw it, called me, woke me up and said GET YOUr A** down here NOW" I saw it in the back of their car since they were there to pick up a family member who worked there. I struck up a conversation, did my best negotiations, but they did not want to sell it (it was in the car, sitting upright in the back seat, with no case, because they were going to stop by our local music shop and get some strings for it, so they said.) So I gave them my number and I drove away, I gave a silent prayer of thanks to the Lord for just the opportunity of "finding" and seeing the thing and letting me hold it for a few minutes...
...I had barely walked in the door when the phone rang...they had thought it over and wanted to know if I still wanted it.

$200 and 20 minutes later, a NICE 1935 TB-1 Gibson was sitting on my kitchen table...

Be willing to walk away...you never know when that instrument WANTS to follow YOU home and live with you awhile...
Don't act like you have just smoked a crack pipe with your reactions over an instrument you happen to find, and it may make the people (or individual) think "He/She seems to be a nice person, and yeah, we don't play it...

You know the old saying "what goes around comes around"?

You be willing to walk away...and a (perhaps nicer) one sooner or later (likely sooner) will walk TO you...

Andy: "Well, you know how these things go...in cycles..."
Barney: "Yeah...last week it was head colds...

[AeroJoe]

Go to post this story because I could not WAIT to run FROM this instrument...
Back in the late '80's before the internet was so prevalent, I found an ad in a "Bargain Trader" magazine, something which came out updated every week at our local convenient store. I saw an ad reading "old isntruments for sale, Martin Guitar, Gibson banjo with parts". So I called the number, the old guy that had them said "yeah, still got 'em come on over". I asked the condition of the Martin since the distance was a considerable drive. "It's a 1939 D-18, clean as a whistle"...

On the way over there, that "clean as a whistle" thing kept sticking in my mind...I finally got there, went inside, he pulls out a period fake alligator-skin case, and opens it up...it was clean alright...clean as a whistle for sure...it looked like a surfboard it had so many layers of finish on it, he had tried to re-finish it himself with what he called "shac-a-lac". Had I bought it and sent it to Martin, they'd have laughed and sent it back, it was that bad...then the banjo, which was a Gibson (one of those trap-door things) he got out and wanted to jam...too bad the "head" was strips of //masking tape// but he launched right into "Blue Moon of Kentucky"...

I was going to be sick, I HAD to get out of there but did not want to hurt the old guy's feelings, so after a few tunes, I said I had to be getting back home...

I think that is the first and only time I had to RUN AWAY from an instrument...

[TonyP.]

I've had similar experiences. When I started playing guitar my grandfather asked me if I ever tried fiddle and I said no. He informed me that his sister had my great-grandfather's fiddle and was going to see her and try to talk her out of it for me. Next time I saw him I brought it up and he very sadly informed me that he asked about it. She proudly pointed to it on the wall. She had taken it and slathered white wall paint all over it and painted some gold flowers on it too. My grandfather was so sad about it he said he made sure he sat where he couldn't see it for the rest of the visit. Soon after that I took up mando and a friend of the wife's dad had died and had an old Gibson mando I might be interested in. We went over to their house and she pulled out an early teens F round hole. It was in pretty rough shape and had cracks etc. I never have been a fan of the round hole sound or owning old instruments. Don't get me wrong, I like playing them, but like the old adage, nice to visit but wouldn't want to live there. She had had it appraised and basically the guy told her any Gibson was worth 1k which way more than I would part with so it made it easy to make an excuse to back out gracefully. The only bad thing about it was later the kids of the friend got really mad that I'd gone over and looked at it and I went from being a kinda hero to them to being a thief! This even though I didn't want it. Family stuff is totally unpredictable so now I stay away from stuff like that.

[levin4now]

That's interesting. #My friend just sold me an identical mandolin that he found in his attic, and had tuned up by a friend. #$300 bucks!

Oh wait. #I only dream that dream (and variations of it) every night!

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[fatt-dad]

Dear NG,

I bought a 1919 Gibson A-3 (White face) from an old preacher's attic. He first checked with his kids to see if any of them wanted it, but they were turned off by the split seams, warped neck and overall disrepair. So, I picked it up for $75 (1985 dollars) and then immediately put about $450.00 into it. Well at the time, I probably could have found one without the history for $600 or $800.00, but it was more fun to watch it come back into shape.

Still have it today and it's on my not for sale list - ha, along with several others. Love it.

Just another story.

F-d

[jlb]

Good examples of those old teens A-styles are in my opinion among the best sounding mandos out there...problem is there are alot that are all cracked up, some that just don't sound great, but the good news is that lots of them were made and there are good ones out there, and they can still be found at good prices in this f-style-crazed bluegrass market.