value a gibson a

[sbarnes]

i found an old gibson a model in a music store today....the serial # is: 19840 (we think, the label is faded & stained quite badly)....the production # is 2216 stamped inside the heel....i know the tuners are not original and a small piece of the binding is missing on the neck but otherwise in pretty good shape....it has the gibson in script on the headstock and a fleur-di- leis inlay....a black face...no original case.....i've attached a picture and was curious as to the 'approximate' value.....i have more detailed pictures if needed....
thanks in advance

[mrmando]

It's an A4 from 1913. Same FON as this mandolin. It's too bad the original tuners are gone; they were fancy engraved Handel tuners, worth $300-400 by themselves. Furthermore, the bridge is not original and the pickguard is missing.

Without an original case or most of the original hardware, in a lousy economy, I should think a fair price would be around $1200 at the most, but it's hard to say.

[Ivan Kelsall]

What did it sound like ?. Irrespective of 'original' tuners,missing pickguard etc.,if it sounds good,& if you could buy it for $1,200,i'd say you 'd have a bargain. It looks to,be in really nice condition.The 'original' tuners might have been trashed years back.I'm not a great admirer of the 'paddlehead' style of headstock,but for for that one,i could always change my mind,
Ivan

[barney 59]

A year or two ago an A -4 might have gone for about $2500 from a quality dealer. I checked out several and it was uncanny how they were all $2500! All of them at that price were nice but not necessarily high grade collector quality. If you found a good one on ebay it would probably have gone in excess of $1500 and probably closer to $2000 and sometimes more. I'm not including the sometimes crazy prices that on occasion something goes for on ebay. There was at least one (and not completely original at that) that sold for 5 g's! These days I'm not seeing anything break $2000 on ebay and have seen decent looking A-4's go for under $1000 on occasion. I've also noticed a lot of A-4's with starting prices of maybe $1500 not getting any bids at all. The dealers are still asking pretty high prices. I think they have a vested interest in not seeing prices fall too far.I wonder if they are making sales. It all changes of course if you have a Loar Era snakehead. People want those.