1933 Gibson-made Kalamazoo KM-11 Flatback Mandolin

Gibson's "down-market" Kalamazoo flatback mandolins have a lot in common with their teens-era Army/Navy and Alrite models. These are flat-topped and flat-backed and have peculiar bracing that -- alarmingly -- works quite well. These have a folksy, pretty-loud, sweet voice and feel excellent. If I wanted to play an old flatback in a jam situation I would reach for this model before many other mass-produced flatbacks from the era. These do have the guts. I just wouldn't expect it to cut like a carved-top instrument, though.

I'm pretty sure the low factory order number at the neckblock and stamped rear descriptor on the back of the headstock point to a 1933 year-of-manufacture.

This particular fella came to me via a consignor and it'd seen some past work -- repairs to a hairline crack on the back, a board plane and refret, and a replacement tailpiece to name a few. It was playing "ok" as it was when it came in, but I set-about correcting its flaws to get it playing on-the-dot. 

Work included: a fret level/dress (while it'd been refretted, the job was not 100% level and there was some wear to the first-position frets), cleats for the back crack repair, general cleaning, a new endpin,  side dots install, and a setup with 32w-9 GHS A240 strings. The neck is straight and it plays spot-on with 1/16" bass and hair-under 1/16" treble action at the 12th fret. One could up the gauges to 34w-10 with no issue, but I wouldn't go heavier than that. I've seen plenty of these with sinking tops (as they age) from 40w-11 gauges pushing them too hard.

Scale length: 13 7/8"

Nut width: 1 3/16"

String spacing at nut: 1"

String spacing at bridge: 1 9/16"

Body length: 12 3/4"

Lower bout width: 10"

Side depth at deepest: 2 1/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Neck wood: mahogany

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: ebony

Neck feel: flat board, medium soft-V rear shape

Condition notes: aside from one repaired hairline crack on the back, the instrument is fairly clean. The finish shows minor use-wear and the usual weatcher-check/crackle for an old Gibson product. The tailpiece is a modern replacement and the endpin is unoriginal. Otherwise, the hardware is original.

It comes with: a gigbag.