Gibson never supposed to leave the factory

[Bernie Daniel]

This is a well-recognized eBay seller.

Interesting story. There are some things that don't look exactly right on it .........

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Mandolin_W0QQitemZ130269615430QQcmdZViewItemQQptZL H_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item130269615430&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A3%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[Miked]

Is he referring to the Gibson factory in China?;)

I've taken some chances on ebay, but I think I'll pass on that one.

[MikeEdgerton]

Without a serial number how did the Gibson factory know what it was?

[Tom C]

Looks like an F5-G to me. What does not look right?

[John M. Riley]

ok, i know the guy that has this mandolin. he owns a gun shop in my area. i looked at the mandolin and i do believe it to be a gibson. i agree that there was a feew things that puzzled me, and a few things that were "different"... but i am pretty sure it is some sort of an f5g. but of course im no expert.

[John M. Riley]

and i dont now if the mandolin itself is 15 years old... but the tuners, and tail piece looked pretty recent. and the finish looked excellent. maybe it was an older one that someone at gibson repaired,, restored, or maybe even made from spare parts and presented it to a friend. ???

[MikeEdgerton]

The world is full of instruments that have a Gibson label that never saw a Gibson factory, we have an entire thread with images of them. That doesn't mean they aren't decent instruments but stories like this are pretty common on eBay so they raise questions. I still ask the question how did Gibson know what this was without a serial number? Somebody actually remembered a single mandolin made 15 years ago?

[John M. Riley]

well, what i was told is that the mandolin had been siting around the shop for 15 years.... it was only given away in 2007. or at least thats what the man who had it and what the label said. i played it. It looked, played and sounded like an f5g. I have owned 5 or 6 of them and a couple of ferns. Its just hard to say for sure.

[woodwizard]

I like that burst on the back. They usually are stained dark on the regular F5G's.

[John Malayter]

You smell somethin? :))

[Stephen Lind]

Gibson does not like one offs/prototypes leaving their factory
the usually destroy them:disbelief:
that's right
destroy them

chop them up
in little pieces:crying:

this is probably a fugitive from that pogrom
oops
did i misspell program?:whistling:

more power to the little guy for escaping and getting to live a life of music:mandosmiley:

[John M. Riley]

haha, so true

im behind times... i just then realized people were posting under their real names

[gregjones]

I guess if anyone has any serious questions they can call: 276-708-6021.

That's the number the fella put in the item description.

[Big Joe]

There were no mandolins hanging around the factory for fifteen years. Gibson did not even have the OAI division fifteen years ago. All mandolins at that time were made in Bozeman Montana and not in Nashville. It appears to be a far more recent F5G and I see nothing special about this mandolin, or collectible. It even has Schaller tuners which have not been used for some time. It may well have been a mandolin returned to the factory for warranty replacement and been repaired and given as an artist deal. I have no knowledge of this particular mandolin, but that is far more likely than the story presented in the e-bay article. It certainly is no more collectible than any other F5G. That does not mean it is not a nice mandolin, just nothing special. The serial number is probably missing because the label is missing. Whether by design or it just fell out, who knows? Anyway, that is the likely case for this mandolin.

[Phillip Tigue]

I still ask the question how did Gibson know what this was without a serial number? Somebody actually remembered a single mandolin made 15 years ago?

In the Gadsden area about 15 years ago, I found a lefty Deering banjo, and I let a friend know about it. He ended up buying it and found it didn't have a serial number, so he called the company. After being put on hold and talking to several secretaries, he gets a "Hello, this is Greg Deering."

My buddy described it, no serial, and Mr. Deering said that it had been one of three made in 1984 (1985 - can't remember which). He ended up giving him tons of info about.

...So you never know.

But, hey, if it sounds good...pick it.

[Bernie Daniel]

Tom C: Looks like an F5-G to me. What does not look right?


I thought "The Gibson" script look a little flakey. Also the close up of the fingerboard extension looked too short? I guess the story itself seemed not credible?

[MikeEdgerton]

...So you never know.

If I had to guess I'd say 20 years ago Greg Deering probably had a staff of two, he and his wife. I'd hazard a guess that there aren't a whole lot of people building mandolins at Gibson that were there 15 years ago. Big Joe says nothing hung around for 15 years, I'd say Joe's other explanations are probably right if in fact it is a Gibson.

[David O'Brien]

I found this link to a wikipedia article on Dempsey Howard, in Nashville and a gospel singer, the plot thickens. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dempsey_howard

[John M. Riley]

yeah, if anyone was interested in this mando, id say just call the guy. i talked to him about it face to face. it sounded like a solid story to me... the only thing i wondered about was the part of it being in the shop for 15 years... it did have the more recent tuners and tail piece like big joe stated. i figured it was an artist endorsed mando. but just a guess

[markishandsome]

I imagine the seller is telling something of a big fish tale in order to move this item. Like all such stories, the details get a stretched and blurred at little bit more every time the story is repeated or passed on.

Would Gibson take back a mandolin from one of its dealers if it had been lying around their shop for a few years (3..no 5 ... no 15 years, thats the ticket!), and then give it away as an artist deal or whatever?

[John Malayter]

I agree there's something fishy about this deal. I guess the seller wants to brighten up the add......

As for one-of's and no mandolins made in nashville 15 years ago, I have a F5 made by Jim Triggs he made for Doyle Lawson in '89 if i'm not mistaken. I believe it was made in Nashville when Jim worked in the custom shop.

I'm looking for more information if any can help.

jjm

[MikeEdgerton]

Why not contact Jim Triggs? Here (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/builders/searchdb.cgi?uid=default&view_records=1&keyword=triggs) is the link to his contact information in the Builders Database.

[John Malayter]

Mike, already did. He told me as much as he remembered, suprisingly it was a lot considering 19 years ago. But it suprises me when I hear no instruments were made in Nashville at that time. As Jim put it, he made this himself so if production wasnt in place in Nashville Jim did it alone.

[Spruce]

Gibson does not like one offs/prototypes leaving their factory
the usually destroy them:disbelief:
that's right
destroy them

chop them up
in little pieces:crying:

Well, they didn't always, and there are a lot of colorful stories...

Here's my fav.
I'm at a party in a certain town that will remain nameless, and--low and behold--the potato chip bowl was a J-200 (or as we like to call it, a "J-Too-Expensive") with the top ripped off...

Seems there were a few Gibson employees in the crowd, and that was something that got fished out of the dumpster...

I later played that guitar, after a friend of mine rescued it from potato chip duty and put a nice Engelmann top on it...

Don't know if it had it's serial number.... ;)

[sunburst]

Why would anyone ruin a perfectly good tater chip bowl by turning it into a J-200?!

[F5GRun]

Who was making Mandolins for Gibson in MT back then, was it Bruce Weber? If it is indeed a Gibson from 15 years ago maybe it would be made out west. If you throw that part iof the story out it could be legit. Better yet some one in Nashville go talk to Mr. Howard him self. This is from his website:

Other than in church occasionally, I have not been on stage on the front line in a long time. Years as a matter of fact! The days of music, busses, and different crowds every night are gone except in my memory... but I was there.

Even though my stints with groups of notoriety were short and only fill in positions, I can say I have been there and that I am thankful for.

If you are ever in the Nashville area, stop by the church on Sunday morning sometime, you will find me playing the bass and maybe,... just maybe I might sing a song with Bobby and Wendy on Sunday night.

Dempsey Howard P.O. Box 110591 Nashville, Tennessee 37222

[MikeEdgerton]

Why would anyone ruin a perfectly good tater chip bowl by turning it into a J-200?!

Warn me next time you're going to do that. My feelings exactly. :)

[Charles Johnson]

There was a guy on the big auction site a few years ago who was selling loads of Gibson parts - pickups, tuners, peghead veneers, etc. I bought a whole box - maybe 10 - F5 necks from him. He also sold guitars that had a seam across the guitar - it had been sawn in half and glued back together. Apparently he had a buddy working at at Gibson who would call and tell him when a load of "good stuff" was heading for the dumpster.

Don't remember his name but he also made and sold a guitar shaped dulcimer under the Bardsong name. Last I heard Gibson lawyers were on him bigtime.

[Bernie Daniel]

Sunburst: Why would anyone ruin a perfectly good tater chip bowl by turning it into a J-200?!

Alright! alright! :)

Listen -- there is absolutly NOTHING wrong with a good J-200 a friend of mine had one I think early '50's (if memory serves) it had the deeper box -- around 5 - 6 inches and it had x-bracing also with tone bars running across like transverse braces on an oval hole mandolin - -this was a very powerful axe as a lot of Martin owners were forced to admit and it sounded super with my F2.

[Stephen Lind]

Well, they didn't always, and there are a lot of colorful stories...

Here's my fav.
I'm at a party in a certain town that will remain nameless, and--low and behold--the potato chip bowl was a J-200 (or as we like to call it, a "J-Too-Expensive") with the top ripped off...

Seems there were a few Gibson employees in the crowd, and that was something that got fished out of the dumpster...

I later played that guitar, after a friend of mine rescued it from potato chip duty and put a nice Engelmann top on it...

Don't know if it had it's serial number.... ;)

that's a whole lotta' chips:grin:

[Mike Bromley]

Don't know if it had it's serial number.... ;)

Didn't you mean "cereal" number??

:popcorn:

[Big Joe]

I said there were no Gibson mandolins made in Nashville 15 years ago, and that is correct. They moved the mandolin production to Montana in 87 and did not begin construction here until late 90's. If my math serves me right, fifteen years ago would have been the Montana era. If the mandolin were 15 years old it was made in Montana. However, Gibson did not let them hang around that long. There were no old mandolins laying around in 07 because I would have know. It may have been a warranty return that was repaired and then given, a newer mandolin (my guess from photos) that was given or sold in an artist deal, or a wonderful feel good story to help sell a mandolin. Where the story originated is another issue. It may be with the current seller, or from someone he got the mandolin from. In any case, most of these stories are half truth and half fable. How he got the mandolin and when it was made is hard to tell from a photo. The fact the serial number is missing does not mean anything. It would only have been attached to a label that can fall out or be easily removed.