1923/1971 Gibson F-4/F-5 Carved-Top Archtop Mandolin

This is a local customer's lovely old Gibson mandolin and he's enjoyed it since it was an F-4 (in the late '60s) and ever since it became an F-5 (in 1971). He told me that the poor old bird was falling-apart and, as he happened to be out near Gryphon, he had Frank Ford and Richard Johnston convert the instrument from its round-hole F-4 beginnings into the F-5 you see now (new top, new neck). The job was excellent and, of course, he's played it like a madman because of that.

Suffice to say, instruments get tired the older they get. This one had a collapsed top near the endblock and a ski-jumping fretboard extension to deal with as well as the other usual setup-side stuff to address. The neck angle was still OK so I reset the extension so as to be in line with the rest of the fretboard. I then hemmed and hawed about how to deal with the failing top at the endblock and decided to run a 1/2" dowel from the neckblock to the endblock (pinned under the tailpiece) inside to keep the lengthwise compression from continuing to pull the endblock into the top. It's hidden, fortunately, and makes all the difference.

After that, it got some tidying-up, a fret level/dress, and a good setup and... it's off to the races! I simply did not want to put it down after getting the first few notes out of it. I can understand completely why he wanted this one back in rotation!

Things to love: a beautifully-cut neck, scooped-out extension, celluloid-rotting pickguard holding on by a thread, natural wear and tear to the instrument everywhere, and ridiculous flame in the neck. Oh, and it sounds great, too, of course.