View Full Version : Four-piece top?
Red Henry
Sep-19-2008, 1:44pm
Take a look, and see what you think--
http://cgi.ebay.com/BEAUTIFUL-GIBSON-MANDOLIN-A-JUNIOR-W-ORIGINAL-CASE_W0QQitemZ170262416637QQihZ007QQcategoryZ10179 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Gail Hester
Sep-19-2008, 2:30pm
Yeah, it looks like it to me Red. It wouldn’t be uncommon or surprise me to see one on a junior. Many white and black faced models also have multiple piece tops. Here’s a three piece top on a white face A3 that I’m working on.
The only bad thing about these is that it often makes it look like there are cracks at the ends of the bridge unless you know for sure that they are stable seam lines.
Fretbear
Sep-20-2008, 4:05am
No wonder those transverse braces come loose so often if they glued them the way that that one looks like it was.
Red Henry
Sep-20-2008, 6:37am
Gail, my first Gibson was a 1920 A with a three-piece top, but it was not nicely symmetrical like the one you are working on. Mine had about 1 1/2" of the treble side patched with a piece of spruce that did not match the rest very well-- it may not have affected the sound much, but didn't look too good. But back when mandolins were scarce (pre-Gruhn, Mando Bros., or Elderly), I had to take what I could get!
Red
Spruce
Sep-20-2008, 4:07pm
Yikes, that's fugly....
Was it hiding under a heavy color, or there for all to see.....?
Knot shadows, incredibly uneven graining, and probably off-quarter...
All sandwiched between two nice looking pieces of spruce... :disbelief:
Probably sounds wonderful... ;)
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=35010&d=1221856234
sprucetop1
Sep-22-2008, 3:59pm
Boy, that top gives a whole new meaning to a twenties Gibson catalogue description of the A models having "carved tops of select spruce"......
Is that 3 piece original or a major and ancient repair? I can't see the advantage to the factory in those days doing such a thing.........surely they didn't have a shortage of good tonewood tops in sufficient widths.........I'm baffled......John
Bruce, was't it you who told me about seeing an a model with an 11-piece top?
Magnus Geijer
Sep-22-2008, 6:39pm
"Select" is such a wonderful choice of verbiage, though. Really, whatever piece you select will, by definition, be a select piece, no? So, for the three-piecer above, clearly two pieces of typical spruce were Selected, when those turned out to not be enough, someone Selected a 2x4 stud from the nearest wall.
/Magnus
Gail Hester
Sep-22-2008, 7:11pm
Bruce, how did you get that big picture, I’m jealous.
These multiple piece tops are fairly common and usually found on black and white painted mandolins. Here is the rest of this mandolin, an all original 1917, white-face A3. It’s in almost pristine condition along with the case which looks like new. This mandolin was originally carved way too thin and it was probably never really playable.
Red, I hope I’m not hijacking your thread but I think we’re still on topic.
Spruce
Sep-22-2008, 9:51pm
"Here is the rest of this mandolin, an all original 1917, white-face A3."
Ohhh, OK...
You see some pretty funky wood under those opaque finishes...
"Bruce, was't it you who told me about seeing an a model with an 11-piece top?"
Not ringing a bell. But I used to lie a lot... ;)
sprucetop1
Sep-23-2008, 1:13am
This mandolin was originally carved way too thin and it was probably never really playable.
Gail.....that looks like a nice A3 from the outside. What were the original thicknesses on the top of this mandolin? Was there any top sinkage?.......John
"Bruce, was't it you who told me about seeing an a model with an 11-piece top?"
Not ringing a bell. But I used to lie a lot... ;)
Oh Bruce, you scamp!