1912 Gibson F-2 -- Black face

[Bernie Daniel]

This F-2 looks pretty nice. The front seems certainly to be original finish and the hardware (pickguard, tuners etc) seem ok.

But that tannish -light brown color on the back and sides seems odd? Most of the ones I've seen are a dark wine color?

Also, the wood on the back is most likely birch -- but that grain is kind of atypical for birch isn't it?

1912 F-2 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260406311599)

[allenhopkins]

Back doesn't look like birch, although I believe that was standard. According to the Vintage Guitars spec summaries, F-2's went from 3-point to 2-point in 1910, and in 1914 went to "Uniform red mahogany finish slightly shaded, black or orange top finish optional." So the seller is calling the F-2 "1912" in his item heading, but "1915" in his ad copy.

Hard to make out the serial number, but it looks like "125XX." If so, Mandolin Archive suggests 1912; here's (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/show_mando.pl?15) F-2 #12510, dated 1912 -- no pic of the back, though, so hard to compare the woods.

[MikeEdgerton]

The seller is a cafe member (he uses the same name on eBay and the cafe) and regular seller in the classifieds named Kevin Douglas. Hit him with a PM and I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you anything he can about it.

[Bernie Daniel]

OK thanks Mike -- I kind of thought the eBay name had a connection to someone I knew. If Kevin thinks its original that is good enough for me! :)