1910s Gibson A-1 Carved-Top Mandolin




The factory order number and serial number are illegible on this guy, but I'm sure it's a 1910s-era Gibson A. As you'd expect, its voice is both husky and sweet. It has good clarity and punch, but is mellow at the same time. I just love these old fellas.

This one's lived a little bit of a rough life and it has its share of random repairs, though overall it looks spiffy. The back and sides are refinished and the top is oversprayed.

It came in for a glorified setup and left with some seam repairs, a headstock hairline crack repair (split along the "ears"), a fret level/dress, fit of a new rosewood adjustable bridge, cleaning, and setup. When it was dropped off, it also had some old, '60s-era tuners on it. I replaced those with some original Gibson-style Waverly tuners that I happened to have in my parts-bins and were correct for the instrument.

These have a carved, spruce top and birch back and sides. The neck is mahogany with a triangular-shaped reinforcement wedge of maple under the (ebony) fretboard.

Setup notes: action is perfect with a straight neck and 1/16" height at the 12th fret. Strings are 36w-10 in gauge.

Condition notes: as noted above -- refinished back/sides, oversprayed top, replacement bridge, replacement (period correct) tuners, minor usewear throughout -- light scratches/small nicks.














Comments

Reese said…
Very cool obverse coloring of my A-type: dark front, light back, but essentially the same type of beautiful little being. So nice.
Banjo Willie said…
1919 at the earliest. Probably early1920’s before the truss rod in 22. Before 1919/20 they had a different style inlay around the sound hole.