Austin Bob
Nov-01-2012, 1:09pm
Here's a picture of my mandolin that I've had for over 25 years. Maybe one day I'll learn how to play it, LOL.
It was built by a local guy, Stephen Wise. He now primarily does repairs, but this mando was built in 1977. I am the second owner. My recollection is that Steve's mom had an old Gibson when he was a kid, and it had apparently somehow ended up in pieces. He built this as a tribute to her, he can still remember her singing and playing it when he was a young boy.
Steve built the first owner a guitar and this mandolin at the same time, but the guy never played the mandolin. He brought them to Steve years later so have some work done on the guitar, and asked Steve to check the mando. Steve saw that it had never been played, and bought it back from the guy, saying he had built this to be played, not sit in the case.
I was young and poor at the time, and had just bought a cheap Epiphone mandolin. I brought it to Steve to get some tuners installed, one was bent. He ended up selling me this for $450, and I had to make payments for months. I will always treasure this, it was the first fine instrument I've ever owned and is one of the best sounding mandolins I've ever played.
Browsing the classifieds, it looks to be a copy of a 1906 Gibson A.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/60580
93532
It was built by a local guy, Stephen Wise. He now primarily does repairs, but this mando was built in 1977. I am the second owner. My recollection is that Steve's mom had an old Gibson when he was a kid, and it had apparently somehow ended up in pieces. He built this as a tribute to her, he can still remember her singing and playing it when he was a young boy.
Steve built the first owner a guitar and this mandolin at the same time, but the guy never played the mandolin. He brought them to Steve years later so have some work done on the guitar, and asked Steve to check the mando. Steve saw that it had never been played, and bought it back from the guy, saying he had built this to be played, not sit in the case.
I was young and poor at the time, and had just bought a cheap Epiphone mandolin. I brought it to Steve to get some tuners installed, one was bent. He ended up selling me this for $450, and I had to make payments for months. I will always treasure this, it was the first fine instrument I've ever owned and is one of the best sounding mandolins I've ever played.
Browsing the classifieds, it looks to be a copy of a 1906 Gibson A.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/60580
93532