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Thread: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

  1. #1

    Default Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    I'm interested in learning as much as I can about vintage Gibsons, particularly the A styles form the teens/20s. If anyone can recommend any good resources, threads, books, etc, I'd appreciate it! Just looking for a place to start learning. Fred Oster's store in Philadelphia seems to have old Gibsons on hand regularly so I'll be making a trip there to get my hands and ears on a few.

    https://vintage-instruments.com/prod...ndolin-family/

    More specifically, I'd like to learn about their history, construction, what to look out for when purchasing, common problems, what it's like owning and maintaining an old instrument, and how they are valued. What brought this on was a post I saw online for a 1917 A-style for $900. I'll include some pics from that post, there wasn't a whole lot of info provided, owner says it is likely an A2 but the model number appears to have faded from the label. Doesn't have the OHSC and from the pictures it doesn't look like original tuners/tailpiece.

    Curious what your impressions might be, I don't plan on pursuing this one but it certainly got the ball rolling for me.

    Thanks!
    Jake
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  2. #2
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Fred Oster is a well-respected dealer. I met him one time and he seemed to be a decent fellow. The tuners on that mandolin indeed have been changed and I'm assuming the headstock tuner holes were plugged and re-drilled as those tuners shouldn't fit the original tuner holes in the headstock. I can't see the tailpiece well enough to comment. The finish looks like it was shined up a bit one way or the other and the price isn't crazy bad but it's what one might expect to pay a dealer. The issue with the model number is common but if you look inside the instrument at the neckblock there should be a number stamped there. That is the Factory Order Number of FON as they are called. Using Joe Spann's book "Spann's Guide to Gibson 1902-1941" will allow you to actually identify the year built and in many cases the model number. Unfortunately not every record is available but the vast majority are. Another great resource is our own Dan Beinborn's Mandolin Archive. You have the opportunity to check serial numbers and FON's against other historical listings. As far as other books there are quite a few. One you might want to look at is "Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars" by George Gruhn and Walter Carter. It has a section devoted to Gibson mandolins that gives you details regarding each model and what changes were made each year. There are other books as well. Good luck on your journey.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  4. #3
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    I'm not an expert, just a longtime player, and, when it comes to identifying vintage Gibsons, a dedicated amateur ... but as far as I know, without a headstock logo, it wouldn't be an A-2, but a plain A.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  6. Apr-05-2022, 9:46am

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  7. #4
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Yes, that is a plain A from sometime in the 1910's.
    Plain A's from that period have no peghead logo, no fingerboard binding, and no back binding.
    This one appears to have back binding, so it's a slight anomaly for a plain A [which is not all that unusual].
    The numbered models have a logo and more binding.

    The instrument has lost its original bridge and pickguard.
    It appears that the original finish has been stripped and overcoated with something. I can't tell for sure from the pictures whether the top was stripped, but it also appears to be overcoated.
    My impression is that this was probably originally a Sheraton brown A that has been re-worked.

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  9. #5
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    The oft quoted line on here (sorry, don’t know ho to attribute it to) is that the only consistant thing about gibsons from the teens and twenties is their inconsistency. So looking for a difinitive guide to models etc will be a bit of a lost cause and you’d do better reading the posts here and visiting the Mandolin Archive website.

    Those tuners look like Scallers to me with a selection of mounting screws.

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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Yes, that is a plain A that looks like finish work done, new tuners, wrong bridge, no guard, a very long back crack. I'd say its worth less than 900 bucks, but it may sound fine but that era for me at least they seem to sound tubby if that makes sense?. You can buy a very clean plain A for maybe 1200-1500? Just saying.

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    Registered User Glassweb's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Quote Originally Posted by William Smith View Post
    Yes, that is a plain A that looks like finish work done, new tuners, wrong bridge, no guard, a very long back crack. I'd say its worth less than 900 bucks, but it may sound fine but that era for me at least they seem to sound tubby if that makes sense?. You can buy a very clean plain A for maybe 1200-1500? Just saying.
    William has got this one right...

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  15. #8
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Yes, $900 is too much for an A in the condition of the one you posted. $500 - $600 might be more appropriate.

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  17. #9
    Pataphysician Joe Bartl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    You could look up The Complete Guide to the Gibson Mandolins by Paul Fox.

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  19. #10

    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Thanks for the info, all!

  20. #11
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help with Vintage Gibsons (1910s-20s)

    Walter Carters recent book on Gibson Mandolins "the name escapes me at the moment" is also a great informative piece to go with what other members here have mentioned for you to look into. Just from what I know and having owned a load of Gibson's from the teens-early 40's, if your drawn to the teens-20's stuff, bang for the buck would be an early 20's "Loar era" snakehead if you like a thinner neck, adjustable truss rod and bridge a more refined type tonal voice as they are carved better. The A-Junior snakes are usually just as fine as the fancy models IMHO and a lot cheaper, the paddleheads from this era are great also but the necks can vary. I had some old F-2's from 1912-14 and they were really sweet but the price goes up with the F models in any pre-war era. Hope this helps ya a bit.

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