Gibson?

[Ridinhighlaynlow]

Hi,

Can anyone provide any information on this? There are no labels inside, or serial numbers anywhere that I can find. I'd be glad to post any specific pics of it to help identify. I fostered two dogs for a neighbor that had to go on vacation for a while, when he got back he gave me this. Not in the best condition, binding missing, tuner missing, and worst of all, the neck has been broken and repaired. Repair is not bad. Seems to be straight, though cosmetically the fix could be better. Is it even a real Gibson?

[lenf12]

I'm afraid it's not a Gibson but rather a copy made by a somewhat talented amateur builder. Nothing about this mandolin is consistent with a typical Gibson build.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Timbofood]

Are those machines off a "Batwing"? Don't recognize the curved design.
Some of it might have come from Kalamazoo but sure not through the front door.

[Ridinhighlaynlow]

I was afraid of that. I know next to nothing about mandolins but have played guitar for many years. This one stays in tune and has a nice sound. It does look like it has some age. Any ideas on it's worth, or recommendations concerning repair? I should also point out the other tailpiece in the pics. It was in the case when I acquired it. The case is in very good shape.

[lenf12]

If the repair is solid (as you say) and the neck is straight, I'd leave it as is and not worry about it. It may be worth a few hundred dollars imho as a functioning mandolin but certainly not a multi-thousand dollar Gibson. I don't think it's very old, maybe 30 years or so. Hard to tell. The extra tailpiece looks like a stamped copy of the Gibson design and those tuners are something else. I've never seen that curved design before. Time to learn how to play mandolin?? Have fun!!

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Astro]

1+ what Len said.

But if it plays good and sounds good, thats better than most in the price range. I'd say its a good dog sitting swap.

I think its cool looking and I'd just go to town with it --as is.

[Willie Poole]

On one picture it looks like it has a zero fret at the nut but then on another one it looks like it only has the nut, I don`t understand that...With those tuners like they are the tension from other strings pull against the tuner posts and that don`t seem like it would stay in tune very well...

Willie

[FLATROCK HILL]

On one picture it looks like it has a zero fret at the nut but then on another one it looks like it only has the nut, I don`t understand that... Willie

Good eye Willie. I looked those pics over pretty well and never noticed that discrepancy...weird.

[Ridinhighlaynlow]

132330132331132332

This angle should explain the nut. I hadn't even noticed how the strings were altered by the other pegs. Thanks for the input to all. I may end up posting this in classifieds. Right now I have to break the news to the family that we're not going to Disneyland. :-(

[Ridinhighlaynlow]

Also, when I say it sounds good, keep in mind the only other mando I've played is an el cheapo Ibanez. Compared to that, it's amazing. It does seem like it frets a little tougher than one would like, but it stays in tune for weeks if I keep the room temperature steady where it's stored. When my neighbor sent me the first pic of this "old mandolin that wasn't near as nice as the Ibanez he saw me playing", my heart skipped a beat. The missing section of binding on the bottom of the neck results in minor occasional finger snags. Does anyone have any input on repairing/replacing that?

[Mandoplumb]

Nearly all early builders put Gibson on the peg head. At that time you couldn't give away a mandolin no matter how good it sounded if it didn't say Gibson. Dempsey Young's Hutto said Gibson as did about the first 12 or 15 Huttos. Very early Randy Woods were labeled Gibson if I'm not mistaken. Not saying this one is that quality but who knows.

[lenf12]

Maybe the builder of this mandolin grew up to become Mr. Hutto or Mr. Wood?? ;)

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[pfox14]

Probably an Asian fake, as in China, the capital of cheap fake everything.

[mandroid]

Thinking a truss rod cover could be made that says "Just Kidding", or Not.. conversation piece.

but, as an instrument, if its Playable and sounds Adequate , It's OK to make some Music on .

As a Gift, at least you didn't pay too much ..

[Paul Hostetter]

Nearly all early builders put Gibson on the peg head. At that time you couldn't give away a mandolin no matter how good it sounded if it didn't say Gibson.

Oh please. Nearly all?

[houseworker]

Dempsey Young's Hutto said Gibson as did about the first 12 or 15 Huttos. Very early Randy Woods were labeled Gibson if I'm not mistaken.

This isn't a Hutto or a Wood, it's a cheap nasty fake. Why offer the owner false hope?

[Ed Goist]

132330132331132332
This angle should explain the nut...snip...

Oh, that unfortunate. I was hoping it actually had two nut...The joke potential alone for a mandolin with two nuts would have increased the market value.

[Timbofood]

Ed, there are more than two nuts on this forum at almost any given moment.
I like the joke there though.:grin:

[Bernie Daniel]

My "take" on that is a piece of white leather above the nut to deaden the sympathetic vibrations from the tuner pegs to nut?

[MikeEdgerton]

The tailpiece appears to be a Waverly cloud, used by Gibson on some models. Martin on most models, Kay, Harmony, and Regal on some models. The tuners kind of amaze me. They look professional but I've never seen a set like that. I doubt anyone banged them out in their basement. If it was made in Asia it wasn't made in China. They wouldn't have been in the market when this was made. It looks like someone took a run at making a 60's circa Gibson copy.

Looking at the case and the finish I'm going with some sort of a Japanese manufactured instrument, probably in the 60-70's and the tailpiece might have been changed to what is on it now. It looks too professional to have been hammered out in a hack's workshop and it fits right in with what was happening in the musical instrument industry at that time. I'm sure the Gibson stuff was added here later. From a distance to an untrained eye it looks the same, the same was a Japanese Les Paul looked the same until you actually put one next to an American built model.

[almeriastrings]

I also think it is a 1970's Japanese based instrument, subsequently 'doctored' - this was quite common at the time.

If you look really closely at those tuners, you can see a series if what look like 3 horizontal saw cuts along the outer edges. I suspect this may have been a set of straight 'A' style tuners, with those saw cuts and some filing made to facilitate bending them to fit the 'F' style headstock. I very much doubt they started out as F style tuners. The shafts are all the same length, too, and the angles they emerge from are convergent rather than parallel. Never seen anything like that on a commercial mandolin of that period. Maybe the originals had failed and rather then get an (expensive) replacement set someone just decided to 'work around it'?

[Jim]

The missing section of binding on the bottom of the neck results in minor occasional finger snags. Does anyone have any input on repairing/replacing that? Binding is cheap from Stewart MacDonald, they sell some white and some aged colors and a near match should be easy to achieve. Since it was a low investment to start I'd do it myself, just pull the rest of the binding off that side of the neck and glue on a new piece, sand smooth. As for the body binding I'd just cut a piece to fit the missing part, warm it to bend and glue it in. I have no idea what a luthier in your area would charge but it shouldn't be much. Finding a tuner button or new tuners that fit may be a bit more of a problem. Unless it is an optical illusion it appears the peg holes are in a curved rather than a strait line and that will be hard to find. Hopefully a button could be glued on the existing shaft.

[lenf12]

I'd do however little it takes to make it comfortably playable. It's never going to be a Gibson, let alone pretty but it can be played. My 2 cents...

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Ed Goist]

You folks are awesome!
The combined knowledge of the Mandolin Cafe Collective is incredible!
Carry on...

[Paul Hostetter]

My "take" on that is a piece of white leather above the nut to deaden the sympathetic vibrations from the tuner pegs to nut?

No. Look closer.

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=132332&d=1427567419

[f5loar]

This is 100% NOT a Gibson made mandolin. Unless it's got Gibson strings on it, you can say nothing on it was made or used by Gibson Co. I mean even the logo is not right. Obvious this is a fake. Oh, did I tell you this is not a Gibson mandolin? Should be worth a couple hundred bucks if it plays decent.

[Paul Hostetter]

There ya have it. And you can take it to the bank.

(Another fake Gibson, not even a logo!)

http://www.lutherie.net/mandolin.bank.jpg