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Thread: Mysterious F4

  1. #26

    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    I think there is a very good chance we are overthinking this. There is only one reason a peghead gets spliced/repaired/refinished: it broke. Plain and simple. The peghead overlay was retained to save the Gibson logo and flower pot. If this repair was done 40-50 years ago, those items were not available like they are today (eBay, internet, etc.) Was the truss rod removed? We don't know -- might still be in there! Why was the fingerboard removed? We don't know. We also don't know the skill level of the repairman. Maybe this is the first repair of this type he attempted and was just "thinking" his way through it? Obviously, a better repairman today could make the "repair lines" almost invisible. My vote would be that the neck and peghead are original and a piece was spliced in to facilitate a repair, possibly for strength, at least in the mind of the repairman. Mandolin originally had a truss rod, which is in keeping with the serial number and time period. Reason for weird dots and side markers? Again, 40-50 years ago, nobody knew. There were no forums discussing such minutiae. Authentic repairs depended on the experience of the repairman. Unless the repairman worked at Gibson, Gruhn's, Mandolin Brothers, or Elderly -- he probably wouldn't run into an F4 everyday, especially a guitar repairman. Anyway my two cents. You wouldn't build a new neck just to repair a peghead crack unless it was just splinters. You would repair the original neck. Just like you wouldn't take a car in for a brake job and get it repainted as part of the repair, logic would dictate.

  2. #27
    Registered User Gary Hedrick's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Oh I have other Ebay "adventures" ....many years ago the Dr. put me on Ambien......well sleep walking.....fixing eggs in the middle of hte night and leaving the stove on AND buying unhatched eggs on Ebay.....Araucana eggs no less....the blue and green ones....I had a egg incubator at the time so it wasn't all nuts but Ebay and I have special relationship over the years.....

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    I am not sure that putting in an offer of $2.5k and if a person was a luthier that this wouldn't be ok......the rest of the instrument looks fine

  3. #28

    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Gary, you have given me new insight into some of my eBay (almost) sales! I hadn't thought of the sleep walking angle. But I have had instruments purchased by children on their parents account (and later cancelled, of course, by the parent). And, in contrast, I have also been the beneficiary of winning bids made by a drunk person, who told me the story (bidding in the middle of the night after coming home from the bar!), but still felt compelled to honor their bid.

  4. #29
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Yes, I suppose you have a good point Jeff. When we were younger and full of juice we have all done some things which, in retrospect, may have been "less than wise" simply because we knew no better and this well may have been someone's stroll down that lane.
    Gary, if it's any consolation, I have been guilty of the "ramble" driven by any number of reasons, sleep deprivation, recreational ...., dire need of retail therapy, you name it! I have tried to limit my expenditures there for myriad reasons.
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  5. #30
    Middle-Aged Old-Timer Tobin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    Oh, heck, you can see the splice line on the headstock plain as day in this photo: http://thriftdrop.com/P1170614.JPG

    I don't see any obvious evidence of a splice at the neck joint, however. What if this is the original neck and someone just pulled the fretboard off and took out the truss rod, for sentimental reasons?
    I think that photo pretty much answers the question on the splice of the overlay. You can also see where they filled the screw hole for the truss rod cover.

    This has to be a replacement neck due to a snapped peg head. The neck just has a weird shape and contour, especially near the nut. I'll bet it has no truss rod at all, and the veneer splice was meant to just do away with any truss features.

  6. #31
    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Well, it was sold again on eBay ... but here's a very familiar-looking mandolin on the Boston Craig's List:
    http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/msg/5920735487.html
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  7. #32
    My Florida is scooped pheffernan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    Quote Originally Posted by mrmando View Post
    Well, it was sold again on eBay ... but here's a very familiar-looking mandolin on the Boston Craig's List:
    http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/msg/5920735487.html
    And now in the classifieds: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/105628#105628
    1924 Gibson A Snakehead
    2005 National RM-1
    2007 Hester A5
    2009 Passernig A5
    2015 Black A2-z
    2010 Black GBOM
    2017 Poe Scout
    2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
    2018 Vessel TM5
    2019 Hogan F5

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  9. #33

    Default Re: Mysterious F4

    eBay seller was in New York. Current seller is in Boston area. I guess he didn't like it, or at least didn't own it for long? Or possibly purchased for resale at less than the eBay price? Interesting. Well, it's a 1923, it has "that" going for it, so maybe somebody outside the "loop" might think it is half price, due to the issues we've discussed -- but everybody here is "in the loop".........

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