Gibson Style A Snakehead Carved Top Mandolin (1926)
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Item # 10397
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Gibson Style A Snakehead Model Carved Top Mandolin (1926), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 79656, black top, dark stained back and sides finish, birch back and sides, spruce top, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original black chipboard case.
This is a great-playing and sounding original Style A-1 mandolin from the beginning of 1926, the "just post Loar era" at Gibson. These Loar-pattern "Snakeheads" are generally considered the best-sounding oval-hole A style mandolins ever made, and this one certainly bears this out. This is a fine example of Gibson's craftsmanship at the apex of the mandolin era, just as the company's focus was shifting to banjos and then guitars.
These "Snakehead" instruments are named for their Loar-designed peghead that angles inward towards the tip, a feature inexplicably abandoned by Gibson a couple of years after he left. They are revered for their unmatched tone and projection and have the other newly-introduced advanced features of the era including the adjustable truss rod neck, raised adjustable bridge, and very slim neck profile. The top on this Style A bears a striking black lacquer finish, bound in white celluloid with a thin double inlaid soundhole ring with a celluloid center. The tailpiece has the engraved "The Gibson" cover plate and the tuners are simple strips with celluloid buttons.
These distinctive "snakehead" A mandolins have become ever more sought-after by discerning players. Lloyd Loar's tenure as acoustic engineer at Gibson has become so mythical that sometimes separating fact from fiction is difficult. Certainly the mandolin family instruments made during the period of his employment are the most perfectly realized in Gibson's history, and have become the template for most similar instruments since.
The mandolins of this period show the influence of a master player on both design and execution, although other Gibson employees (especially Thaddeus McHugh and Lewis A. Williams) actually engineered many of the technical improvements of the early 1920's. Loar was primarily concerned with 'voicing' the instruments properly; the Master Model Style 5 line was his greatest contribution but all Gibson mandolin family instruments were refined and improved at the same time. Even this most basic "A" model has sonic and playing improvements benefitting from "Master Loar's" input that are still evident today, nearly 100 years on.
Overall length is 25 3/4 in. (65.4 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/16 in. (27 mm.).
This is a lovely, great playing and sounding "Snakehead" A showing some wear but not too heavily used over the last nearly 100 years. The finish shows dings, scrapes and some noticeable flaking to the back but no really heavy wear. A driver's license number is lightly etched into the back of the headstock. The hardware is original and intact including the tuners, tailpiece and cover. We suspect the pickguard is authentic period Gibson but from another instrument, the later-style clamp is a repro. The original frets have some light wear but have been cleaned up and the mandolin plays very well, sounds spectacular, and still resides in its original heavy chipboard case that has been lacquered over. Excellent - Condition.
This is a great-playing and sounding original Style A-1 mandolin from the beginning of 1926, the "just post Loar era" at Gibson. These Loar-pattern "Snakeheads" are generally considered the best-sounding oval-hole A style mandolins ever made, and this one certainly bears this out. This is a fine example of Gibson's craftsmanship at the apex of the mandolin era, just as the company's focus was shifting to banjos and then guitars.
These "Snakehead" instruments are named for their Loar-designed peghead that angles inward towards the tip, a feature inexplicably abandoned by Gibson a couple of years after he left. They are revered for their unmatched tone and projection and have the other newly-introduced advanced features of the era including the adjustable truss rod neck, raised adjustable bridge, and very slim neck profile. The top on this Style A bears a striking black lacquer finish, bound in white celluloid with a thin double inlaid soundhole ring with a celluloid center. The tailpiece has the engraved "The Gibson" cover plate and the tuners are simple strips with celluloid buttons.
These distinctive "snakehead" A mandolins have become ever more sought-after by discerning players. Lloyd Loar's tenure as acoustic engineer at Gibson has become so mythical that sometimes separating fact from fiction is difficult. Certainly the mandolin family instruments made during the period of his employment are the most perfectly realized in Gibson's history, and have become the template for most similar instruments since.
The mandolins of this period show the influence of a master player on both design and execution, although other Gibson employees (especially Thaddeus McHugh and Lewis A. Williams) actually engineered many of the technical improvements of the early 1920's. Loar was primarily concerned with 'voicing' the instruments properly; the Master Model Style 5 line was his greatest contribution but all Gibson mandolin family instruments were refined and improved at the same time. Even this most basic "A" model has sonic and playing improvements benefitting from "Master Loar's" input that are still evident today, nearly 100 years on.
Overall length is 25 3/4 in. (65.4 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/16 in. (27 mm.).
This is a lovely, great playing and sounding "Snakehead" A showing some wear but not too heavily used over the last nearly 100 years. The finish shows dings, scrapes and some noticeable flaking to the back but no really heavy wear. A driver's license number is lightly etched into the back of the headstock. The hardware is original and intact including the tuners, tailpiece and cover. We suspect the pickguard is authentic period Gibson but from another instrument, the later-style clamp is a repro. The original frets have some light wear but have been cleaned up and the mandolin plays very well, sounds spectacular, and still resides in its original heavy chipboard case that has been lacquered over. Excellent - Condition.