Mike Stewart

After six months with my Red Valley EM mandolin, which is still a far better mandolin than I am a player, my eye began to wander. I kept an eye on the local Craigslist, contacted one seller about a teens Gibson A and the seller flaked out by just ignoring my texts, calls, and email when I was near the appointed time and place. Others just wanted too damned much ($4400 for a white face A3 is too much, I don't care how clean it is, and the original receipt doesn't make it play better), or were too far out of the way.

But, hey, I'm not restricted to just the Seattle area. My parents live between Tampa and Orlando, and Florida's economy is still a lot worse off than Seattle's. Trolling Lakeland's Craigslist postings might prove fruitful and I could perhaps persuade my parents into looking at any bargains (Mom's play dulcimers and other wood instruments over the years, and should know most of what to look for). I saw an ad that had a possibility, but the more I thought about it the more I didn't want to put my parents on the hook for looking at something. But a few weeks went by and the mysterious Gibson was still there. Mysterious? I'll let the ad text speak for itself:
[QUOTE]Clean Gibson Mandolin for sale or maybe trade. This one is the one you want. Original clean case. All original, nothing is changed. Looks like a carved top. Don't know what model it is. Maybe an A 40[/QUOTE]

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Well, there ya go, binding on the back says it's an A-50. What year? Meh, that's a little tougher and I'm no expert. Logo says late 40s or later. Cloud tailpiece says 40s or 50s. Tuners say...I dunno what the tuners say, as they don't look like anything I could find on other A-50s.

My mother says there's no label, but I haven't bothered her to get the flashlight out. I'll be down there in February or earlier, so I'll figure it all out when I get there. My parents report that it is indeed as good as described, and apparently not played much. One or two frets might need replacing. When I get down that way, I'll restring it and see from there.

More pics:
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