1910s Gibson A Carved-Top Mandolin

This is another Mike Brown instrument -- a teens-era Gibson A mandolin in excellent shape that's free from cracks of any sort and actually has seams that line-up and are good to go. It's seen a minor amount of work over its years and it arrived here more or less ready to go, though it did need some setup tweaks to play its best. Those included recompensating the saddles for lefty configuration and a bit of adjustment at the nut.

It's a standard-issue, spruce-over-birch affair, with a carved top and carved back. The neck is mahogany and the fretboard and (original) bridge are ebony. The bridge has replacement individual saddle pieces that are much like the originals in shape and style but made from bone instead of ebony.

Compared to his other A-style Gibson mandolin, this one sounds very traditional -- with a woody chunk to the sound but overall with a sweet, midsy voice that's not screaming loud but also not quiet. Simply damping the strings under the (replacement) tailpiece cover helped a lot to clean-up its tone.