The Gibson

[Braulin Mando]

I am a newbie to Mandolins. I am a drummer that has picked up guitar, have been playing my acoustic for the past couple of years(just for fun). I acquired a Mandolin from my mother-in-law recently. She has a couple of them that were her fathers, they are collecting dust at her house. I had her send me one, not knowing what she had, she sent me this nice looking Gibson one. The pick guard is cracked and missing the support for it, but it sounds nice. I tried to take a picture of the label inside, but couldn't get it good(the writing is also faded). Can anyone tell me any info from the pictures. I might bring it to a local guitar shop and see what they can tell me about it. It is a very unique instrument. This is a very informative site for mandolins.



Thanks.

[Chip Booth]

Double post.

[Chip Booth]

Welcome to the Cafe! I can't read the serial number for sure, let us know what it is if you can tell. If the number is 18072 then it is probably 1914. It looks like an A-1 from the teens to me.

[Marty Jacobson]

Lucky dog! Enjoy it, get it properly setup (by someone other than the guy who sets up Strats at the Guitar Center) and given a once-over to look for structural issues, which are not uncommon on these instruments. They're not worth a mint but they aren't junk, either. Definitely a keeper.

[Charles E.]

Nice catch, you might want to find out what the other mandolins are too.

[MikeEdgerton]

Unless that local guitar shop is one in a thousand you'll probably get less than authentic information. Look in through the sound hole at the heel block. Is there a number stamped there?

[JeffD]

Unless that local guitar shop is one in a thousand you'll probably get less than authentic information.

My experience is similar. Guitar shoppies are usually not very well informed about mandolin, except in a very general sense. On anything specific, it is dicy.

[Braulin Mando]

I am lucky to get this one. I was hesitant about bringing it to a local guitar shop, I will ask around about someplace that might know a bit about vintage instruments first. I'm going to look again inside the sound hole to see if there is more info and also try and get a better picture of that label. I am going to find out about the other mandolins, I believe one of the other ones is a "bowl back".

[lenf12]

Hi Braulin,

It's really hard to read the label in your picture but it looks like model A-2. I can't read the serial # but that and the FON (factory order number) stamped up near the neck block will help to identify the year it was made. Where in FL are you located? There's not much in the way of vintage instrument shops with solid mandolin knowledge here in the Sunshine State to check out. Welcome to the Cafe.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Braulin Mando]

I'm located in Lake Worth. I will take a closer look tonight and let you know if I find the FON.

[mrmando]

Definitely an A2 (double soundhole rosette), made between 1914 and 1918. First digit of the serial number looks like a 2, 3, or 5 depending on which photo you're looking at. I don't think it is a 5 because 58072 would be around 1920, which is too late for a pumpkin finish -- a 1920 A2 would be Sheraton brown. So from what I can make out, the ship date is either 1916 (28072) or 1917 (38072).

Needs some restoration, but it's worth fixing up. You should definitely see if the M-i-L will send any other mandolins she might have sitting about.

[rb3868]

I messed with the pic a bit, the # is 28072

[Braulin Mando]

I messed with the pic a bit, the # is 28072

After looking closer at the mandolin itself, yeah it looks like 28072, with a space between the 2 and 8. I found the FON, it is 2668 and what looks like an "N" at the end? It also looks like the style says "A1", but I could be wrong.

[Braulin Mando]

I figured I would add some more pictures of my Gibson. I really love to play it, even though I'm still learning how to play.