View Full Version : lookin for date of manufactoring gibson a 40
slowpick
Apr-24-2011, 9:05pm
hello;i haven't posted before but i've read a lot! i think some of you can help; this is my 1st gibson mandolin; i just got it i love it! would like to kno when it was built. has nmbr 2163 32 stamped inside
f5loar
Apr-24-2011, 10:05pm
Made in late 1949. Post a few photos and we can tell you if it's all original or not.
slowpick
Apr-25-2011, 5:16am
hello f5loar; thank you so much!!! i'm new at this,took me a long timeto get question posted!! i dont have means or know how to post picture righy now;hope to later tho! i've read several of your posts & replies;thanks again for responding
f5loar is the A-40 man! Despite its low place on the totem pole, this model found a place in the heart. I have one I bought at Mandolin Bros. in 1978 for $325 (no case). Dandy neck on that little feller!
f5loar
Apr-25-2011, 9:52am
Little Ricky Skaggs at age 6 cut his first "Rawhide" on an A40N blonde top Gibson. They were and always will be professional model mandolins.
John Kinn
Apr-26-2011, 4:41am
I have a 1949 A40 blond top, and it holds its own compared to my 2002 A9. Play that little fellow!
steve V. johnson
Apr-28-2011, 12:49pm
I have an A40, recently acquired & fixed up a bit. Where inside can I find the number? This one is a nice sort of honey burst & has really small bar frets. There doesn't seem to be a number on the neck block... tho I don't really know what I'm looking for.
Thanks,
stv
steve V. johnson
Apr-28-2011, 1:19pm
Here's mine. I'm pretty sure it's all original in this pic, but I had to change out the tuners, some of the shafts were badly bent.
allenhopkins
Apr-28-2011, 4:24pm
Here's Tom "F5 Loar's" explication of why it's hard to find serial numbers and FON's on certain A-40's:
It sounds like you have a 50's A40. There are no orange labels in those years in lower end Gibson models only the FON which was usually stamped onto the inside of the back as seen through the lower(treble) F hole. Sometimes it does take a flashlight in a dark room to see it as the ink stamped number fades over the years. From that number you can close into a better date.
A factory order number (FON) wasn't exactly a serial number, but rather a processing ID that indicated what number in what batch the particular instrument was. Gibson numbering and labeling are often frustrating. Sometimes you get wonderful detail, signature of the head luthier, etc.; sometimes you get nada, or close.