As a lark I've always wanted a mandolin from my birth year. As a guy from 1958, were there dark years for Gibson? It seems like there are mainly electrics from this year.
As a lark I've always wanted a mandolin from my birth year. As a guy from 1958, were there dark years for Gibson? It seems like there are mainly electrics from this year.
Not my ultimate years but prob not so bad. I had a great ES-225 from that year and have played some nice flattops as well. There is this A-50 at Elderly.
I like birth-year instruments. I can't tell the exact years but I have a Southern Jumbo and an LG-2 from (I think) my birth year.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
IMHO 1958 isn't a "bad" year......when compared to the dismal early 70's .......I owned an A50 from the period (my second instrument after that terrible Silvertone).....It played well and sounded decent.... finding a 58 F5 will be a task because they just didn't make that many of them....
i think there was a great decline in mandolins from Gibson from about 1935 -mid 1980's however there are some exceptions ,i have owned a F-5 from every decade, i had a 1965 that was great, a 1951 that was very good , also a 1976 that was great but in general from after 34 until the Carlson ones in the Mid 80's they are below average sounding ,the very worse i ever had was a 49 F-12 and a 1981 F-5 just awful,i had another 81 that was great but had been modified
Danny
Danny Clark
All i have is ones from my Mother's birth-year. (and they are not F type)
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
I have an early 60s EM-200 but the 58 would be cool too, if you are at all into electrics.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Thanks for all the responses. Would I be better off with a 58 Martin?
1958 was indeed a good year for cars and guitars and even Gibson mandolins. A '58 D18 is in the $4000 range and a D28 is in the $8500 range. A good D21 is around $5500. On the Gibson mandolins there was some good ones. The F12 tends to sound better then the F5 due to lighter weight. Expect $3500 for the F12 and $6800 for the F5, but the '58 F5 is rarer than hen's teeth. They only made 14 in '58. The A50/A40s are okay too in the $800 range. But the ultimate would be that EM200 electric for '58. '54 was the first year and '58 is a hard year to find as they only made 25. Expect to pay over $3000 for the EM200 which IMO is a bargain. The EM150 (an electric A50) can run you $1000 or more. Made 58 of those in '58. But the cream to find for a '58 Gibson mandolin is the A-5 two pointer round hole. Only made 18 of those puppies. Serial nos. can be tricky on the '50s so best get that 2nd opinion on that year made. Is the Martin guitar a better investment? They are not as rare as the Gibson mandolins for '58 but do tend to hold their value and increase over time.
Thanks for that detailed answer. No offense to Gibson lovers but I was suggesting a 1958 Martin mandolin. It does appear there are Gibson options I did not know about, though.
I thought you might mean the Martin mandolin. Unless you get the Fhole 215 model not worth looking into. Much harder to find than a Gibson too. Martin mandolins won't cut bluegrass! Okay for parlor bands and old time picking.
Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
When time is broke and no proportion kept!
--William Shakespeare
I too was going to suggest a Jethro Burns A5, which i know they made around that time.
On the electric front, the local Long & McQuade here (Vancouver, Canada) has a '50s EM200 in stock right now, $3200 (canadian) although i can't remember if it's '57, '58, or '59, sorry. I've played it, and while the body is immaculate the pots were dirty, with the volume cutting in & out which shocked me at that price, so if you happen to buy it make sure they've serviced/cleaned it for you (or send me to test it for you )
You can call 'em at (604) 734-4886.
Last edited by notneils; Jan-08-2014 at 10:29pm.
I had no idea it was so rare. My year is based on the FON letter designation for 1958.
Note that there are a few things to be aware of in this vintage that I found with mine:
The tuner buttons may be decayed-mine had to be replaced- and the sound bar inside is quite warped and separated from the top. The top is so thick that this has not caused sinkage, though.
Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
When time is broke and no proportion kept!
--William Shakespeare
Time has passed, I'm 58, born in '58 and just had a '58 F-12 delivered today. Too bad I'm still at work.
God love my wife. Fed Ex gently knocked, left a note and drove away. She hopped in the car and hunted them down.
Hopefully this is one of the fairly good ones.
I will look forward to your update, and hopefully some pics
I've done some cleaning . If I knew how to post a picture I would. Here's two questions for the experts out there.
What could I use to remove tarnish on the tailpiece?
Any idea how many F-12s were made in 1958?
Very happy with the purchase, will probably change the strings in the
next week.
I'm going to speak up here in the absence of any experts so far. While I'm not the expert on this particular model, I'm very familiar with post-war Gibson gold plating... If the tailpiece is still gold plated (and it does seem from online pics that the F-12 models were originally gold plated), the best thing to do -- other than leaving it alone -- is very gently wipe it with a soft damp cloth. And I emphasize gently and soft cloth there, as any friction will remove more gold plating... The gold plating comes off very easily, in fact the "tarnish" you may be seeing or feeling with your fingers might be remnants of this gold plating in a half-way there, half-way gone stage.
And btw, worn gold plating is nothing to be ashamed of. It just means the instrument has been used instead of being stored in a museum all of its life.
Gibson plated many post-war instruments with nickle first, then gold, so as the gold plating comes off the nickle can show; with some instruments the contrast between gold and nickle plating makes a silverish-bluish hue.
I have a couple of post-war gold-plated instruments that came to me in an already worn state. To try to preserve tarnished gold plating I've gently rubbed them with a light-oil based cleaner on my fingers and it has helped, but I don't feel safe suggesting that to you or anyone else unless you feel the gold plating decay and wear has already gone through to the underlying metal -- in other words, if this is a last-ditch effort to try to preserve what is left of the gold plating.
Good luck with this! I'll gladly tip my hat to any others here who can speak with more reliable, tried-and-true suggestions on this matter...
Last edited by dhergert; Nov-05-2016 at 8:37pm.
-- Don
"Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
"It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."
2002 Gibson F-9
2016 MK LFSTB
1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
[About how I tune my mandolins]
[Our recent arrival]
-- Don
"Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
"It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."
2002 Gibson F-9
2016 MK LFSTB
1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
[About how I tune my mandolins]
[Our recent arrival]
Oh, and according to "Gibson Shipping Totals 1937-1979" by Larry Meiners, there were 24 F-12 mandolins shipped in 1958.
-- Don
"Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
"It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."
2002 Gibson F-9
2016 MK LFSTB
1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
[About how I tune my mandolins]
[Our recent arrival]
Thank you, I'll take your advice and leave the tailpiece in it's current condition.
And I'm thrilled that this is one of around 25. Makes it all that more special to me.
Wasn't completely satisfied with the purchase, but after 15 minutes and $15 at our local music store the other day...what a difference. Playability, tone, tuning all so much better.
Yes, just a few bridge adjustments that I could have done but like most repairs I do there's a good chance I'm going to make things worse.
I think in '58 Gibson's build quality was nearly as high as it had ever been. This was 13 years after the war and Ted McCarthy was in charge. They were about to build some of the most sought after electric guitars ever made.
The problem with mandolins was they had lost touch with what made a 20's F5 so great.
Bookmarks