View Full Version : Monroe's mandolin and case picture
Hal Loflin
Jan-18-2008, 8:52pm
I get weekly Gibson email newsletters, usually about guitars, but today's had this picture on it.
I had never seen it before...What a great picture of Mr. Monroe's mandolin and case!
Anyway, I thought I would share it with you guys (and gals).
Hal Loflin
Jan-18-2008, 8:57pm
Whoops...Here is the picture
Ken Feil
Jan-18-2008, 10:11pm
Great picture Hal; thanks for sharing.
Ken
Ivan Kelsall
Jan-19-2008, 2:42am
What's the latest on Bill's Mandolin re.'where it is / who owns it' etc. many months ago when there seemed some doubt as to what would happen to it,i posted a note on here asking why Gibson didn't buy it themselves. It's surely the most important Gibson instrument around along with maybe Earl Scruggs's banjo & the original Gibson les Paul Guitar. It certainly sold a lot of Mandolins for Gibson. If they're so proud of it why don't they buy it just to ensure it's safety & preservation ?. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that Gibson didn't really care that much & weren't interested in buying it, but they still continue to crow about it whenever they get a chance. Nevertheless, a great picture,
Saska
Bernie Daniel
Jan-19-2008, 6:38am
saska: i posted a note on here asking why Gibson didn't buy it themselves. It's surely the most important Gibson instrument around along with maybe Earl Scruggs's banjo & the original Gibson les Paul Guitar. It certainly sold a lot of Mandolins for Gibson. If they're so proud of it why don't they buy it just to ensure it's safety & preservation ?. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that Gibson didn't really care that much & weren't interested in buying it, but they still continue to crow about it whenever they get a chance.
I think you make a good point. #"Gibson" might be well advised to do such a thing -- however there are three counter factors to consider.
1) that mandolin is worth a LOT of money -- into the millions and that is a lot of master models that Gibson would have to sell to cover it;
2) Gibson is a company not a person - some person in Gibson would have to get the ball rolling - no one has I guess.
3) Guitars not mandolins are the big part of Gibson's sales and I doubt most young rock and rollers care to much about Bill's mando.
But I think $$$ is the biggest matter. My 3 cents on it -- I agree great pic!
Gutbucket
Jan-19-2008, 6:58am
Was that photo taken pre-fireplace poker or post-fireplace poker attack?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
woodwizard
Jan-21-2008, 3:20pm
Looks like post poker to me. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Santiago
Jan-21-2008, 7:21pm
How come the Gibson inlay was still in place?
evanreilly
Jan-21-2008, 9:15pm
Gibson rebuilt the peghead of #73987 in 1979, I believe.
They made an effort to reconcile with Bill and did so in a fine fashion.
Mando Morsi
Jan-21-2008, 9:42pm
Wow great pic of an even greater instrument
f5loar
Jan-24-2008, 10:27pm
Looks like a photo taken at CMHF recently. Case pretty worn. This is the case made by Paganoni(aka '23 Loar Green interior style)and then covered in leather and tooled with his name and "Father of Bluegrass Music" presented to him by Ex-Bluegrass Boys as a birthday gift in Sept. 1982 at the Kentucky Fried Chicken Bluegrass Festival. He carried the July 9th Loar in that case until he died in 1996. When he got the new case in '82 he then carried the other '23 Loar in the previous 1963 Gibson case given to him by Tut Taylor as a gift.
Griffis
Jan-24-2008, 11:37pm
Just outta curiosity, does anyone know how many mandolins Monroe owned? Did he have rooms full of them or really just 2 or 3 precious ones?
I always picture him with one or the other of the Loars. As a person who has long suffered from Instrument Acquisition Syndrome, I am always fond of hearing stories of players who could have a hundred premier instruments using only a couple.
For instance, Maybelle Carter. I've really only seen her pictured with a couple of different Gibby model acoustic guitars. Monroe seemed to have a couple of mandolins he always went back to, Willie Nelson, with "Trigger"--his old and re-worked Martin classical nylon-string guitar, etc.
evanreilly
Jan-25-2008, 5:18am
I once asked him how many mandolins he had and he answered me that he had a total of fourteen. Only two were Loar F-5s, tho.
f5loar
Jan-25-2008, 10:58am
I'd say Monroe had 8 main axes with the July 9th Loar being NO.1. No. 2 probably the 2nd '23 Loar but it's really hard finding a photo of him even holding that one.
3rd would be his 1964 F5 that he bought new and used as a backup until he acquired the 2nd Loar in the early 70's so it had a lot of mileage on it. He used it to record "My Last Days On Earth" which many Monroephilites consider a major piece he wrote. 4th would have been his 1936 F7 that he used with brother Charlie and the first 6 years of the Bluegrass Boys band. Another backup mandolin he used sparingly was the late 60's Randy Wood No. 3 Loar copy. Next would be the June, 1978 F5L that Gibson gave him. He used it most when his 2 Loars were in the shop for minor repair http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Last would be his signature model Monroe models that Gibson gave him. He actually had 2 of those and used them only seldom during his final years. There were others he was seen with but usually one off like the Ibanez Model 527 and the handmade one with the a likeness of his head on the headstock made by Barnes and Lamb Violin Makers in 1989 that the Opry gave him for his 50th Aniv. When he died James found the teens Model A Gibson that must of have been used in the early Monroe Bros. days. Any others were probably ones fans gave him and he never used on stage.
Griffis
Jan-25-2008, 1:31pm
I once asked him how many mandolins he had and he answered me that he had a total of fourteen. Only two were Loar F-5s, tho.
Okay. If you talked to the man, I want to touch you. Not to sound strange, but Monroe is about the only post-WW2 musician who turns me into a slobbering fanboy.
Griffis
Jan-25-2008, 1:33pm
When he died James found the teens Model A Gibson that must of have been used in the early Monroe Bros. days.
I collect Monroe Bros. 78s. They are among my favorite old shellac records to spin, though I more often just play a CD to protect and preserve the 78 rpms.
It just ain't the same though...
Mikey G
Jan-25-2008, 3:58pm
Wow! What a picture!
evanreilly
Jan-25-2008, 11:16pm
'Tweren't no robber. A lot more than 150 pieces; it was two mandolins shredded, in a paper bag, delivered to Charlie Derrington at Gibson.
f5loar
Jan-26-2008, 12:17am
You didn't just see one of his mandolin....you saw the NO. 1 Monroe mandolin...The July 9th, sidebound 1923 signed Loar that he bought in a barbershop in FL in 1945. That's the mandolin that literaly had bluegrass music written on it. Used in 90% of his recordings and on 90% of his live shows. Well worth the million plus it cost.
evanreilly
Jan-26-2008, 4:07am
Whether or not Bill's #73987 will remain on display at the CMHoF is currently at issue.
Due to the fact that the late Robert McLean used his ill-begotten money to buy the mandolin and donate it, there is a legal issue that is being brought out by those wishing to have the instrument liquidated to satisfy those whose monies McLean stole.
Mother Maybelle Carter's L-5 guitar is also vulnerable to the same issue, as it was a donation from McLean.
Stay tuned!