Old Gibson F5 No Guts

[bris48]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif #I have a 1974 F5 master Model that had been in its case in a closet for 17 years, and it sounds like a ----- well I can't think of anything sounding so cheap. I have tried playing it alot, even took it to a BG festival and played it all day. I have even tried setting it in front of stereo speakers. I have a 2000 model Washburn M3SWB and a 2004 Gibson F9 they both put the old man to shame #can anyone help get the old sound back???

[danmills]

From what I've read on this forum, the mid-70's was apparently not a great time in Gibson's mandolin building history. I've seen more than a couple 70's F5's for sale that had been regraduated, i.e. the top, or the top and back, had been removed by a luthier and some more carving had been done to improve the sound. Seems like a big job to me, to be attempted only by an expert, but I don't really know what all is involved. I would get a quote from a good luthier, but if it's too expensive, it might be more cost effective to sell your "old man" and put the money toward a new Gibson or some other high quality brand. Good luck & have fun.
Dan

[evanreilly]

I know a very well-known luthier who was brought a 60's or 70's vintage Gibson F-5 for reworking. He told me he made a pile of shavings from the regraduation of the top, neck & back that he dumped them out back behind the barn & they were an object of the guys going behind the barn to see a man about a horse for some time.
The results did justify the means, however.

[johnnymando]

I believe Randy Wood is known for regraduating the tops on some of the clunker Gibsons from the 60's&70's.Thats the only way some of those guys can ever bark.

[Big Joe]

There could be several reasons. If it sounded good before it could need some TLC to get it back. On the other hand, there could be some structural things that could be the cause of the poor sound. I doubt anything could be done to make it sound like your new F9, but it could certainly be helped. If you are interested, just PM me and I'll tell you how to get it to us for an inspecion.

[Spencer]

I had a 75 F-5, and didn't know better til I got my hands on a great Red Diamond. Then it couldn't go fast enough to get something better. I asked my local luthier (Victor Smith) about regraduating, and he was very relucutant to do it, as it would be a pretty big operation and he couldn't guarantee the results. I wisely sold it and got my Flatbush from Victor. That was 5 years ago and I haven't looked back since.

You couldn't regraduate that one, I have never seen a thinner mandolin around the F-holes, if you took off any wood there you could read through it. Had a pretty back though.

Spencer

[Mando Medic]

I've torn into some 70's F-5's and can tell you that most need a neck reset, regraduation and tone bars replaced. The last one I did sounded great. They just weren't paying attention in the 70's and that's why Ibanez and Kentucky kicked Gibsons butt back then.

[AeroJoe]

Just don't underestimate them...sure, most require a little attention to get them dialed in right, but you get someone like Randy Wood that is one of the premier surgeons for these models, the results can be very surprising...

[Flowerpot]

A less drastic option is to have the tone bars shaved down. I know of a guy who has done this to a couple of 70's era Gibsons with good results. The procedure requires drilling out the end pin hole large enough to insert some carving tools, shaving the bars with the visual aid of a dental mirror, and plugging the hole (3/8" or so) with a dowel when it's done -- the tailpiece covers it all up. If the tone bars are so thick you could drive a truck over them, it might be worth getting a good luthier to try that before going to the expense of removing the top or back.

[davestem]

I'll second the Randy Wood comment from earlier. There's a Vintage Dealer's roundtable in the Co-Mando archives, and one of them (Gruhn, I believe) said that he recommends sending the 70's F5's off to Randy Wood to be regraduated; that they usually come back sounding great.

[krishna]

Flowrpt, Thats the 1st time I've heard of that procedure.It actually sounds doable like that. I could ,instead of seeing the problems associated with it, look forward to thinking up solutions!...Kerry...PS Anyone want to give me a mando to work on? (JOKE)