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Thread: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

  1. #1

    Default Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    I can find no information on newer A4 mandolins, but there is one for sale, apparently from the year the Bozeman plant was closed. Were there any newer A4 mandolins made in Bozeman, or is it fake?
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    Last edited by russellrapport; May-17-2018 at 3:30pm.

  2. #2
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    Post a picture of the whole mandolin. I do not believe they made any A4 mandolins in Bozeman. I'm 99.9% sure. A whole lot doesn't look right just with that small sample. I'm also 99.9% sure that label didn't come in it and Gibson hasn't made any Gibson branded mandolins in China.
    Last edited by MikeEdgerton; May-17-2018 at 3:25pm.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  4. #3

    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    Here are the other photos. The serial number is 901462xx.
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  5. #4
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    That wasn't made by Gibson. It's a re-labeled import. It's a fake. Is it in a pawn shop by chance?

    And I'm 100% sure.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  7. #5
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    I just looked through eBay's mandolin listing and found basically that same mandolin in differing levels of trim and finish, some with a different headstock shape, some with the same shape under five or six brand names and I hadn't made it 10 pages. New they were over-priced at a little over a hundred bucks.

    The reason I asked about the pawn shop is that a few years ago somebody was traveling throughout the US pawning cheap mandolins labeled as Gibson's and the Pawn shops were then trying to sell them. It's a been a few years since we've seen that.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

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  9. #6
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    Not only is this an import, and not a Gibson, it's a very low grade import.

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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    Quote Originally Posted by rcc56 View Post
    Not only is this an import, and not a Gibson, it's a very low grade import.
    The lower the grade of a fake the more they seem to want for it.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

  11. #8
    Registered User f5loar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    run Forest, run................. as fast as you can to the Pawn Stars pawn shop in Las Vegas. Find the one they call "Chumley". He will buy your fake Gibson at the highest rate.

  12. #9
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    It's a real mandolin (sorta), but a fake Gibson.
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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Is this Gibson A4 mandolin real?

    I love that the nut looks like it was set up correctly but the strings on the bridge look like they are spaced equally between all 8.
    Jim

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