Gibson h2 # 24270, 1915

[BlueMountain]

Here are some shots of a mandola I've been putting back into playing condition. Truth in advertising: I'll be putting this up for sale, as I'm overextended, but I wanted to show it off, as I'm pleased to have rescued it. My goal was to get it into playing condition without making more changes than necessary and while keeping it as reversible as I could get away with--at least what would show. I bought it on eBay a year ago as a mandolin, and I was delighted to discover that it was in fact a mandola. When I got it, the back was off, the sides were quite badly warped, the fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and tuners were missing, the neck had been gnawed by a mouse, and the headstock looked like maybe someone had tried to strip it, but left the brownish muck on it. I could barely see the inlays. Part of the pearwood veneer was missing.

I found I could carefully scrape the muck off the inlay, and underneath it was still in great condition. I sanded the pearwood lightly. Then, using a q-tip, I dyed the pearwood with Liebings Leather Dye, front and back, and also the small part of maple where the pearwood was missing. When it had dried (a few minutes), I buffed it a bit with a cloth. Then, where the pearwood was lifting, I tacked it down with CA and clamps. Then I used micromesh and sanded it down to about 3500 grit. I liked the result a lot. It's not glossy, but it looks good. There's no finish on it but the dye.

[BlueMountain]

The back was split up the middle, but not all the way. in order to save the label, I glued on a small spruce cleat, perpendicular grain, where the glue was still holding. Then I used Weldwood to reglue the center seam, clamped it, and glued on more cleats. Better now than after it's back together.

The finish on the body is completely original. I've washed it lightly with distilled water, inside and out. That's all. No wax. No new finish. No buffing. There are a lot of prettier finishes from this period around, but there's something so funky and authentic about this that I didn't want to touch it more than I needed to.

[BlueMountain]

If you look carefully, you can see that at one time about half of this side cracked open. It had been beautifully glued and cleated, so I didn't mess with it.

While the top was intact and glued to the sides, all the binding was missing on this mandola. There was one crack through the top carefully repaired years ago, a crack through the top, and a couple incipient cracks. I glued and cleated all of them. Some wouldn't bother with the cleats, but this is old wood, not as clean as it should be, and I didn't want to risk a separation years from now. Thus the cleats. The sound bar was still well attached.

I don't know when the top was removed, but probably many years ago. There was still kerfing strips around the back of the sides, but the sides were pretty warped. I read Frank Ford's suggestions at www.frets.com and worked from them. I made a mandola shaped plywood form based on the shape of the front and cut it in half. I wet the insides of the sides with water several times, then lightly heated them with a blow drier, then more water. I gradually clamped down the plywood form over several days, wetting the sides now and then. I used a few little wedges here and there where the form wasn't enough. Finally the back fit on almost perfectly. Close. I bought new kerfing and glued it on with hide glue. When I removed the form (this was a month or more after I started), the back stayed in place, or very close.

The hardest part was attaching the back with hide glue. A luthier suggested gluing a quarter at a time, but I didn't think I had enough flexibility. So I heated the back and sides with a blow dryer, slapped on the glue really fast, slapped on the back, and clamped it quickly, with my youngest son handing me clamps. Amazingly enough, it was about 95% right on the mark. Big sigh of relief.

[BlueMountain]

The binding was a pain, too. Ivoroid, .060". The mandola didn't look right without binding, but I didn't want the binding to be too permanent. So I followed Frank Ford's suggestions (I think) and glued it with Elmer's white glue, so it could be easily removed. But the first time I tried, I didn't have it taped tightly enough, and part had to be removed, scraped, and done again. Then the special light-tack masking tape pulled off some of the finish. Those white patches had finish on them before they were taped. It's a rather delicate finish.

[David Newton]

That's a cool mandola, Blue. Thanks for bringing it back from the brink...

[BlueMountain]

As I've mentioned, the fretboard was missing. I bought one from Roger Siminoff that fit just right. I used his device for cutting the slot for the binding. That worked well. I filed the frets flaton the ends, bent the ivoroid using a blowdrier, glued on the ivoroid, filed it down where it stuck up above the fretboard, then used that nifty Stew-Mac tool that files frets at an angle on the edge. More filing, then an hour with the micro-mesh, and I had a very nice fretboard.

While I had a neck with no fretboard, I got radical with a router and installed two 1/8 x 3/8" carbon fiber truss rods, seating them in black long-set epoxy. (The neck was already straigtht.) Roger Siminoff has suggested that I put in a couple registration pins through the fretboard into the neck. Great idea. Before putting in the frets, I clamped the fretboard in the right position, then drilled 1/16" holes in two placed through the fret slots. then I cut off the ends of two brads, hammered them into the little drilled holes in the neck, and had two pins sticking up about 1/8". The fret board fit onto them very accurately. Thanks, Roger! So I glued on the fretboard with hide glue. There were a couple little gaps where the mouse had gnawed the fingerboard. I sanded a block of mahogany, mixed the dust with white glue, and used a toothpick to fill the gaps. It took a couple layers, but it worked out well.

Note the Red Henry style bridge. I made one out of hard maple first, but it was just too loud and too much sustain. So I made one out of a scrap of ebony. Big improvement. Much more traditional sound.

Oh, wait. This is the side that split and was repaired. I can see the line. I was thinking backwards.

[BlueMountain]

Unable to find an original tailpiece, I bought a reproduction, from, I think, Greg Boyd. It's way too shiny. I think I'm going to distress it a little with circuit board etching acid.

The bridge looks like it's misplaced, but actually this is where the intonation is right on.

[BlueMountain]

A fretboard shot. I made nice bone nut, everything just right, bridge just right. Then, two days later, the top had sunk a little, and everything buzzed. Alas! Then I found a post on here saying to expect that to happen.

[BlueMountain]

As a recent post points out, the solid mahogany blocking reacts differently over the years than sides. In order to match the top to the sides, I had to leave too much room over the neck block. There were also a couple places at the sides where the match wasn't perfect. Note how I've filled the gap with an extra piece of binding. Not perfect, but not too bad. Generally the binding fit is good, but over a few inches it isn't. But even Frank Ford says sometimes you just have to live with it. That made me feel better. I've left the ivoroid unfinished.

[BlueMountain]

I couldn't find the Handel tuners that are appropriate for this mandola, but I was able to buy some tuners and bushings from the same period from Howie Banfield. They look good. And the back of the headstock treated only with Liebings Leather Dye and micromesh

[BlueMountain]

The best thing is the sound. This mandola is loud, and it has the characteristic sound a 1915 Gibson mandola is supposed to have. It's open, resonant, deep, a little hoarse, well-balanced. With the ebony bridge, the sustain is still there, but not too much so. The tension on the strings is high enough that they don't feel wobbly. A couple nights ago I watched Tony Williamson's "The Sound of the American Mandolin" video, using a good sound system. I was interested to note him playing the A mandolin and mandola from the teens. Frankly, this one sounds better.

You can see a little place on this photo where the binding isn' a good fit. But you can also see that lovely patina on the back. I happen to like it.

I'm really tickled that this little pile of wood is now a mandola again, ready to please more people. As far as looks, it's more "authentic" than pretty. As far as originality, half and half. As far as sound, excellent.

[bush-man]

Wow! That's fantastic! Kudos on a great project. I'm with you regarding the funky look of the old wood. Looks beautiful.

russell

[K3NTUCKI8oy]

Yes sir! she's ready i'd love to play her:)

[BlueMountain]

Here's an almost "before" photo of the mandola for comparison. At this point I'd washed it gently, but that was all. The big rubber bands are holding together the partially opened center seam of the back. I love the patina, and I'm glad I ended up NOT French polishing it. Compare the headstock here to the first shot on this thread. I'm very pleased.

[billhay4]

A lot of work, nicely done.
Bill