1951 Gibson A-50 Carved-Top Mandolin

Tone: It's punchy, dry, and mids-forward with pretty darn-good cut.

Feel: The neck is very-much a typical old Gibson mandolin feel -- medium-depth and with a hybrid C/soft V back. The necks are low and small so they're nice for sliding chords and tremolo-played slides up the neck and whatnot but if you're mostly chopping backup chords all night long you may want to consider a refret to bigger wire.

Interesting features: The back is nice flamed maple and it has quite the attractive sunburst finish. It's been played-in and "warmed-up" for the next owner. Not all of these A-50s sound as good as this one does. I have played a few that are not much better in sound than Harmony Monterey mandolins, even if they felt a lot better to p;lay. This is not one of those.

Repairs included: Tim gave it a fret level/dress and setup and glued-up and cleated the tiny hairline cracks at the f-holes.

• Maker: Gibson
• Model: A-50
• Body style: A-style
• Weight: 2 lbs 0 oz
• Scale length: 13 7/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/16"
• Neck shape: medium C/soft V
• Board radius: flat
• Body width: 10 1/4"
• Body depth: 1 7/8"
• Top wood: solid (carved) spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid maple
• Bracing type: tonebar
• Bridge: rosewood adjustable
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 36w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: small/low/narrow

Condition notes: If you like modern frets, this one won't be for you. It has the really skinny, quite low, old Gibson-style frets. It can be refretted if desired, but at a little cost. It has a few tiny repaired hairline cracks around the f-hole ends on the top. There are scuffs, nicks, dings, and scratches here and there throughout but overall it's looking worthy. The tailpiece looks like it was moved slightly over, perhaps to put it more on-center with the strings. The tuners look original but, curiously, they're the type meant for F-style headstocks and splay-out a little more. One tuner knob is a replacement. It is missing its original pickguard.

It comes with: It has its original case.

Consignor tag: GULCL