View Full Version : Current price for snakeheads ?
Wesley
Oct-14-2005, 10:01am
I'm headed to a guitar show tomorrow { Arlington Texas }. Usually they are a vast wasteland when it comes to interesting mandolins. If I should run into an old snakehead there - what kind of prices should I expect to see ?
I know that the condition will have a lot to do with it - but how low is too low ? And how high is too high ?
Jim M.
Oct-14-2005, 10:09am
Depends on what kind of snakehead. I see A jr. snakeheads on the market now for $1200 +/- depending on condition. There are A2z snakeheads, though, that I see from $3600 to $4000 or so.
a brown A, A1, or A2 will be $2200-3000.. a2-z 3500-4200 as Jim says, an A4 snake 4500-5000.. quite a bit more with virzi.
kudzugypsy
Oct-14-2005, 10:51am
i think i about choked a month or so ago when an A4 snakehead went for like $8k on ebay. i cant remember the exact figure, but it was twice what they were previously bringing. it was nice.
these are still good buys in the $2K range, and the A2-z is probably the next one to shoot up in price. i've seen them on dealer sights for $4500, but you can hunt around and luck up on one for $3-4K.
"all good times are past and gone, all good times are 'ore"
Jim M.
Oct-14-2005, 10:55am
i think i about choked a month or so ago when an A4 snakehead went for like $8k on ebay.
IIRC, that A4 had a Virzi, didn't it? I'm not sure I'd want a virzi but it seems to make them more expensive. There are a couple of A2z's still at dealers for around $3500. I'll probably kick myself when they disappear.
Darryl Wolfe
Oct-14-2005, 1:46pm
The one at Gruhns is a very nice buy
Wesley
Oct-14-2005, 3:26pm
Thanks for the imput guys - I appreciate it.
Mandobar
Oct-14-2005, 5:42pm
i am looking for an a2z. there were quite a few around a few months back, but i've only seen one lately.
OregonMike
Oct-14-2005, 6:26pm
I'm a snakehead fan who is always watching the market. A's and A1's seems to be low 2K to 3K for excellent. I'd say 3K is the average advertised price. A2Z's seem to be 4K+. I just had to pass on an excellent blacktop A2Z for almost 5K as it is the spitting image of my A1 snake with just an extra sound ring.
Missing pickguards seem to lower the price much more than the cost of a replacement guard at the expense of originality. I can't say enough about my '24 snakehead. It just had a professional re-fret, setup and new nut and bridge adjustment and it is an unbelievable instrument. Completely different than my 1916 Gibson A.
Happy Hunting,
OregonMike
I just had to pass on an excellent blacktop A2Z for almost 5K (...)
I have yet to see proof that there is such a thing, I'd be very interested to see photos (or a real instrument) that has a black top and "a2-z" on the label!
We have noted at the archive that the standard spec varies (the top purfling rings from the A3 style, which is to say solid white ring instead of 2 little edge rings of purfling) from snakehead to snakehear, but a true Z has "a2-z" on the label, and has:
-a black stripe in the binding
-a blonde finish
-often a figured back (birch or maple)
-"the Gibson" on the peghead
-the A3 soundhole ring (some labelled A2-z do not!)
-"A2-Z" on the label
This was a topic a friend & I in London have been chasing after for quite some time now.. A friend has checked Andy Statman's mandolin, which does *not* have "Z" on the label for example.
It still could go either way, obviously.. but at the moment I believe that folks were calling oddball or variant snakeheads "A2-Z" as there is nice little jump in value associated with that rarer model.
Yet another thing on my to-do list is to better re-write my ancient Gibosn guide that appears on this site and other places so it's less innaccurate!
MANDOLINMYSTER
Oct-15-2005, 8:49am
Charles Johnson had a black top A2(Z) for sale a few months back. I am not sure if the label had a Z, but perhaps he might chime in. If I recall it did have the w/b binding on top and the large white sound hole ring.
Yes, I'd love to see one that said that on the label. We've noticed they were quite loose on the specs ("The Gibson" inlaid on one labelled just "A", etc etc)
Nick Triesch
Oct-15-2005, 11:45am
I have a snakehead question. I have a '23' plain A type with a pickguard with the label inside but it has no "the gibson" on the headstock. A local repair shop said he thinks the headstock was messed with because of the no name. I told him that some of the plain a types did not have the name on top but I know he thinks I'm wrong. What do you folks think? Thanks, Nick
MANDOLINMYSTER
Oct-15-2005, 2:28pm
The plain A model did not have the inlaid logo.. That was used mostly on the A2,A3,A4 models. But there are some exceptions. Most likely yours never had the logo and its probally original. One tell-tail sign for neck replacement is the presence of a truss rod on pre 1921/22 model.
OregonMike
Oct-15-2005, 4:34pm
true danb -
i've never seen one labeled "A2Z" but other than that i have found every A2Z spec that you list on your site (a valuable list - thankyou).
i have been involved in some of the same debates with your friend in london as we all seek the elusive blacktop unicorn of an A2Z. i have good pictures of the black "A2Z" i turned down and they would be helpful for the archive. it has a black stripe in the binding (barely visible!), correct soundhole, bound fingerboard, etc. but no A2Z label.
i think we can all agree the specs were loose. my blacktop '24 snakehead labeled "A1" is bound front and back (an A2 characteristic) but has a silkscreened Gibson logo.
whatever these are labeled they sure sound sweet,
OregonMike
Ken Waltham
Oct-15-2005, 4:35pm
To my knowledge, no "plain A" model has ever had "The Gibson" on the headstock.
So, yours conforms to factory specs, and is just what it should be.
Ken
Scott Tichenor
Oct-15-2005, 5:48pm
Thought I'd offer up a pic of my 1924 w/Virzi. Exceptionally clean, all original. Has what I call that Norman Blake sound. May bring it to LoarFest next year if anyone would like to play it. This is in finer condition than that one that sold recently on eBay, but I didn't remember it bringing $8K!
jasona
Oct-15-2005, 5:52pm
Scott has ALL the mandolins! That is an amazing snakehead! Now I really regret moving from SoCal 3 months before LoarFest! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif
Nick Triesch
Oct-15-2005, 8:59pm
Thank's everyone. I love my old A. Nick
I wonder how Scott found that one? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
http://www.mandolinarchive.com/images/81564_virzi.jpg
Scott Tichenor
Oct-16-2005, 7:44am
I wonder how Scott found that one? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
You snoozed. That's how.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
kyblue
Oct-16-2005, 10:51am
if anyone would like to play it
Did he really say that in here?
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Charles Johnson
Oct-24-2005, 10:32pm
I now have 4 variants of snakehead A2 mandolins:
Brown top, 2 rings, bound front and back, bound board, pearl logo
Black top, wide white ring, bound front and back, bound board, pearl logo
Blond top, wide white ring, bound front and back, bound board, pearl logo
Blond top, 2 rings, bound front and back, bound board, pearl logo
I'll try to get a group shot of all and will post it.
Charles Johnson
Charles Johnson
Dagger Gordon
Oct-25-2005, 4:19am
I've got a 1912 A model, which I quite like but I've never been able to decide what strings to put on it.
It seems to like lighter strings, and I've tended to use DAddario J62s, which are light bronze. I'm not aware of any light guage Phosphor Bronze.
What's the general concensus? Do most people just use the same strings for everything, or what?
Dagger, I put j74s on my snakehead, and the medium gauge ones on my f4 & 3pter. Medium sounds better on those pre-20s ones IMO
Bob DeVellis
Oct-25-2005, 9:18am
On teens oval-hole Gibsons, I tend to use Martin lights, perhaps more for the finger feel than the tone. I think I slightly prefer the tone of other strings but pull-offs etc. are more successful with the lighter strings and the tone sacrifice isn't that great to my ear. The tone is different but not necessarily worse. When I had a snakehead (which I regret giving up), I was more inclined to use J74s. I think of the mid-20s snakeheads as edging ever so slightly toward an f-hole sound, as compared to the teens oval holes. This may just be the nature of the particular instruments I've been most exposed to, however.
Yes Bob, I think you have it nailed. I've got a friend in town with a '26 f5 (Lucky me!), and my snakehead sounds more like that one than an F4 from the teens. More punchy maybe? The main difference is that the F5s have quite a bit more bass, and a bit more of a "thoonk" to them. A 20s snakehead give you much more of a Loar sound than most modern mandos IMO