Re: Vintage Martin vs. Gibson
1. You won't get a radiused fingerboard on either Martin or Gibson mandolins -- unless, as you suggest you get one installed aftermarket.
2. The real difference isn't in the brand name; it's in the construction methods. Most Martin mandolins are made partially like flat-top guitars (flat back, bent sides), and partially like bowl-back mandolins (flat top with a "cant" -- heat-induced bend -- built into it). The exceptions are the relatively rare Styles 15/20/30 (oval hole), and the corresponding 2-15/2-20/2-30 (f-hole); these models had carved tops. Gibson mandolins (again, with some exceptions, such as the flat-top Army-Navy Model) are made like arch-top guitars, with the top and back carved into an arch. They may have oval soundholes or f-holes, depending on the model, and come in a variety of shapes, the most common of which are the "A" instruments with ovoid bodies, and the "F" instruments with added scroll and body points. Martin mandolins, other than the carved-top models, generally have shorter scales -- especially shorter than the raised-fingerboard Gibson models.
3. I would say that tonal differences, which Mike E has well-described above, are a question of "difference," not "superiority/inferiority." And construction-wise, both companies built to high standards, though I would say that you might find a bit more qualitative variation in Gibson mandolins than in Martin. Gibson didn't seem quite as strict in sticking to specs as Martin; more idiosyncratic "one-of" Gibsons crop up from time to time.
4. The "significant value differences" you mention are largely related to the role of mandolin in contemporary music. The main musical genre that features mandolin in our time is bluegrass, and Gibson mandolins (again, as Mike E mentions) are better suited to that style. If you look at those currently building mandolins, either here or in Asia, you will find a preference for the Gibson template -- carved top and back, "A" or "F" body shapes. These decisions are market-driven, as is the price scale of vintage Gibson vs. vintage Martin models, whose original list prices were much closer than their prices on the vintage market. The shifting market led Martin to drop mandolin manufacture decades ago, while Gibson continues to make mandolins, and most other builders are making Gibson-esque variants.
5. If you are dissatisfied with the neck profiles and "tonality" of many of the vintage models, I'd question the decision to buy a "100 year old instrument" just because it's vintage. There are many excellent contemporary builders capable of turning out a mandolin that meets your preferences more exactly. Those of us who accumulate numbers of older mandolins, and the instruments, generally like the tone and feel of the old instruments -- though most of us have and play newer instruments as well. There is a reason that certain models of mandolin -- especially Gibson "F" models -- can command six-figure market prices, while other mandolins of the same vintage are much lower-priced; it has to do with (at least perceived) musical functionality, more than "emotional/popularity influences." Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5's are, like Stradivarius violins, considered by musicians to be the "gold standard," and their market prices reflect that evaluation. Changing instruments, you find the same factors apply to, say, Martin ukuleles; vintage Martin 5-K's command market prices far beyond contemporary Gibson ukes, for reasons musical and non-musical.
Which is taking a lot of words to say that vintage Martin and Gibson mandolins -- in general -- are high-quality instruments, neither "inferior" to the other, just different -- and that their musical differences have made them differently valued on the vintage instrument market, largely due to musical style preferences among the mandolin-buying public. Your musical style preference may lead you to one brand or the other; I own both, like 'em both, and use them for different styles of music.
Have fun! Vintage mandolin trying and buying can be a really enjoyable experience -- you learn a lot and get to experience history in your hands.
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
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