snakehead on ebay today

[ollaimh]

did anyone else see the snakehead on ebay today? i put in a bid but didn't watch the auction and got scooped by 60 bucks, which might have led to a bidding war if i had watched, always hard to predict. however it seemd like it had good bones but needed some repair. i have never seen a pumpkin top on a snake head nor the black strip down the back. it was also hard to tell if the top has shrunk and dropped. can anyone find it and put up the pictures, and listing?

[houseworker]

If you bid, you'll be able to find the link to the listing in your eBay account, or one of the emails they sent you.

Once you find it, you can share it with the rest of us.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I got it. Wasn't expecting it to go that high... Sigh...
It wouldn't have been a bidding war you'd have got it for a few bucks more...

[pops1]

I stopped biding much earlier, didn't think it would go that high either.

[mrmando]

Are we talking about this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Snake...p2047675.l2557

I don't think that's an original back with an added strip; I think it's a whole new back. Wouldn't expect to see a maple back on any snakehead other than an A4.

[ollaimh]

yeah well i wondered about the back and everything else. it looked odd. maple back on what is not an a 4, that's possible but seems unlikely. the head stock was inlaid, so it must be an a 3 or a 2, with double sound hole binding. if the back is replacement then it might be a player but not much vintage value, but if not then that was well worth fixing up. let us know eddy how it turns out. i wasn't watching the auction, had errands, i might have gone up a hundred bucks, but maybe i should save my money for a big purchase down the road. that strip down the back is very odd, and there aren't many pumpkin face snakeheads. so i thought it had been refinished.

[ollaimh]

and thanks mrmando that's the one. i have never figured out how to forward ebay pages.

[Jim Garber]

Seller has explained some:

I'll never get to this one either. It is mostly there but this old Gibson "Snake" will require a knowledgeable hand. It is my belief that the back had shrunk and someone (not me or anyone I know) added a back stripe piece and new binding That may explain the lack of the label usually visible through the soundhole. There are no cracks or repaired cracks top, back, sides or neck and the woods are beautiful. The fretboard has been off and it probably has been refinished, but not horribly.There is no bridge or tailpiece coverplate. The old case is functional. The "Snake heads have a great reputation for sound and I think this would make a fine mandolin with some special attention. Good Luck Bidding!

[Eddie Sheehy]

I backed out.

[Tom C]

Are we talking about this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Snake...p2047675.l2557

I don't think that's an original back with an added strip; I think it's a whole new back. Wouldn't expect to see a maple back on any snakehead other than an A4.

About a year or so somebody was selling an A-3 pumpkin that looked like it had an original maple back.

[ollaimh]

can you just back out? it looked like a proverbial diamond inthe rough to me, but with a lot of risk factors. a lot of thingslooked odd, but ya never know. the loudest mandolin i have every played is my black top snakehead.

[ollaimh]

well i got it and fixed it up now. the back is origional--in my opinion and that of my luthier. however it was a one piece back which cracked badly hence the middle strip. my other snakehead is an A1 and has a maple back, from 1924, so it happens.

it was completely re finished and new "vintage" tuners. the re finish was light and seems to be laquer so it's ok. the top has not dropped and the back has a gernerous curve.

most importantly with light strings at first, it is a cannon. one of the best sounding and playing mandolins for celtic i have ever heard. the fon seems to say 1922--which surprised the heck out of me. especially with that head stock in laid "the gibson". i assumed it was 1928ish. i'll have to check more--and the fon is barely readable so maybe i am getting it wrong.

[ollaimh]

ps fon 11963 or 11983, the first appears to be late 1922, the latter 1923, but i aqm no expert. the serial number is unreadable, the label is in poor condition.