1924 Mando Bass

[Petrus]

Sweet! $6K



ARE VINTAGE 1924 GIBSON J MANDO BASS MANDOLIN
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291331288452

[mrmando]

Utterly ridiculous. If they're going to charge $6K they need to repair the thing first.

[Ken Waltham]

Wow. I agree with the above statement, just nuts.

[BradKlein]

This has to go down in the Amateur Repair Hall of Shame. It even lacks the flair of a true cowboy repair i.e. a few wraps of bailing wire around the center of a fiddle. But for parts, or restoration, it's still worth a substantial amount, and I suspect they'll gladly accept offers - if not today, there's always tomorrow, or tomorrow, or tomorrow.

The shipping, however, at $150 is an absolute STEAL. You can't crate one of those beasts for that price, let alone ship it!

[mrmando]

Is there any currently active ensemble in the United States, apart from mine, that uses one of these?

[barney 59]

These guys tend to stick to their guns on their pricing. They had an over priced Givens Ode(was an Ode that had a tailpice that was engraved "Givens") and they must have run that listing for over a year, never changing the price.

[BradKlein]

I Believe that the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra plays with One. A Vega mandobass if I'm not mistaken.

[mrmando]

The old MMO site shows a Meyer(s?) mandobass in use, but there is something on the new site about a Vega. In either case, they're not using a Gibson!

My point is that there is essentially zero demand for Gibson mandobasses. You'd think the mandolin orchestras would want them, but AFAIK only one orchestra (Seattle) actually uses one. Whatever these nutso prices are based on, they're not based on demand.

[Jim Garber]

When I joined the New York Mandolin Orchestra there was an excellent bassist -- the only one in the whole group -- who played a contrabass balalaika that belonged to the orchestra. It sounded great and he used a big thick square of shoe leather to play it.

I did own a Gibson Model J for awhile. I lent it to Larry Cohen who did play it in the orchestra and who found the balalaika bass a bit cumbersome esp with only three strings. It just didn't have the volume and projection that an upright or even a contrabass balalaika has. I think NYMO currently have an excellent balalaika bass player and maybe an upright player as well.

I sold mine years ago because the back seams kept separating with the dry heat of New York apartments.

Here's me back in '84 with my mandobass...

[Bernie Daniel]

Is there any currently active ensemble in the United States, apart from mine, that uses one of these?

The Modern Mandolin Ensemble in Nashville (Rob Haines) has some videos or them using a mandobass cannot recall if it is a Gibson J or not and it is not always in the group.

[mrmando]

It is a J as I recall. OK, we're up to two groups, even if Rob's group isn't exactly an orchestra...

[goaty76]

I own one and I think people like myself, collectors of Gibson instruments, are the true market for these. It's not an instrument that is bought for playability or sound but rather for just the pure enjoyment of owning a pretty interesting instrument. A similar thing could also be said for the Gibson harp guitars of the period, of which I also have couple.

With the "repairs" this one has it is definitely going to be a hard sell, especially at that price. However I do know of a clean one that recently sold for a good bit more than this one and I didn't think that one would sell either. You just have to find the right buyer that's excited about the instrument.

Phil

[allenhopkins]

Is there any currently active ensemble in the United States, apart from mine, that uses one of these?

This group has a few YouTube vids:

[jblanchard]

The Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra has had mandobasses forever. Here's a photo of the orchestra from 2010 when we had three, count 'em, three mandobasses (look at the back row in the close-up).

Unfortunately, now we only have one mandobass player.

[Jim Garber]

Unfortunately, now we only have one mandobass player.

I will be right over...

[BradKlein]

It's not really a mandolin orchestra without a mandobass. There... I said it!

[chuck3]

I have such mixed feelings about mandobass. On the one hand, I'd like to have one and try it. On the other hand, it seems like there's a reason the upright bass has survived pretty well and the mandobass hasn't. And I already have two upright basses that I really like. Still ... a 1924 Gibson mandobass ...

[Petrus]

I sort of like the goofy shape of the thing, but the size and the way you have to play it at a 45 degree angle is a little ridiculous. I would like to see a modern reproduction of the basic shape, but maybe a little smaller -- about the size of an acoustic bass guitar or mandocello, or a large dreadnought.

[Bernie Daniel]

This group has a few YouTube vids:

Yes that is the group I was referring to in post #10. I did not realize they now called the group the vintage mandolin quartet -- I think maybe they have several groups based on the mandolin instruments. Sometimes they use a mandobass sometimes not.

[pianoman89]

So Im new here (first post), this very mando bass being the reason I came to this forum. I did not know that such a thing even existed until I saw the Gibson J model a friend of mine owns a couple weeks back. I have to say I was taken by it, and the desire to build an exact copy of his was instant. That's my main interest in this instrument. Being in such poor condition, it would be the perfect instrument to deconstruct and exact plans from before rebuilding. But I agree that the pricing for such an instrument is hard to determine.
So my question... The consensus seems the bass is overpriced, but what would you guys say is reasonable for this instrument in its current condition, AND what is reasonable for a fully playable Gibson J ?

I personally think the mando bass is perfect for the amateur acoustic bassist playing weekend gigs, as it is much more mobile than an upright , just as loud when miked, and is fretted so intonation is effortlessly achieved... not to mention it just looks plain neat...

Building one is definitely in the books for me as soon as I graduate college...

[Bernie Daniel]

So Im new here (first post), this very mando bass being the reason I came to this forum. I did not know that such a thing even existed until I saw the Gibson J model a friend of mine owns a couple weeks back. I have to say I was taken by it, and the desire to build an exact copy of his was instant. That's my main interest in this instrument. Being in such poor condition, it would be the perfect instrument to deconstruct and exact plans from before rebuilding. But I agree that the pricing for such an instrument is hard to determine.
So my question... The consensus seems the bass is overpriced, but what would you guys say is reasonable for this instrument in its current condition, AND what is reasonable for a fully playable Gibson J ?

I personally think the mando bass is perfect for the amateur acoustic bassist playing weekend gigs, as it is much more mobile than an upright , just as loud when miked, and is fretted so intonation is effortlessly achieved... not to mention it just looks plain neat...

Building one is definitely in the books for me as soon as I graduate college...

That is a great goal!! You might end up being the only builder of mandobasses in the world if you do it!

Several of the members on this forum have owned Gibson J-styles and might have a good idea of the fair pricing for them in various states of repair.

One other thing you might ask is does anyone happen to have the plans for building a Gibson mandobass? It many not be a very likely but who knows-- there are some amazing people here. And I've said it before if there is a question about mandolins that cannot be answered by someone on the MC forum group then that question has not been asked yet!!!

Also you might search for a copy of the original Gibson patent on the Style J mandobass. It would not surprise me at all to find out the one of our members has that document. It might provide some useful information.

[pianoman89]

Bernie, thanks for the great suggestions! I hadn't thought of the patent. I'll definitely look into that.

My plan is to use premium wood, and perhaps increase the rib width just a bit. Being based on the A style, it would be a pretty straight forward build, definitely a lot simpler than any upright.

I do wonder if there would be a market for the ole mando bass if they were affordable... more of a player's price in stead of collector's...

[mrmando]

Memory's fuzzy, but there was a mandobass for sale in Vancouver not long ago that appeared to be a pretty close Style J copy, by an Oregon builder who's now deceased. I may have posted the builder's name at some point in the past year.

$5–6K seems to be the going rate for a playable one, but I stand by my assertion that it's an outrageous price for such a project as the one we are discussing. I'm not an expert but $2–3K seems more reasonable for something that needs as much fixing up as this one.

I don't believe there is a patent filed for the mandobass, and if there were I doubt the drawings alone would give you enough information to build one. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Web site has some comprehensive search tools if you want to go fishing.

Good to hear about BMO's basses. Phil must be right; it's gotta be the collectors who are buying these.

They seem to need a lot of maintenance. I know the two owned by our orchestra members have been in and out of the shop frequently just to keep them playable. Sometimes collectors don't keep them playable, and they end up like the present example. There's one up on the wall at Dusty Strings now, part of a collection they acquired. It isn't playable, and one of the staff told me that they'd rather keep it as a wall hanger than fix it up and try to sell it. I suppose a sufficient amount of money might convince them otherwise, but whatever that amount is I probably don't have it.

I think if you built a couple of mandobasses that projected well, were stable and could be had for $2.5K or so, placed some ads and went to CMSA as a vendor, you would arouse some interest.

I like the looks of the Rigel bass and think it might do for a mandolin ensemble instrument if I should ever need one for myself. I have one of the Morgan Monroe mandolin-shaped basses but that hardly counts.

[GstyleJ]

First post for me too; I'll slither in cherry-picking several posts in this thread before I skulk out.

"Memory's fuzzy, but there was a mandobass for sale in Vancouver not long ago that appeared to be a pretty close Style J copy, by an Oregon builder who's now deceased. I may have posted the builder's name at some point in the past year."

You may be referring to this guy

http://www.mandobassman.com/Index.html

Don't know if he is deceased or not, but I got a mandobass body (round soundhole) from him some years ago to mate with the neck of a barrel bass that was just impossibly heavy. Mine would project better if it had f-holes, but it is plenty loud as it is, and LIGHT.

I also lucked into what I believe is a genuine Gibson J neck, and I also have one of these:

http://www.cloudninemusical.com/Imag...eMarimbula.jpg

The tone bars will have to go, and I will have to do some under-top bracing and find a way to attach the neck, but this will be a more portable alternative to the leviathan that is the Noble mandobass.

"I don't believe there is a patent filed for the mandobass, and if there were I doubt the drawings alone would give you enough information to build one. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Web site has some comprehensive search tools if you want to go fishing."

See the discussion of the Gibson style J here:

http://www.mandolin.co.uk/blogs/Mand...istory_101.pdf

"One other thing you might ask is does anyone happen to have the plans for building a Gibson mandobass? It many not be a very likely but who knows-- there are some amazing people here. And I've said it before if there is a question about mandolins that cannot be answered by someone on the MC forum group then that question has not been asked yet!!!"

Try internet searching "gibson mandobass" pdf, with some variation of plans, drawings, or diagrams between mandobass and pdf. If any style J plans are out there, this should harvest them. If making a mandobass, I would try to make sure my fingerboard had some degree of overstand as do upright basses and Regal bassoguitars. Overstand puts more downward pressure on the top via the bridge, which increases volume. Most mandobasses and acoustic bass guitars lack this overstand, which is one reason they also lack volume.

PS: I'm not a mandolin guy, just bass.

http://www.acousticmusic.org/userfil...%20Catalog.pdf

[pianoman89]

These things certainly are neat. I will definitely be building one after I graduate college, most likely based on the model J. There will be some mods to it for sure.