There's something of an oddball mandolin listing at Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst, Mass, for a new Gibson A5-L.
Since Gibson doesn't make A5-Ls any more, I emailed the shop to ask for more information and was told that the mandolin is new old stock, sold to them in 2002 by Gibson. Never sold, mint, warranty papers and factory warranty would go to buyer, as they would be first owner.
Pretty odd for a mandolin to sit around for 15 years. One could be excused for wondering what's wrong with it, but Tony, who replied to my email, says it has no issues. He is a man of few words, though, and didn't elaborate at all. Either they stuck to a crazy price way over market all these years or — something. But what?
I wouldn't be surprised if it was on first blush kind of middling sounding and playing. My A5-L, when new from the factory in 1990, was only okay. It took a while to get it set up, and a long time for it to open up. But it wasn't lousy, by any stretch. And now it's a great mandolin that surprises me every day with how good it sounds and how well it plays. It's been speednecked and re-profiled by Bruce Weber (best thing ever), is on its third set of tuners (Rubners now), wide frets, an old Gibson pineapple tailpiece and looks anything but fresh, but it's a terrific mandolin. Some folks have a low opinion of Gibson A5-Ls, but there are a lot out there and they rarely come up for sale, which says something about how the fleet has aged.
Has anyone checked out the new/old A5-L at FIW or have any thoughts on it?
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