1916 Gibson A - "trick of lighting"?

[KanMando]

Check out this Gibson A up for auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...link:middle:us

As you can see, the full length photo appears to be a typical teens pumpkin top, but the other photos show the instrument as having a dark brown top. I e-mailed the seller, and she claimed it was just a "trick of lighting", the top is indeed dark brown. I can't believe these photos are of the same instrument.

Bob

[danb]

Sure looks like 2 different instruments to me. I'm not aware of any lighting tricks that turn brown into pumpkin orange!

[markishandsome]

That would be a pretty funny lighting trick. I wonder why it didn't effect the color of the corsspiece? More likely the seller realized at the last minute he didn't have a good body shot and uploaded a pic of a different instrument hoping no one would notice. Or it's an outright scam. If you're interested in bidding on this instrument, ask the seller for some better pictures.

[atetone]

I have been sitting here trying to figure that one out also.
It looks fishy to me too.
And,,, that buy-it-now of $1300 raises a concern too,,, is it "the $1300 scammer"?
Maybe not but something to think about.
The seller gave me the same answer when I asked if it was 2 different mandolins.
"TRICK OF THE LIGHTING"

[atetone]

Also,,, I don't think that style of soundhole purfling came out until about 1920.
I don't recall sheraton brown coming out until then either except for the brown used on the AJR.
That means that either the serial # pictured is wrong or this is 2 different mandolins.

Oh boy,,, someone just bid on it. I hope they got some reliable explanation that I couldn't seem to get.

[Gail Hester]

It appears to be two mandolins pictured. I sent a question also, waiting for the response.

[atetone]

The funny thing is that all the pics seem to be taken on the same carpet, but she tells me that she only has one mandolin so she couldn't have mixed up the pics.

[KanMando]

Well someone just "won" the auction for $810. I think it's telling that none of our queries were displayed on the auction page. Does the seller have the option not to post them or is there a delay involved? I sent my query to the seller yesterday and she responded about two hours later.

Bob

[jeff mercer]

Sold for $810 !

I wonder which mandolin the winning bidder will recieve ?

Even though the pics are really small, the pumpkin-top in the 1st photo appears to have the "rope"-style soundhole rosette, & the sheraton brown in the other pics has the plain white bands..

I guess either one would be nice ( certainly for $810 !), but it's more than a little fishy that the seller claims they are the same mandolin..

[Eric Platt]

Another one who is suspicious. Looks to me like the pickguard is different also. The full length photo one appears narrower near the shoulder than the body detail. And I can't explain it away by lower angle of camera.

Hopefully it works out for the buyer.

[atetone]

[QUOTE]I wonder which mandolin the winning bidder will recieve

My fear would be,,, neither!

[Skip Kelley]

Yeah, It is definately two different mandos! You just can't trust people any more