Teens Gibson A

[mtnskyriver]

Maybe someone with gibson oval experiance can help me.I bought one recently that is in excellent shape . It doesnt appear to have been played much in its life.It doesnt have that woody tone I expected, as my other decrepted refinished one has.It has more of a focused contained tone.Does anyone know if unplayed gibsons open up that much?Do they sound that different from eachother?I'm new to the gibson ovals so I'm not sure on the tone differences between them. Any other Gibson A I've heard sounded warm and woody...... Thanks...

[JGWoods]

Check out the thread on old Gibson A models below- apparently the tops have wide variation in carving- which means there's some good ones out there, and some duds.
And some that will wake up.

[tiltman]

Sometimes these old mandolins haven't been played in a long time and it will take a little while for them to "wake up". A couple of years ago I purchased a '25 Gibson Snakehead sight unseen - when I pulled it out of the box it sounded bad. (man was I sweating this!) After I put new strings on it and played it for a few days it started to sound really good. Same thing happened to me recently with an old F-4.
Kirk

[8ch(pl)]

I just got a Violin out of repair it was given to me by my brother in law in Ontario. It has been in the attic of various houses since his father,(the instrument's owner) died in late 1958.

I had a very accomplished young lady play it the other night. It sounds wonderful. My daughter has started to play it and is progressing quite well. She has always wanted to play violin.

The instrument is made in Czechoslovakia and is ,I would guess about 80 or so years old. Even if I don't play it, I feel that I have rescued it.

[Bill Van Liere]

Years back I purchased a 1917 A-1. After I put fresh srings on it, the treble tone reminded me of a bird call with a sort of quacking quality. After a few months of playing the tone became smoother with a woody quality these instruments are known for.