Block inlay Gibson's.

[telepbrman]

I want to know what models had block inlay, old mando's, I know Sam Bush has one...Also, is block inlay more fancy or pricy on the mando's of old? Are there any Gibson A body's with block inlay? Thanks, dy.

[uncle ken]

I have a '29 fern with block inlays. Here is a link (http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/show_mando.pl?2735) to it in the archive.

[telepbrman]

Uncle Ken....Holy Cow man, what a beauty!!! #That is what I was looking for...now are "block's" as I will call them, only the Fern F5's? #The archive is tough to search in terms of strait "Block's", or were Apollon's F5's the only "blocks"? #Thanks for your time, dy.

[Tom C]

ken,
Is it me or does the scroll look a little flat on top? It that orig neck with inlays? Was it one completed at a later time -like late 30's? Or replaced?
Beautiful.

I think some early 50's may have also had block inlays also, no?

[Darryl Wolfe]

That is a prime example of the post Loar scroll that has a trademark flat spot in the "Northeast" edge

Blocks started on F5's in about 1929 and continued until the introduction of the 1969/1970 newer generation that had the fancy scrollwork inlays similar to those found in the 1900's

Blocks started at 3rd fret and later in maybe '34/35 they added the 1st fret and 17th fret

I beleive there were some block inlaid A-models in the 30's, but can't remember for sure

[telepbrman]

Another note: The Sam Bush Mandolin has a different block pattern....dy.

[devilsbox]

Thats a nice looking mando, but I notice that the tuners are positioned so that one G and one E string have to bend around lower posts. I thought my Kentucky was the only one with this problem. Maybe they copied the early Gibson too well. Later Gibsons don't have this characteristic I believe? This is in NO way meant as a negative comment, just an observation/question of Gibson construction details on this instrument.

[Darryl Wolfe]

That positioning of the tuners is a post Loar trait that continued until the introduction of the F5L in about 1979/80. The very earliest Loars were that way too.

[Tom C]

I remember seeing that someplace else where the person strung the outside G and E from the outside of the post rather than the inside.

[sunburst]

Uncle Ken, Somebody pointed out to me that your mandolin is missing fret #27. Is there a reason for that? Do you use fret #28 by chance?

[Darryl Wolfe]

Surely you know that story John

[Yellowmandolin]

No, I don't. Please enlighten me. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[uncle ken]

I read somewhere that Dave Apollon had that fret missing so that he could easily hit that high note. I have seen pictures of other mandolins that he has owned that were also missing that fret. I never play it up that high but it actually plays in tune up there. The Schaller tuners don't look all that great but they sure are smooth and accurate. I also just added a Steve Smith bridge that really enlarged the overall sound.

[Darryl Wolfe]

The mandolin is the late 1929 owned by Dave Apollon originally, then later by a member of his band in Las Vegas during the 60s. One of Dave Apollon's signature sounds was noted at that fret. He always removed the preceding fret on his mandolins so that he could find that note quickly

[Darryl Wolfe]

Another one of "Dave's" (same fret missing, but you really can't tell in this pic)

[sunburst]

That's a cool little piece of history http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif .

[Scotti Adams]

..yep..thats great info.....I love stuff like that.

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

I guess I could just look at my frets and remove any that don't have dents in them. That way, I'd never hit a wrong note again!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif