2003 Gibson A9 Mandolin?

[journeybear]

Is this what a real one looks like? I have never seen one in real life, just all the fakes at ebay, so I realized I don't have a frame of reference ...

It's been up for a week and no one's said anything. Is that what the headstock looks like these days? No??? On the left is the item for bid; on the right is a photo from Gibson's website.

Someone matched the starting price two days after it was put up, and there it has sat for five days. Bidding ends at 6:22 EDT.

[Mike Bromley]

Many points of similarity there! Plain-jane snakehead, script inlay, two-screw thin plastic truss cover...tuner shaft boss.....subtle matte finish, black-bound top, no binding on back....

...that'd be the real deal.

[journeybear]

... except for the tip of the headstock - one instead of two points - and the general shape of the official one looks more elongated, though that could be the angle of the camera.

I just dunno ... though the fact that no one's mentioned this before implies it's real ...

[Mike Bromley]

... except for the tip of the headstock - one instead of two points - and the general shape of the official one looks more elongated, though that could be the angle of the camera.

Look at the tuner shafts....foreshortened.

[journeybear]

Yessir ... it's mostly that discrepancy between the points on the tip. I just don't know enough about these, and for all I know they've changed that detail in the last six years.

Still, here's another one, recently sold.

[MikeEdgerton]

If that stays at 800.00 somebody is going to get a great deal on a real A-9.

[jefflester]

Still, here's another one, recently sold.

I'd call that more than "minor" pick wear.

[Chris Keth]

I'd call that more than "minor" pick wear.

True, but it's an amount I would be fine with if the instrument was a good price.

[acousticphd]

If that stays at 800.00 somebody is going to get a great deal on a real A-9.

Yep, it looks that way.

See, all the recent "fake A9" posts here may actually be pushing the resale prices down a few dollars.

[journeybear]

Just the one bid at the original asking price, no advance on $800, with and hour and a half left.

So, I gather that single-point tip on the headstock is irrelevant? Doesn't make sense to me, but, um, if it were relevant someone would have said something. Right?

[acousticphd]

What single point tip? Look carefully at the photo you posted. The top of the headstock is out of focus (and camera probably moving), and tilted fairly steeply away from the camera. You don't see a single point; you see a blur. Even in a good photo (and maybe unfortunately for this seller, his photos aren't so good), what you usually can see that it is more of a dimple at the top of the snakehead, rather than pronounced "points", and even then a lot depends on lighting and background contrast.

Look here: http://www.folkofthewood.com/page2793.htm

and especially here: http://www.themandolinstore.com/scri...idProduct=8887

What is your concern? I think you would feel more reassured about the A9s that keep coming along on ebay, if you had a chance to look over a couple real A9s yourself. This may be easier said than done, but if you have a Guitar Center in your neighborhood, they often have them in stock.

[MikeEdgerton]

I doubt the fake F9's have driven the prices down. Probably the only people that are aware of that come here and honestly, we aren't the major portion of the mandolin buying public.

Somebody is going to try and snag it at the end. I'm guessing it will go for more, how much more I'm not sure.

[MikeEdgerton]

How about this one?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2295265...7616044901948/

[journeybear]

In the OP, there looks - to me - like there is a considerable difference between the volute on the tips of the two headstocks. The lack of focus in the photo of the ebay item doesn't seem to account for that. The picture Mike just posted does, though I find it hard to reconcile the two.

I don't really care, beyond having an ethical issue with the people cheating unsuspecting buyers with the fake A-9s, and wanting to be more knowledgeable so as to be able to correctly identify fakes more easily. OK, apparently I do care!

Oh. I wish there were a music store here I could just amble into and have a look-see for myself! The nearest one is nearly 200 miles away!

[Mike Bromley]

In the OP, there looks - to me - like there is a considerable difference between the volute on the tips of the two headstocks. The lack of focus in the photo of the ebay item doesn't seem to account for that. The picture Mike posted does, though I find it hard to reconcile the two.

JB, I'm convinced of its verity, personally. The ad is not the usual hype-filled foolishness. Too many of the details are pure 9-series. The fakes are so far in the other direction as to be comedic (if they weren't such an infuriating phenomenon). On the F's, the scroll has a similar variability. So, we may need to step back and see the similarities.

[journeybear]

I must agree, at long last. The photo Mike posted convinced me that that angle of view makes enough of a difference. Also, when no one else with more experience than I rings in to express a shared opinion, it's a good bet I'm wrong. I've been wrong before, doubtless will be again, but I have learned that I'll never learn if I don't ask questions of those who know more than I.

Right now it looks like someone is going to get a pretty good deal, less than 1/3 of the MSRP. I'm not in the market myself, and after my latest purchase I utterly refuse to buy anything else for a good long while.

[MikeEdgerton]

It's at 810.00, 3 bids with 26 minutes to go. It's going to go up.

[gibson mandoman]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but another Gibson A-9 sold on Ebay for $800 about three days ago. It looks like a Gibson A-9, but the finish color looks too red. I have never seen this color of finish on a Gibson A-9. Of course I have seen the new sunburst finish that Gibson currently uses on the 9 series, but again this mandolin looks like it has been refinished. What does everyone else think?http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-A-9-A9-MA...3A1%7C294%3A50

[Mike Bromley]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but another Gibson A-9 sold on Ebay for $800 about three days ago.

That's an imposter. Decal headstock, gloss finish, gold hardware.

[f#54]

Fret markers only on the proto type,right?

[gibson mandoman]

[QUOTE=Mike Bromley;671166]That's an imposter. Decal headstock, gloss finish, gold hardware.[/QUOT

Mike, that's what I thought too.

[MikeEdgerton]

I think the red one is either a Gibson or a Flatiron that somebody labeled Gibson. It's a Gibson product.

Somebody beat me by 10 bucks in the last 10 seconds of the 2003 auction. Whoever it was, enjoy it.

[Mike Bromley]

I think the red one is either a Gibson or a Flatiorn.

Somebody beat me by 10 bucks in the last 10 seconds of the 2003 auction.

Me too....

went for 857$, still a steal.

[gibson mandoman]

Yes the red one does have the Gibson label inside. The headstock inlay does look different as does the red looking finish.

[MikeEdgerton]

Me too....

I hate it when that happens.