Gibson Florentine Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1957)
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Item # 11067
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Gibson Florentine Model Solid Body Electric Mandolin (1957), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 7-7100, sunburst top, dark stained back and sides finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This is a nice and fairly early example of the "Florentine", Gibson's most radical electric mandolin. Although the electric mandolin never really took off in a big way, Gibson kept trying in hopes of creating a design that would change that! Looking like an A-5 crossed with a Les Paul, this was the only solid body electric mandolin of Gibson's classic era and one of the best -- and flashiest -- electric mandos ever designed.
This model was also briefly called the "EM-200" in the early 1960s, for no apparent reason. It debuted in 1954 taking a page from the successful recent introduction of the Les Paul solidbodies. The body is carved from solid mahogany, as is the neck. The top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard are single bound while the scrolled headstock is unbound. This carries a block-script pearl Gibson logo and "crown" inlay typical of the period. The pickup is a special small-coil 4-pole "soapbar" P-90 under a black plastic cover, with the expected tone and volume controls on the lower bout capped with amber plastic knobs.
All the hardware is gold played; the tuners are Kluson Deluxe strips with distinctive pearlescent plastic buttons. The tailpiece is the standard "clamshell' cover fitting but the bridge is unique, with a rounded bar metal saddle over the adjustable rosewood base. This is a sort of carryover from the original Les Paul solid bar tailpiece, and gives the Florentine a brighter ring than the traditional rosewood saddle. The gently arched carved top is finished in a dark '50s style sunburst, the back and sides are dark mahogany like a Les Paul.
The list price in 1957 was a fairly stiff $205.00 (plus case), which was only $42.50 less than a Les Paul Standard! Only 45 Florentines were shipped in 1957, and the grand total for the decade was a just over 300. there simply was not much market for electric mandolins in the era, although Gibson listed the model up into 1970 it rarely sold over 50 units a year. Even in the decades since there are few electric mandolins that compare with the Florentine; it is absolutely the highest grade solid body mandolin of any era and its only real competition, the Fender "Mandocaster" was only available with 4 strings. The solid mahogany body, powerful slightly dark-sounding pickup and metal bridge combine to create a unique tone and feel, unmatched to this day.
Overall length is 27 7/8 in. (70.8 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.)., 4.82 lbs.
Overall this is a nice example, showing some general wear but completely original and unaltered; somebody actually played this one along the way. The finish shows light checking with dings, dents and scratches most heavily on the back. The back of the neck has some feelable dinks and a spot worn through the finish just below the nut. The original frets have been crowned down a bit with little subsequent wear and this is a fine playing and sounding Florentine, still housed in the original deluxe rectangular pink-lined brown HSC. Excellent - Condition.
This is a nice and fairly early example of the "Florentine", Gibson's most radical electric mandolin. Although the electric mandolin never really took off in a big way, Gibson kept trying in hopes of creating a design that would change that! Looking like an A-5 crossed with a Les Paul, this was the only solid body electric mandolin of Gibson's classic era and one of the best -- and flashiest -- electric mandos ever designed.
This model was also briefly called the "EM-200" in the early 1960s, for no apparent reason. It debuted in 1954 taking a page from the successful recent introduction of the Les Paul solidbodies. The body is carved from solid mahogany, as is the neck. The top and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard are single bound while the scrolled headstock is unbound. This carries a block-script pearl Gibson logo and "crown" inlay typical of the period. The pickup is a special small-coil 4-pole "soapbar" P-90 under a black plastic cover, with the expected tone and volume controls on the lower bout capped with amber plastic knobs.
All the hardware is gold played; the tuners are Kluson Deluxe strips with distinctive pearlescent plastic buttons. The tailpiece is the standard "clamshell' cover fitting but the bridge is unique, with a rounded bar metal saddle over the adjustable rosewood base. This is a sort of carryover from the original Les Paul solid bar tailpiece, and gives the Florentine a brighter ring than the traditional rosewood saddle. The gently arched carved top is finished in a dark '50s style sunburst, the back and sides are dark mahogany like a Les Paul.
The list price in 1957 was a fairly stiff $205.00 (plus case), which was only $42.50 less than a Les Paul Standard! Only 45 Florentines were shipped in 1957, and the grand total for the decade was a just over 300. there simply was not much market for electric mandolins in the era, although Gibson listed the model up into 1970 it rarely sold over 50 units a year. Even in the decades since there are few electric mandolins that compare with the Florentine; it is absolutely the highest grade solid body mandolin of any era and its only real competition, the Fender "Mandocaster" was only available with 4 strings. The solid mahogany body, powerful slightly dark-sounding pickup and metal bridge combine to create a unique tone and feel, unmatched to this day.
Overall length is 27 7/8 in. (70.8 cm.), 10 in. (25.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 14 in. (356 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/16 in. (30 mm.)., 4.82 lbs.
Overall this is a nice example, showing some general wear but completely original and unaltered; somebody actually played this one along the way. The finish shows light checking with dings, dents and scratches most heavily on the back. The back of the neck has some feelable dinks and a spot worn through the finish just below the nut. The original frets have been crowned down a bit with little subsequent wear and this is a fine playing and sounding Florentine, still housed in the original deluxe rectangular pink-lined brown HSC. Excellent - Condition.