Charlie derrington

[Gibsonman]

I see there are 2 Gibson MM on the Cafe for sale, both say they are one of 65 Derrington signed mandolins. I didn,t know he only signed 65 of them. I have a 99 Gibson F-5 L Fern signed by Charlie. Does anybody know how many of those he signed ?

[Big Joe]

There is no record of how many he signed, but he signed only a small number of non MMs. The number would only be a couple dozen most likely. Charlie was certainly not a publicity hound by any means. He was content to see the mandolins of highest quality come to fruition and less concerned about who signed them. Once the MM was brought to production, he preferred to only sign those.

[Gibsonman]

Thanks Big Joe I thought that was what I would be told.

[56 Gibson Hoss]

Were there F5L mandolins or MM that were NOT signed by anyone?

[Big Joe]

It is unlikely that any of those models were unsigned. No unsigned MM's were built that anyone knows about. That does not mean that a label may not have fallen out after the fact. That could happen since they are just paper with adhesive on them. However, I do not know any that have had that happen.

[Soupy1957]

I posted a question moments ago, to learn more about Charlie's influence over the mandolin and its construction, and then read the following:

“I am pretty sure everybody knows who Charlie is. Charlie Derrington is probably most famous for putting Bill Monroe's Loyd Loar July 9th 1923 mandolin back together after it was smashed to pieces with a poker. The whole world held it's breath as it awaited the return of the mandolin. It was a unbelievable job that brought tears to Monroes eyes. It was as good as it ever was! Charlie Derrington has also brought the Gibson Corporation back on top in the mandolin world today. Charlie had Gibson go back to all the spec's used in the mandolins of the 1920's. One of the big changes was going back to the traditional Dovetail neck joints instead of using the Bolt-On necks of years past. Probably the best loar reproduction being made today is the Gibson Master Model. It is so close to a loar it is scary.
Charlie hired on at Gibson in 1984 as their only mandolin repairman, and you pretty much know the rest, including the repair of Bill Monroe's badly damaged Loar and the development of the current line of Gibson Mandolins. Charlie was recently promoted to General Manager of Gibson Original Acoustic Instruments. Under his guidance, Gibson is producing a complete line of fine quality mandolins, banjos and resonator guitars at the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase in Nashville.”
-Maverick Hurley

So I guess the better question is: can anyone elaborate on Bill Monroe's smashed mandolin; why it was destroyed with a poker; what the repaired mando looked like? Sounds like an interesting story to explore. Particularly from the point of view of Charlie's involvement in this.


-Soupy1957

[AlanN]

Soup-ster,

This event has been told and re-told so many times, it has now taken on mythic proportion. I am sure it's in here somewhere in the archives, Frets Magazine did a piece on it back in the day (with photos), knowing people have weighed in over the years. Do a little research, you'll find that which you seek

[PseudoCelt]

A search of the Cafe archives should find the story. Pictures can be found here at The Mandolin Archive.

Patrick

[fatt-dad]

When Mr. Derrington stopped signing Master Models, he went off to work on a "secret" project - something to unfold over time (if I recall correctly). What was the initiative that he was working on?

f-d

[carleshicks]

When Mr. Derrington stopped signing Master Models, he went off to work on a "secret" project - something to unfold over time (if I recall correctly). #What was the initiative that he was working on?

f-d

I had not heard that one I hope somone elaborates on it.

[Big Joe]

Charlie was transferred out of the OAI division to run a different non production division. He was still GM of that division when he was killed. His transfer out of OAI was truly a loss to the bluegrass community and a loss to the mandolin specifically. He continued to play and record through the remainder of his days and his love of the mandolin continued. He was hoping to set up his own mandolin production company and begin building in the foreseeable future when he met his untimely demise. The world would have been a greater place with "The Derrington" mandolin in production. Oh well, that is how the world turns.