View Full Version : my gibson fern
toddr
May-05-2004, 11:26pm
i have a fern made last year and i didnt notice when i bought it that it has a flat spot on the back. the spot is just a little off the center seam. i have no objections to the sound of the instrument, but could there be a thin spot? the spot is not noticable unless you rub your hand across the back or look at the back from the side. big joe , do they usually let this go?
It is said that Loars have similar flat spot on the back. Maybe the sanding guy wanted to emulate this. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif But I'm sure Charlie D. or Big Joe will stand behind their product and help you.
toddr - Have you contacted Gibson or your Gibson dealer?
A couple of times over the last few months, it appears that the Cafe has been used as the first place to try to get problems solved with Gibson. #By most accounts, they are responsive and their answer here is always to contact them directly.
Charlie Derrington
May-06-2004, 6:05am
Hi Todd.....
It's designed that way on purpose. Every Loar I've ever seen has that "flat" spot, and we try to build 'em just as close to the Loars as we can.
Charlie
Rob Powell
May-06-2004, 7:17am
So Charlie, that begs the question, and I'll apologize in advance if you've answered this a hunnert times already...
Was there a purpose behind the flat spot or was it just something that happened in the duplication process?
Charlie Derrington
May-06-2004, 7:43am
Rob,
I don't have a clue why it's on the Loars. But, the important thing is, it's there. And, since our goal is to replicate the Gibsons of the twenties, ours are going to have that flat spot, also.
Charlie
Flowerpot
May-06-2004, 5:18pm
This kinda reminds me of the old joke about the young wife who always cut off and discarded an inch of meat from both ends of a potroast before cooking it. Her husband asked her why, and it was because her mother had always done it that way. They called her mother, who said that HER mother had taught her that way. Finally, they got Grandma on the phone, who settled the matter: "I always cut off the ends because my pan is too short!"
hey charlie,
thanks for the info, i had no idea that loars had a flat spot. i'm really happy with this instrument. keep up the good work.
thanks,
todd
Darryl Wolfe
May-07-2004, 8:07am
Ditto Charlie..some have more flat than others, but they all have it. Mine is quite noticeable
Ken Waltham
May-09-2004, 4:38pm
My Loar also has a very noticable flat spot. More than others I've owned...
Ken
sunburst
May-09-2004, 5:10pm
Did ferns have the flat spot too? If not, is the modern fern carved more like a Loar than a fern?
Does anybody have a pic that shows this on a Loar? In some reflected light. Darryl, Charlie, Ken...
Charlie Derrington
May-10-2004, 10:07am
No pictures.......sorry.
22s have it. 23s very obvious. 24s less so. My 25 really has it. And I've seen it on some Ferns and not on others. Of course, these are averages and every individual mandolin is slightly different.
Charlie
sunburst
May-10-2004, 11:13am
Thanks, Charlie. Never notised it. I'll be on the lookout next time I see one.
Do you suppose it was a "thing" left there by the pattern carver and sometimes it got sanded out more than other times?
Darryl Wolfe
May-10-2004, 11:27am
It's hard to say why it is there. It could be an anomoly in the original form..and could have been filled occasionally and wore back off..who knows. At any rate is is there and varies considerably. It's just right of center on the back as you look at it and includes the back seam...smaller than the palm of your hand..bigger than a golf ball. It almost appears as if it's a deformation from simply "laying on its back" for so long (although it's not)
Brookside
May-10-2004, 10:32pm
I don't have one on my Loar. Of course my Loar is just a figment of my imagination. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Rob Powell
May-11-2004, 6:40am
It wouldn't by any chance be directly below where a Virzi would have been suspended?
Rob Powell
May-11-2004, 6:41am
Of course I have to ask cuz Brookside and I share the same Loar:D
mikeyes
May-11-2004, 7:59am
Darn, I looked at my '87 F5L and it doesn't have a flat spot. My life is now incomplete. Do you think if I sent it back to the factory they could put one on or is it just as easy to use a large rasp and a golf ball?
Mike Keyes
Darryl Wolfe
May-11-2004, 8:57am
Loar with flat..located where the burst is lightest
Darryl Wolfe
May-11-2004, 8:58am
Another
Darryl Wolfe
May-11-2004, 9:00am
Another..right where the dark spot is
Darryl Wolfe
May-11-2004, 9:03am
right where the light spot is