Vintage Gibson Playability

[Bob Buckingham]

My Gibson A4 was made in 1917. The tone is the reason I play it. Nothing replaces the tone of an old Gibson. As for the neck, I have 7 mandolins, all with a different neck profile. That’s just part of the fun.

Those mid teens Gibsons have the best sound. Play ability is quite good IMHO.

[Trader Todd]

I recently bought a '21 A Jr which sounds and plays exactly like I hoped it would. The flat fret board doesn't bother me. It does take me a song or two to get use to the small frets after switching from my Northfield. It almost feels fretless sometime due to the tiny frets. It sounds great and is fun to play. No regrets.

[EdHanrahan]

... mediums on my 20 F4, and it does have a little of the "tubbiness" ...

My '17 A-1 also had a bit of tubbiness, so I replaced just the G course with a lighter pair (I forget the numbers) and it balanced out nicely.

[CES]

Nice on the Amana-white top A-3. I looked at that one online but don't really remember what year, but I think it was a 22 with a TRod right? So those Loar years would be why that one isn't tubby as many from pre-20 that I've pawed at in person are too tubby for my personal preference! And I'd bet if I did bet, the neck would be a bit comfier than the earlier ones as well. I always wanted an A-3 white top but the last one I tried to get "after 25 some odd years-the guy robbed me of my $"! So, I got a bad taste in my mouth for a white top A-3 "for now anyways-LoL"! Oh well, I prayed for him to see the light. I guess getting robbed eventually happens when ya wheel and deal all the time! Some people are just, well evil!

Correct, 1922 with a TR and the slimmer neck profile. I really liked it and it's not a bad way to get a Loar era mandolin given the overspray, but I think I'd have to do the re-fret (or possibly replace the FB, but I admittedly didn't check on the intonation issues some of these mandos from that era have).

[Servus]

When I bought my A1 1916 model it was only because of the sweet sound. That was in 1997. Nothing's changed.

[Eric Platt]

My late 20's A Jr. doesn't have much in the way of tubbiness. Not sure if it's just pure luck, or if the back and sides of this one are maple. And it's easy to play. Don't seem to have much trouble with the neck width or shape. It's the later Gibson sharp V neck that does my hand in.

The neck is definitely different than my bandmate's 1909 A, and from the 1910 A I had for a while. Had that one refretted with larger wire and had a new bridge installed. Both made it better playing, but not sure I liked it as much after. Did end up selling it off at a huge loss.

For the type of music I play, tubbiness in the mandolin is not necessarily a bad thing. Just has to be able to be heard through the other instruments.