Who Invented the Gibson "Cremona Brown" Sunburst Finish?

[Joe Spann]

Like so many of Gibson's now world-famous innovations, the "Cremona Brown" sunburst finish used on the Master-Model instruments from 1922 forwards was the invention of an obscure employee.

Turns out that Master Lloyd Loar had nothing to do with it.

Here's a short article from the January 1921 issue of Gibson's "Sounding Board Salesman" magazine, which identifies the man.

"GIBSON CREMONA BROWN
Not so very long ago Fred Miller, Foreman of the Gibson Finishing Department, brought into the sales manager's office, a Gibson mandolin that looked not a cent less than a million dollars. Fred had been taking liberties with the catalog finish specifications and while the F-4 was an F-4 in every other respect, the finish was about "F-100%", according to our estimation. Practically every girl in the office said she adored it and even the janitor raved over it. In fact, everybody was so enthusiastic about Fred's work that we forthwith commissioned him to put through a special lot of Gibsons in this new finish, which he calls Cremona Brown. Very soon we expect to have available a few F-4 mandolins, H-4 mandolas and K-4 mando-cellos in this new Cremona Brown finish, which for the time being we will bill at $5.00 additional to the regular wholesale price. If you don't think the finish is about as beautiful an effect as you have ever seen on a mandolin or violin, just ship back the instrument and we will send it to somebody who likes it."

According to my serial number list, the earliest Gibson instrument yet seen with a true "Cremona Brown" sunburst finish is H-4 #65241. According to my revised serial number chronology this instrument would have shipped in August 1921.

Frederick Martin Miller, the creator of the "Cremona Brown" sunburst was born in Mecklenburg, Germany on 25 February 1885, emigrated to the United States in 1891 and was working at Gibson by 1909. By 1920 he was the Foreman of the Finishing Department and evidently left Gibson at or about the same time as Master Lloyd Loar, Sales Manager Lewis A. Williams and General Manager Harry Ferris, late in 1924.

By 1926 Fred was working around Kalamazoo as a housepainter, and in 1930 had started his own auto-body repair shop with his eldest son. The Great Depression killed his business and he was forced to seek employment as a painter at the Checker Cab Company factory. He died in Kalamazoo on 11 February 1944 at the very young age of 58 and is buried there. Ironically, a lifetime of breathing in varnish and lacquer fumes is what likely led to his early death.

Joe Spann

[Joe Spann]

Whoops, I almost forgot.....here is a photo of Fred Miller, the man who invented the Gibson "Cremona Brown" sunburst.

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[danb]

Nice find Joe!

I have 11 tagged with that finish in the archive..

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?cremona_noloar

[sunburst]

...Not so very long ago Fred Miller, Foreman of the Gibson Finishing Department, brought into the sales manager's office, a Gibson mandolin that looked not a cent less than a million dollars....

I can't help but notice that nowhere does it say that Fred Miller actually "invented" the color. He was the foremen of the finish department, so of coarse he would be the one to bring the instrument into the sales manager's office, but how much actual finishing did he do? Perhaps some still-unknown employee, working under Miller, came up with the color, Fred said "hey, I like that!" and carried it into the sales manager's office.
This, of coarse, is pure speculation on my part, but from my experience with this world, it is often the way things go in factory situations (and then history gives the credit to a higher-up like Lloyd Loar).

[Joe Spann]

Hello John,

I suppose that's possible, but then I offer the next sentence from the 1921 Sounding Board Salesman article in rebuttal.

"Fred had been taking liberties with the catalog finish specifications...."

Joe Spann

[pfox14]

Incredible piece of Gibson history Joe. Great work. You never know what you can find in those old issues of Sounding Board Salesman. I just wish more of them were available. Found very few of them myself.

[sunburst]

Hello John,

I suppose that's possible, but then I offer the next sentence from the 1921 Sounding Board Salesman article in rebuttal.

"Fred had been taking liberties with the catalog finish specifications...."

Joe Spann

Yeah, I sort of read that as "Fred's guys were taking liberties...". Guess we'll never really know.

[Gary Hedrick]

I would doubt that a line worker would be taking liberties with anything as obvious as the color of a finish....the foreman....well much more likely.....big business has its rules and a staff level craftsman tinkering around isn't that likely....(from my experiences)

[sunburst]

If Fred was the foreman and he had people he trusted and allowed them to "take liberties" he'd still get the credit (or blame).
As I said, we'll probably never know for sure.

(Bill Monroe took the credit for music his band members wrote. It was the normal thing. )

[tim noble]

Joe
Very interesting information. The August '21 date seems to be a few months earlier than the listed instruments and its not listed with the 11 tagged ones nor in the Archive. Do the shipping ledgers actually note Cremona or where did you get the specific information on the instrument given its not in the Archives? I have #71080 FON 11548 that is in the Archive but not in the tagged page with the Cremona ones. Does that make 13 know (actually 12 because 1 Loar F5 is also grouped there)? I also presume the new finish was applied in batches correlating to the FON. So far I have only seen 3 FONS of non signed instruments with Cremona finishes - 11548, 11558 & 14548. Is there an explanation as to why so few non Loar instruments received this finish before it became exclusive to the signed style 5s? Thanks.
Tim

[Sergio Lara]

Here is my 1980 Gibson F-5L next to my "Cremona Brown" 1922 Gibson F-4 FON 11659

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[Timbofood]

Now this may just get very close to home. Doing a little research but, that may be my wife's great uncle! I have a trapdoor MB3 which he had built for his wife signed 1919. Sad part is it went to the factory for "restoration" and the original FB was scrounged, I won't say stolen but, if the shoe fits. And it got the normal refinishing. Saddest part for me is it was about two years before she and I got reacquainted and was working at a shop where the restoration would have been done right! Time marches on.
I will be watching and hopefully adding some family information if it turns out to be right. There was a " Frederick Joseph" and a "Joseph Frederick" who both were employed around that time, they were brothers and had emigrated from Germany. We shall see what my wife can research! I love this site!

[d18daddy]

My German side comes from Mecklenburg also. It would be fun to find some family match.

[Timbofood]

No kidding! I do know there is some family history with the company so, we shall see how this all ends up! I told my wife about it and she is kind of excited about it. This could be fun!

[allenhopkins]

OK, what if Fred M had showed up with his new "Malibu Pink" finish, and the girls in the office, plus the janitor, had all loved it? What would we be playing now??

[John Flynn]

I hope this is not too obvious to mention, but the term "Cremona" is likely an omage to the city of that name in Northern Italy where the Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari violins were made.

[Timbofood]

Hahaha, Barbie pink F-5's of course!
As it starts to unfold with my wife, that may be her great great grandfather not uncle as I had erroneously thought. She has year end tasks at the office but, is finding this kind of interesting. Here are some pictures...
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[Timbofood]

Another111701111702111703111702

[Timbofood]

111704111705
And the repair tag!111706

[FLATROCK HILL]

I told my wife about it and she is kind of excited about it. This could be fun!

Consider yourself a lucky man!

[pfox14]

I thought it was pretty much common knowledge that name Cremona was named after that town in Italy.

[testore]

He clearly never saw a Cremonese instrument. Even Stadivari mandolins had beautiful orange varnish.

[brunello97]

Rather than trying to copy the masters, my guess is that he based the color on the beautiful masonry work at the Cremona baptistery.

Mick

[tim noble]

I spent a few days in Cremona last year. Exchanging reds for tobacco/browns is more like the bow color than the violin. Likely a reflection of the new understanding of O.Gibson's original concept of graduating tops like violins in the Cremona. As the finish corresponds to the epoch of mandolin construction it seems fitting to design/stumble upon a new golden brown finish for unique short-lived instruments. The individual or team that invented it deserve credit but why its limited to a group of spectacular instruments made in a few year period is a real interesting question??

[Jim Garber]

So... did they ever make A-4 mandolins in the Cremona brown finish?

[Joe Spann]

Hello Tim,

Your questions, my responses.

- Do the shipping ledgers actually note Cremona?

The pre-war Gibson shipping ledgers sometimes record the type of finish on an instrument, but not very often. I have not seen the word "Cremona" used in the extant shipping ledgers (1935-1941)

- Where did you get the specific information on the (H-4 with Cremona Brown sunburst) instrument, given its not in the Mandolin Archives?

The Mandolin Archives website is a wonderful resource and it's owner Dan Beimborn is a friend of mine. At the present time Dan's database contains about 4,000 pre-war Gibson instruments. I have been collecting Gibson serial numbers since the early 1970's and I have about 21,000 pre-war Gibson instruments in my private records. The earliest example of a Gibson H-4 with a Cremona Brown sunburst finish came from my own list.

- I also presume the new finish was applied in batches correlating to the FON.

I would think that is exactly correct.

- Is there an explanation as to why so few non Loar instruments received this finish before it became exclusive to the signed style 5s?

Probably because Gibson was not sure how the public would accept it.

Joe Spann

[tim noble]

Joe
Thank you for the detailed response. The Cremona Brown finish on non Loar's is described on Dan's Archive as likely a prototype run of instruments prior to being introduced on the signed instruments. I believe that all the documented examples pre date the F-Models? There were other instruments that had the finish such as an L4 and the mandola you noted. Do your records document the finish on many others and was it limited to just a few batches of pre Loar signed F styles? Just curious as to how common /rare it actually is. Thanks and Happy New Year.
Tim
edit - actually 7 F4s + mine =8 all built in late 1921/early 22 with all but #71080 serialed before the first signed Loar. Mine has that latest serial # but the FON is from an early batch and as Joe has informed me show how some instruments remained in the factory for months before getting a #. The others on the page are mostly post Loar.

[pfox14]

I have never seen Cremona in the description of an instrument in the Gibson shipping ledgers, but Joe has gone through these with a fine-toothed comb, so I bow to his knowledge. Most of the entries only list the model, serial #, case # and who it was shipped to. In some cases, FONs are listed for instruments that were repaired, but FONs were not usually listed for instruments that didn't have serial #s (like all the flat-top guitars).

[Gary Hedrick]

Question......the finish of the T1 tenor guitars of the late 20's have a top finish that sure is close to being a Cremona brown to my myopic eyes......

Yes?

[pfox14]

Do you mean the Gibson TG-1 tenor guitar?

[Gary Hedrick]

Yes....sorry the one with the Style 3 Mastertone inlays in the peghead.......the 1929 I own is really a match for the Cremona brown

[pfox14]

I have seen quite a few guitars from the 20s that have the Cremona type sunburst finish including some TG-1s, L-3, L-4 L-5, etc

[Bill Halsey]

Here's another example in the CB finish, TB-4 #11000A-22, which places it in the first run of these instruments in 1924. Interesting in that it also features other period F-5 appointments, including silver-plated hardware, engraved arrow-end tuners with MOP buttons, MOP nut, raised fingerboard extension, and hand-engraved logo tailpiece. Seems to be a transitional tone ring setup, supported by ball bearings but without the springs. Great for Irish tunes, with its 19" scale.

[brunello97]

Yikes, Bill, that is just brilliant. Beautifully elegant design.

Mick

[Ken Waltham]

That's what I think, Mick. I have about as much use for a tenor banjo as a case of the shingles... but, I want that banjo!!
It's so cool, so Loar-like, and just plain beautiful. I think I could get used to playing some old time tunes on something like that!

[Jim Garber]

I, too, always liked the look of those moccassin-heads.

[Timbofood]

Well, after all this time, my wife has come to the conclusion that this is not her great great grandfather, timelines do not seem to add up. It was an interesting thought. Both the twice great grandfather and his brother worked there in the late teens- early twenties.

[Jim Garber]

Nice find Joe!

I have 11 tagged with that finish in the archive..

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/perl/list_mandolins.pl?cremona_noloar

Interesting... I have a 1928 L5 guitar but when i got it the top had been stripped but the back and sides are original finish. However, wouldn't all L5s have this finish?

[pfox14]

Interesting... I have a 1928 L5 guitar but when i got it the top had been stripped but the back and sides are original finish. However, wouldn't all L5s have this finish?

All L-5s had the Cremona sunburst finish in the 20s and early 30s. It wasn't until 1939 that Gibson introduced the blonde L-5. In fact, Gibson still referred to the sunburst finish as "Cremona brown" even in the late 30s.