Derrington Gibson F5 mandolins

[DataNick]

A friend of mine has a 1987 Gibson F5 Fern that was constructed completely by Charlie Derrington. Charlie himself told my friend that he made 2 such mandolins in 1987, even though at that time, the F-5L had been contracted out to Flatiron. It appears that at this stage of Gibson's production history, that Charlie D. and Jim Triggs among others, constructed F5s in Nashville in a very limited number.
We are interested in nailing down the specs and gathering any additional history that might be gleaned from those who would know.

Regarding this specific mando, we're guessing the top is Sitka spruce (needs clarification), maple back/sides, pearl nut, parallel braced tone bars, Gibson v-neck profile, flat ebony fretboard, standard Gibson ebony bridge, Gibson banjo fret-wire, fern inlay with the usual binding scheme for an F5-L, and lacquer finish.

My friend purchased the mando from the late builder Bob Schneider, who had used it as a template for his own F5s, and some of the specs were confirmed by Charlie D. himself. Any other details/history that anyone knows would be much appreciated, like if the carving graduations that Charlie did were consistent to what began to be produced in 1998. It is interesting to note that my friend says it didn't sound like much upon acquisition, but now it is a canon! (Opening up phenomena)

Pics below and enjoy!

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[f5loar]

From what I remember from that time Jim Triggs likely had more to the actual building of it than Charlie. I would contact him with this information through a private message here on the café. He sometimes responds to things but PM better for this.

[Ivan Kelsall]

DN - That's a Gibson that almost anybody would be proud to own .It looks superb & if it sounds as good as your friend says,it's a real find. Those 'f' holes look to be quite a bit larger than on most mandolins - are they or is it my c***py eyesight ?,:cool:
Ivan;)

[G. Fisher]

I'm guessing it's based on the the re-issue headed buy Roger Siminoff. It looks similiar to this 1981 F5-L that is at Elderly http://elderly.com/vintage/names/gibson-f-5l-%281981%29--90U-6415.htm

[DataNick]

DN - That's a Gibson that almost anybody would be proud to own .It looks superb & if it sounds as good as your friend says,it's a real find. Those 'f' holes look to be quite a bit larger than on most mandolins - are they or is it my c***py eyesight ?,:cool:
Ivan;)

Ivan,

Not sure about the F holes as it's been several months since I was with my friend; but that mando is a hoss, and my friend has had it since the mid 90s I believe; I'll confirm that.

[DataNick]

I'm guessing it's based on the the re-issue headed buy Roger Siminoff. It looks similiar to this 1981 F5-L that is at Elderly http://elderly.com/vintage/names/gibson-f-5l-%281981%29--90U-6415.htm

As far as I can tell, Charlie and Jim Triggs took their hands at getting out a "few" F5L type Ferns on their own. Trying to get more info on that and will probably contact Jim Triggs as f5loar suggested.

[GTison]

I was going to start a thread asking similar info. Since you have a date on this mandolin I'll go with that. My Question:

What happened to mandolins that Charlie Derrington made or help make?

I have posted some of this before: I was at one of the Jemison, AL bluegrass festivals in the late 80s or early 90s. (could have been 87) I met and talked with Charlie Derrington of Bellview Guitars. ( Years later I discovered his business card and still have it.) Charlie was selling Gibson F5Ls and had several at the festival. He and I played them compared them and we had a great and memorable conversation. He taught me to play "Tombstone Junction" and another tune. I wanted one of those mandolins so bad, I just couldn't pull the trigger. POINT IS, as he sat there waiting for customers at the festival he was scraping a mandolin, in the white! So, where is this mandolin and others like it? Surely it was not his first build? Now, I do NOT remember that the mandolin was an official Gibson brand. But I do remember it. And I do not remember if His booth area was Branded as Gibson or Bellview guitars but Bellview Guitars was on his card.

Other things I remember were humming notes into the instrument to see what the resonant frequency was. He said Monroe's resonant freqency was different than most. He said there was a Monroe model coming out soon and that he had something to do with it. But it was 4 or 5 years before that actually happened.

[DataNick]

GTison,

Interesting info there about Charlie D. Yes, it does appear that he took his turn at building F-5Ls for Gibson, albeit just a few. Hopefully this thread will spark interest on the part of the owners to chime in and share more of the unique history concerning their mandolins.

My friend emailed me the labels; designation is F5L, signed April 2, 1987 by the man himself, and as previously stated, he affirmed personally to my friend that he did in fact build this one of two that year (1987).


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[DataNick]

Thread Bump:

This just in!

According to Charlie D himself as stated in the interview that Scott T. has just posted, Charlie D. DID build Gibson F-5L mandolins!


https://vimeo.com/217228811