Did gibson make an m50? help, please

[pickloser]

I have searched here and on the web. I don't know enough to know whether this is a stupid question. Help me, please, if you can. A friend found out I was looking for a mandolin. A friend of a friend has a "Gibson" mandolin, bought in the late 50s. My friend, who has seen it, said it was an A style, that it said "Gibson," that it had a sunburst front and back. Then he added that it was an "M50." Could he have meant an Epiphone MM50? I have seen that there was a Gibson A50 that is no longer made. Anyone have any help for me? He said the man played it a lot when he was younger, but that he hadn't played it in 20 years. He said he wanted something in the range of $750 for it. I figure even if it is an epiphone, one that old could be good. Any advice? I'm supposed to go see it this afternoon, but I'm a greenhorn mando player. Any info would be very much appreciated.
Thank you!

[bradeinhorn]

it is almost assuredly an a50. $750 may be very appropriate price for one. be sure to check if it has a original parts,etc.

there's been a bunch of recent threads on this model. check the archives.

[sumibuilt]

Gibson"]http://images.google.com/imgres?....rl=http ( [url="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gruhn.com/photo/MF7323.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gruhn.com/catalog/mf.htm&h=828&w=700&sz=98&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=_M6Hk3Yf4t7unM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=122&prev=) a50[/URL] Does it look like this? Decent mando's, not very loud from the ones I heard. Also have a shorter scale than the newer A's and F's. 750 is about right.

[pickloser]

Thanks very much. I did an A50 search instead of M50 and got good info. I'm off to have a look and listen. Hope it's a good one. My wallet can't take a much bigger hit.