Epiphone BG-440 Info?

[dovelover]

Hi all,

I have a Gibson Blue Label - Japanese Made Epiphone BG-440 SN 78050. It's a 2 point O-Hole Mandolin I got off Ebay a few years ago. It's like the style Jethro Burns used to play. This has been referred to as a A-5 style (?) and I have seen a Gibson equivalent on Charles Johnsons website:

http://www.vintagemandolin.com/65GibsonA5_521731.html.

I've called Gibson but they have no info available on old japanese Epiphones. The only place I found any info was in a collectable musical instrument price guide which values it for $700-1200 which I find hard to believe.

Anyone seen, or heard of one of these? It's a pretty nice mando, sound more celtic than bluegrass, good chop though. The top looks solid but I feel it's a mostly laminated instrument. Just curious...

[johnl]

The A-5 clones were made for several instrument labels in the 70's. I have one by Ventura, and I've seen versions from Alvarez, Ibanez, and Aria. I recall an Alvarez two-point selling recently on eBay for close to $500, but I think the norm is closer to $300. Don't know if the tops are solid; it may vary with the make and the year (and I've read that serial numbers from Epi's Japanese period are unreliable for dating an instrument). But it sounds like you've got a keeper, and keepers are for keeping!

[johnwalser]

My Epiphone BG-440 Blue label SN 77493 has been a blast. It had been in a closet for 20 years and was in wonderful condition except for a concave warp in the fingerboard. I ended up removing fretboard, sanding neck level and puting it back togeather and it plays like a dream. I then made a one piece ebony bridge of my own design and put on TI strings in medium and added a flower design mother of pearl inlaid pickguard from inlaidartist. This past week I put on an Allen ar2 tailpiece. It is very cool looking, has good tone and killer sustain and have somewhere around $500 in it and use it as my "beater". I took it to Vegas in March and after Mandohack played it, he said "This ain't no beater!". Well, it has gotten to be a pretty nice mandolin after all my work, so now I call it my "travel mandolin"...and did I mention it has tons of SUSTAIN!!!
John