5-String Horn - Posted - 12/28/2014:  19:38:56

I recently traded a Pacific Rim banjo for an F-Mandolin.  I'm really not sure who, if anyone, got the better deal.   The mando feels a bit older as the tuning machines are functional but a bit tight in places.  It looks to be all solid wood and compared to my Ovation laminate has twice the punch!  Seems to play pretty well in my novice hands.  Nice neck and inlay.  Haven't found a dead spot yet!  However, the sticker in the F-Hole is torn away (suspicious) so no way that I know of to authenticate it.  The headstock says "The Gibson" but both the seller and myself doubted that was actually the case.  Still the mandolin seemed pretty solid and might brighten up a bit with some new strings (which it did). I figured I'd probably get more use out of a 2nd mandolin then I was getting out of a 3rd banjo so I made the trade.

Now I'm questioning what I have other then an F-style mando that's fun to play and doesn't sound bad at all.  I googled "The Gibson" and found a couple of images of mandolin head stocks and graphics that look a lot like what I have. 

Any ideas on how I might eliminate the possibility that it might indeed be a Gibson??

jazzrambler - Posted - 12/29/2014:  06:04:00

It takes a keen eye for details and prior knowledge. Without pictures, nope. When someone copies to sell, they are usually doing they're best to make it look right. The inlay is hard, the interior is where an expert can find definite proof. little thins like the wring binding, overspray.First look to see if there is a stray '2' stamp anywhere, I've owned/or seen a couple of genuine Gibson factory seconds. One was a particularly  nice  L-50, There was an obvious of drip of solvent during finishing. It had a regular serial # and a 2. Solid top, great for thumping out Freddie Green or finger picking Blind Blake. 

5-String Horn - Posted - 12/29/2014:  12:45:37

Here are some photos of the mandolin in question.

 

Ben Venuti - Posted - 12/29/2014:  13:01:30

Early 70's there were quite a few people that built their own and copied Gibson MM F-5's complete with Gibson Logos and sometimes even labels. They didn't see it a plagiarism as such--if anything it was a tribute to an instrument that could not be obtained and what Gibson was producing at the time was not only expensive it wasn't very good. Some of those handcrafted instruments were quite good and were made for personal use usually. There were a few builders that early on made Gibson copies, Randy Wood,Cliff Sargent, even some of John Monteleoni's early instruments were Gibson copies and were very good mandolins! If it is one of those you have something better than a Gibson and are very lucky. Some uninformed person ripping out a Monteleoni label to pass an instrument off as a Gibson would be like finding a 200 year old bottle of Chateau Lafitte, drinking the contents and then trying to sell the bottle but I can see that happening! Then there were Asian knock offs by companies like Ibanez. While they didn't have "The Gibson" emblazoned on their headstocks the were pretty close to a Gibson in every other way. Sometimes you will run into one of these that have been modified after market to have a Gibson logo. Also there is a chance that what you have is in fact a Gibson. You need to publish some pictures.

Ben Venuti - Posted - 12/29/2014:  13:10:32

Early 70's there were quite a few people that built their own and copied Gibson MM F-5's complete with Gibson Logos and sometimes even labels. They didn't see it a plagiarism as such--if anything it was a tribute to an instrument that could not be obtained and what Gibson was producing at the time was not only expensive it wasn't very good. Some of those handcrafted instruments were quite good and were made for personal use usually. There were a few builders that early on made Gibson copies, Randy Wood,Cliff Sargent, even some of John Monteleoni's early instruments were Gibson copies and were very good mandolins! If it is one of those you have something better than a Gibson and are very lucky. Some uninformed person ripping out a Monteleoni label to pass an instrument off as a Gibson would be like finding a 200 year old bottle of Chateau Lafitte, drinking the contents and then trying to sell the bottle but I can see that happening! Then there were Asian knock offs by companies like Ibanez. While they didn't have "The Gibson" emblazoned on their headstocks the were pretty close to a Gibson in every other way. Sometimes you will run into one of these that have been modified after market to have a Gibson logo. Also there is a chance that what you have is in fact a Gibson. You need to publish some pictures.
While I was writing this pictures did arrive. Sorry what you have is a cheap Asian knock off---I don't think it's old, in fact it looks like the ones that have been showing up in the pawn shops in the last couple of years --stenciled "The Gibson". These show up on ebay quite a lot. I hope this didn't cost you much!