Interesting Gibson F2

[Macabre]

I notice this F2 has tortoise binding.

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/72838

Do you think this thing still had a dovetail joint?

[mandroid]

link is to an ivoroid bound F4.. I assume its not yours...

[JFDilmando]

It would be interesting to know how many instruments of this period had such binding. The Rybka Loar Mandola, recently surfaced and sold has tortoise binding front and back.

[JFDilmando]

Btw the link provided is indeed correct....to a F2 with tortoise back binding

[Macabre]

1922 (Loar Period) Gibson F2 Mandolin #72838

The back is tortoise bound. But the neck area is a little different.

Compare this:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...g?v=1376761467

to this

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/image...ack_detail.jpg

[rcc56]

I have never heard of an F-2 with factory original back binding of any kind. Standard specs for F-2's was an unbound back.

The back was probably removed from that mandolin for some reason, and the binding added when it was reassembled. Instruments spring out of shape when a back is removed, and adding or replacing is one way to get a clean joint when reassembling.

I have also never heard of a prewar Gibson mandolin of any kind without a dovetail joint, although I must add that I've only exposed the neck joint on a small number of them.

[carleshicks]

The parrot Loar has a similar neck joint.

http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/71055

[rcc56]

The presence of a separate heel cap instead of the back covering the back of the heel on both the F-2 in question and the "Parrot Loar" is an indication that the instruments were disassembled. We see this often on violins where either a back or a neck has been removed.

These are both simply instruments that have been repaired and modified cosmetically in the process. In the case of the F-2, the intention of binding the back was probably to make the removal and reassembly of the back look less noticeable.

Notice the presence of a Virzi with a high serial number in the "Parrot," which could be considered to be irregular on such an early F-5. The instrument was probably disassembled and the Virzi installed post-production. There are several other signs of post production repair work besides the parrot painting.