A-3?

[bradeinhorn]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Mandolin-Style-A-3-1916-Serial-number-29283_W0QQitemZ7420823477QQihZ016QQcategoryZ1
0179QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

i thought them things were supposed to be WHITE.

[danb]

not the early ones http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Darryl Wolfe]

I started to add this to the "is it real" thread. Who can tell me what is significantly wrong about this and qualifies as the "dead givaway"

[Jim Garber]

Pickguard and bridge look completely wrong and it looks like it was oversprayed or possibly early refinish. The label looks strange but I am mostly familiar with the later labels.

Jim

[Darryl Wolfe]

Good work jgarber. #The label is a much later label than what should be in it. #I believe it to be (at least partially)refinished by Gibson during the times of the earliest A-5's like Jethro had. #The red color, which like many Les Pauls was subject to ultraviolet light making the red either change to orange or simply evaporate. #The pickguard is appropriate for that time period too.

[Darryl Wolfe]

The rosewood fingerboard, binding and frets are appropriate for that period also

[keithd]

This one is a strange beast, but I have seen one or two nice, teens, A-3's with pumkin-orange faces, and at least one seemed to have a good label, with the "A-3" stamped rather than hand-written.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I have seen one or two nice, teens, A-3's with pumkin-orange faces
I agree, the top may not have been fully refinished. An in-hand inspection is needed. I believe we can say it has certainly been back to the factory at some period