I'm primarily a guitar player and not yet well acquainted with mandolins, so I thought I'd ask here for some expert help. I recently got a 1997 Flatiron A5 Artist. I'm enjoying it very much, but I'm curious about something I noticed. In the mandolin world, makers' signatures seem to be valued. My mandolin has a Gibson Nashville label inside, but no maker's signature. I'd heard that Artist series mandolins were always signed. Is mine some kind of factory second?

It seems to play and sound just fine, at least to my hands and ears. It seems well built, and it's pretty, with nice top grain and good flame. The only flaw I can find is a very small area of orange peel to the body finish, and it's out of sight under the fret board extension. I've seen far worse defects that slipped through QA on many Gibson custom shop guitars. Any insight on what I have here would be much appreciated.