Gibson Army Navy Reconstruction

[Tukanu]

Pretty sure it is birch. I have never heard of birch as a tone wood, but I have read that birch was used on the Gibson Alrites and the A/N's. The Alrite I restored had a lot of volume, and this one has a pretty clear tap tone, and will probably have a lot of volume as well.

[rcc56]

Birch was the standard wood for most Gibson mandolins through the mid 1920's. Maple was standard only on the F-4 and F-5. All other models, including the F-2, were birch. Maple A models did appear occasionally, but they are seldom seen. We start to see maple gradually replace birch around '26 or '27.

The catalogs always claimed maple throughout the line, but they were not being accurate. Or as Mark Twain used to say, the catalogs were "stretching the truth."

[Tukanu]

Thanks for the background info on the use of birch. Here is the catalog page:



Al least they got the fingerboard correct.

[peter.coombe]

Ok, then the one I had was most likely Birch as well. I am not familiar with Birch nor American Cherry.

[rcc56]

Birch bears a close resemblance to unfigured maple. It can be hard to tell the difference sometimes. It was frequently used in American made mandolins and guitars before WWII. Probably the majority of Gibson oval hole mandolins were made with it. We also frequently see it used by the Chicago and New York manufacturers, such as Regal, Schmidt, etc.

I have occasionally seen birch with a mild figure to it, but it was not as regular or pronounced as the figuring found in fancy maple.

Birch is a perfectly good tone wood. It sometimes gets a poor reputation because it was often used in cheaply made instruments.

[sunburst]

They weren't all birch, but of course they were Gibsons, and we all know that Gibson could ignore catalog description at any time.
This one is maple.

[Tukanu]

100 years old (with 50 years spent in a damp basement) and they look like new. Oxyclean and a scrub brush on the buttons, and Naval Jelly on the metal:

[Tukanu]

All finished. Nice clean tuners have been lubed, new frets on a freshly leveled board, all splits have been stabilized. The nut and bridge are from the Alrite that was recently restored. Sounds pretty good. I think it will last another 100 years with a little care.







The three amigo's: Flatiron Cadet, Army/Navy and a Cripple Creek Flattop

[Nevin]

Nice job!