How to care for an old Gibson F-4 mandolin

[Dennis Fleisher]

I have a Gibson F-4 mandolin, SN 20130, in original condition. It’s been in the family since new, purchased by my grandmother in NYC from a music teacher, a Dr. Wm. B. Evans, on May 12, 1913. (Yes, I have the original receipt.) I took it to Elderly instruments, in 2006, and they described it as follows: excellent condition, red sunburst finish, spruce top, maple sides and back, inlaid Handel tuner buttons, double flowerpot headstock inlay, original softshell case. I’m not interested in selling it at the moment, but I’ll eventually want it to be in the hands of a player. (I’m a former musician, and would hate to have this instrument sitting unused.) What should I do to keep this instrument in best condition?

[UncleNorm]

Two important ones would be....downtune all strings a bit, one or two notes, and open the case once in a while to allow the gasses that are given off by the material the fingerboard is made from (celluloid) to get out. Those gasses will corrode metal and attack varnish and case material. If you play, you probably know to keep instruments in a stable environment...temperature and humidity.

[sunburst]

Care of any instrument is about the same; try to keep the relative humidity between 40% and 60% as much as possible, keep it clean, avoid extremes of temperature and humidity, check it over regularly and repair any problems as soon as possible. Play it often, if you play mandolin!

[Bob A]

One thing that if overlooked can destroy an F4 is a loose transverse brace. There is only one brace inside the instrument, south of the soundhole, and it prevents bridge pressure form warping the top on the mandolin. Shine a light thru the soundhole and look thru the endpin hole; if you see daylight between the brace and the top of the instrument, detune immeduately and get it reglued. Easily and cheaply done, but if it is not addressed it leads to a bad end.

[JeffD]

I have a Gibson F-4 mandolin, SN 20130, in original condition. It’s been in the family since new, purchased by my grandmother in NYC from a music teacher, a Dr. Wm. B. Evans, on May 12, 1913. (Yes, I have the original receipt.)

That instrument is a classic of sorts. If you have any pictures of your grandmother playing it or holding it, get them copied and keep them with the mandolin. It would be really cool for the next owner, if you decided to sell it, to have a pic of the previous owner, and the name of who she bought it from before that.

So cool.

[Joe Spann]

I have a Gibson F-4 mandolin, SN 20130, in original condition. It’s been in the family since new, purchased by my grandmother in NYC from a music teacher, a Dr. Wm. B. Evans, on May 12, 1913. (Yes, I have the original receipt.)

It would be of great interest to know what the Factory Order Number (FON) is on this F-4 mandolin. You can find it up inside the mandolin, usually ink-stamped on the headblock or one of the sidewalls. I would expect it to be a four-digit number, probably starting with a "2". Thanks!

Joe Spann

[Dennis Fleisher]

Thanks, all, for the thoughtful replies and information. There's a real sense of camaraderie on this site, and I'm grateful to be a member. I don’t have any old photos of family members playing (except myself) but I’ll check with the keepers of the family photos. No telling what will emerge.

Regarding the Factory Order Number, found it: 2269. Regarding the transverse brace, no daylight observed, so I think that all’s well.

[sunburst]

Reach in through the sound hole with a finger, and try pressing the ends of the brace toward the top, "pinching" with the thumb on the outside of the top. If and end of the brace is loose, it will generally move when you do that and you can feel it move. If it feels very solid, it's OK.

[danb]

I have a Gibson F-4 mandolin, SN 20130, in original condition. It’s been in the family since new, purchased by my grandmother in NYC from a music teacher, a Dr. Wm. B. Evans, on May 12, 1913. (Yes, I have the original receipt.)

I see you've had some very good care advice already, it all sounds sensibile to me too.

Some of us have perked our ears up- it's quite rare to see original receipts still with them.. since records have been lost over the years, several of us who have been working on adjusting the manufacturing date estimates would dearly love to see a scan of your mandolin receipt

[Dennis Fleisher]

I think I've attached a JPG of the receipt. Not sure I've done it right.

Let me know if it's not attached and I'll try again.

Dennis Fleisher

[Dennis Fleisher]

Just a little more information:

My Grandmother was Helen Worm, originally from Geisenheim on the Rhine. She lived in NYC after her family came to the US, married a pharmacist named Xavier D'Ambrosio. (He was in the first graduating class in pharmacy at Columbia.) They had two drugstores in NYC. They later moved to Rochester, NY, where I was born and lived, and the mandolin as was part of the family's musical history. Inspired by the mandolin and many other music-related influences, we grandkids all played instruments, but I was the one that went into it as a career. I've always said that one did not get born into our family: one had to audition.

Dennis Fleisher

[pfox14]

That original receipt is way cool. Glad to see someone who is maintaining their family heritage so well. Congrats

[Dennis Fleisher]

Another observation about this invoice: As I’ve noted before, I’m a musician (conservatory brat) and taught for 40 years. (My axe was trumpet.) I wanted my students to have high quality instruments, which many of them could not afford. I knew, however, that I could get 40% discounts in NYC, and became a provider of high quality, heavily discounted instruments for my students. I wasn’t looking to make any money: I just sold them to my students for my cost. But, that made for a rather indirect route between manufacturer and end-user: Bach (the manufacturer) to Giardinelli (the NYC brass instrument emporium) to Dennis to my student. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Evans (the name on the receipt) did something like this too, so the receipt is only a rough indicator of the date the mandolin was made.

Dennis Fleisher

[mrmando]

Dennis, this is how Gibson got so many mandolins into so many players' hands. They worked directly with music teachers and used them as mail-order sales reps. In some cases, if I'm not mistaken, the music teachers were even employed directly by Gibson. It was most likely a less circuitous route for your grandma's mandolin: from the Gibson factory to Dr. Evans to her.

I don't know for sure whether Gibson sold to music retailers. But during this time period, buying a mandolin from your music teacher was a very common way to acquire one.

The receipt is only one piece of paperwork, of course. We don't know how long it took for her to pay the remaining $82, or whether she got the mandolin with the down payment or not until it was paid off. We don't know whether Evans had the mandolin already when she paid him the $25 or ordered it from Gibson shortly thereafter.

[Dennis Fleisher]

Thanks Martin. Interesting information that hadn't occurred to me, but made me recall that one of my teachers (trumpet) in NYC was a rep for a West Coast trumpet manufacturer. Music teachers as manufacturer's rep --- makes perfect sense and probably more common than had realized. Thanks for the insights.