https://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-Gibson....c100005.m1851
There are no words...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-Gibson....c100005.m1851
There are no words...
Old Hometown, Cabin Fever String Band
whoa! No, there are words! hahaha
Robert Fear
http://www.folkmusician.com
"Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.
" - Pete Seeger
"This vintage Gibson A Mandolin is in acceptable condition, especially for its age!"
"It has an all solid wood finish."
"Absolutely amazing for being 90 years old!"
"Paddlehead-style headstock"
"appears to have been restored, can’t say for sure of exactly when, but looks as though the restoration was performed around the time of build"
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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I am very pained by that.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
I had a guitar in not long ago, looks like the same repair.
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!
nice project if you found it cheap--but not at that price. most of the original parts are there. which is nice. the back crack is awful but repairable. the refinish is bad. but how does anyone make that head stock work out nicely??
So there's a snakehead repair, by someone who's afflicted with ophidiophobia.
Didn't Stan Jay used to call it "reptile dentistry," referring to unskilled quasi-amateur repair? Reptile dentistry on a snakehead -- seems fitting, somehow.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
That's a lot of mending plates on one headstock! Extra points for attempting to trim them to fit.
It could be re-necked, but I'll pass on the project.
Let's see-- re-neck, loosen and re-glue cracked portion of the back, strip and re-varnish, probably needs fret work . . .
I'd estimate the repair bill at $1500-$2000. Market value of the instrument correctly repaired might be somewhere in the neighborhood of the opening bid.
By the way, it's a plain A model, although the seller lists it as an A-2 . . .
I could use some of the parts, but I'll pass.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
The thing is, there “Are” words for it. Those words should not be used in polite company however!
One might work fairly hard to add the Stan “loquacious flair” in a description of the pain and suffering this poor old gal has endured, it would be possible but, challenging, to say the least.
I shall excuse myself from such labours of linguistic gymnastics for the present.
Timothy F. Lewis
"If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett
Ignoring the headstock plating, the crack in the back and the re-finishing, how much are the original tuners, tailpiece, bridge, scratchplate/clamp and case worth? Probably not much short of the starting price.
Be careful. You don't know whether the tuners are in working condition, there are no clear pictures of the entire case, the tailpiece shows evidence of corrosion, and I can't judge the condition of the pickguard from the photos.
If you are interested in the mandolin for the parts, I suggest you have the seller send you more detailed pictures.
If all the parts are in good working order and the pickguard is not deteriorating, it might be worth the trouble, but I'll still pass on it. When I listed a set of similar tuners in the classifieds for $150 last year, no one bought them.
Putting aside issues with the seller's description, as sad as it is for us to see this, maybe someone with no other options ($ and/or access to a luthier) did their best to keep playing. Where there's a will there's a way - maybe not the most preferred, but at least a way.
Damn! He won't send it to the UK. I'd have snapped it up otherwise.
Good point! There's the "correct" way to fix it, but then there's always "other options!" I think of my old Ford van.....before I spend money going to a muffler shop, I get under it with the hacksaw, clamps, patches, etc. -- nine times out of 10, I manage to delay the inevitable for another 6 months....
Another point is with a poorly refinished instrument, how much does it really hurt it, I mean its ugly anyway, right? Kinda gives it a "feature" that a mint condition one doesn't have, IMHO!
Orthopedic steampunk.
The seller said "paddlehead"? Who does he mean?
P.S. I just remembered where I have seen this
Last edited by Bertram Henze; Jun-27-2018 at 2:44pm.
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
"desperate times call for desperate measures"...maybe the repairs were made by Hippocrates!
Rush Burkhardt
Towson, MD
Free opinions are worth exactly what you pay for them!
I expect the only repairman he had access to was a blacksmith.
It has a nice pick guard clamp.
1917 Gibson A-3, '64 Martin A, 2016 Rhodes F5R.
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