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The story goes that Gibson only made a few of these prototype octave mandolins. This is the only one I know of that has survived. It's from the "Orville" era with the old style label. Thanks Frances.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJvkF27hJrg
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thanks for uploading this video ... I think it sounds great !
WOW! That sounded amazing. Wonder why Gibson never listed an octave mandolin in any of their catalogs. At least none that I can remember. Maybe they just didn't see it as a standard instrument in the mandolin orchestra. Great solo instrument though.
The story goes that Gibson felt that the octave mandolin clashed with the voicing of the mando cello. That it had no place in the mandolin orchestras of the day. One Gibson official was quoted as saying "That octave mandolin is no part of nothing" :)