chiasson100 - Posted - 03/29/2013:  23:15:40

I recently acquired a vintage Gibson mandolin. I'm having trouble identifying the model of it. I was hoping people can help me it.

I have many pictures of it here:

adamchiasson.blogspot.ca/2013/...olin.html

Any help you can give, I would really appreciate it.

Adam

Jim Yates - Posted - 03/29/2013:  23:35:16

I'm gonna guess that you have an F10.   

TI_USER - Posted - 03/30/2013:  18:09:42

That is not a F-10.  The F-10 was introduced in 1943 and was discontinued in 1937.  The F-10, along with the F-7 and F-12 all had F-holes but used the shorter scale neck, which placed the bridge about 2 inches behind the center point where it would be located on a F-5.  It is a noticably different-looking mandolin.  The mandolin in question is also not as old as  the OP thinks it is (early 1900's he states in the text).  The F-5 style mandolin (with F-holes and adjustable bridge and long-scale neck) did not exist until 1922.  Looking at the photos, I'm not even certain it is actually a Gibson.  There are a lot of very good fakes out there.  That mandolin is way to shiny new looking to be a vintage instrument.  There are other things that are questionable to me.  The bridge has much larger adjustment wheels than Gibson typically uses.  The tailpiece doesn't have the traditional ebony end pin.  I, personally. have never seen a Gibson mandolin with the label on the pickguard side of the body.  Some of those things may be custom changes and it may very well be a genuine Gibson.  If it is a Gibson, my guess is that it is from the 70's.  The fretboard inlay is typical of that period.  In fact, I saw a photo while I was looking into this of a 1974 Gibson F-5 that had the exact same inlay pattern as yours.  Hopefully, someone with some more genuine knowledge of Gibson history will chime in and give some other info. If it is from the 70's, they are unfortunately not very well regarded, and for good reason.  Many of the mandolins from that time period were terrible mandolins.  Every so often a decent one appears, but they are generally considered lousy.  It wasn't until the 80's when the F-5L appeared that Gibson's reputation started to regain some of it's former glory.

Another thing, the serial number on the label makes no sense to me.  I have never seen a 4-digit serial number.  If it is a genuine Gibson mandolin, it will have a oval label on the bass side F-hole with the model number and serial number on it.

I looked at the photos again and also realized that you had mentioned the pickup, which would explain the different bridge and also made me realize that the end pin is probably installed as a pickup jack.  There's still something that makes me think that this is a 70's instrument.  I hope for your sake that I'm wrong.  The resale value of the 70's Gibson's are not very good.

Edited by - TI_USER on 03/30/2013 18:20:24

TI_USER - Posted - 03/30/2013:  20:35:10

I made a mistake in my previous post.  The dates that the F-10 mandolin were in production was from 1933 - 1937.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 03/31/2013:  20:17:05

I typed that thing in and ended up at a recipe page. If someone can get it or if the op can do it could you post a photo?

TI_USER - Posted - 04/01/2013:  15:47:11

Here's the link. It should work.  You should really try the link because there are several good photos.

adamchiasson.blogspot.ca/2013/...olin.html

Edited by - TI_USER on 04/01/2013 15:49:10

Ben Venuti - Posted - 04/01/2013:  18:14:59

That thing is pretty new --70's/ 80's maybe newer than that. If I get a little time I'll try and narrow it down.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 04/01/2013:  19:47:08

That finger board inlay was used in the mid 70's on some Gibsons. Serial # should be 6 digits I believe. Gibson played around with their serial #'s in such a way that they may or may not have meant something to them but probably nothing to us. This was done maybe to keep production #'s a secret. If it is a Gibson and I think it probably is it's value would be maybe 3 to $4000 on a good day. 1970's was not Gibson's high point in mandolin production but some of them are pretty good. Some were taken to a luthier such as Randy Wood who would regraduate the tops to "get the sound out of them." It was Gibson or nothing in the early 70's.

Wilbur - Posted - 04/02/2013:  18:52:08

I read on the Cafe that this is probably a fake.  But I want to know who signed the label?

Ben Venuti - Posted - 04/07/2013:  02:30:37

Where's the OP? This story needs an ending!

chiasson100 - Posted - 04/08/2013:  14:01:22

HI everyone. Thanks for all the input. I've had this looked at by several people who are very knowledgeable and they say that it is a fake from the far east.

Stay tuned...