Gibson Style A "Snakehead" Carved Top Mandolin (1924)
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Item # 3054
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Gibson Style A "Snakehead" Model Carved Top Mandolin (1924), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, black top, dark stained back and sides finish, birch back and sides, sprice top, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
A great-playing and sounding original "snakehead" Style A mandolin from the end of the Loar era at Gibson. These are generally considered the best-sounding roundhole "A" style mandolins ever made, and this one certainly bears this out. Top is in early-style black lacquer finish with wide cream celluloid soundhole ring; "The Gibson" logo is thin silver paint in nearly straight-across script. These Loar-era A mandolins have become ever more sought-after in recent times.
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 Loar's employment are the most perfectly realized in Gibson's history, and have become the template for most similar instruments since.
The mandolins of the "Loar Era" 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 with their violin-style f-hole tops, but all Gibson mandolin family instruments were refined and improved at the same time.
Overall length is 25 7/8 in. (65.7 cm.), 10 3/16 in. (25.9 cm.) width, 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 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
Well-played, with moderate wear overall. Top finish has some pickwear but is mostly intact; back and sides generally good with some loss. Quite a bit of finish wear to the back of the neck and neck/body junction area. Back and sides have some repaired seams, most noticeably near the tailblock. Tailpiece original with some plating damage. Bridge an older correct style replacement and tuners are later 1920's -- early 1930's style.
This is a really great playing and sounding mandolin that has seen a lot of use and is ready for more!
With a well-worn but functional original HSC. Very Good + Condition.
A great-playing and sounding original "snakehead" Style A mandolin from the end of the Loar era at Gibson. These are generally considered the best-sounding roundhole "A" style mandolins ever made, and this one certainly bears this out. Top is in early-style black lacquer finish with wide cream celluloid soundhole ring; "The Gibson" logo is thin silver paint in nearly straight-across script. These Loar-era A mandolins have become ever more sought-after in recent times.
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 Loar's employment are the most perfectly realized in Gibson's history, and have become the template for most similar instruments since.
The mandolins of the "Loar Era" 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 with their violin-style f-hole tops, but all Gibson mandolin family instruments were refined and improved at the same time.
Overall length is 25 7/8 in. (65.7 cm.), 10 3/16 in. (25.9 cm.) width, 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 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
Well-played, with moderate wear overall. Top finish has some pickwear but is mostly intact; back and sides generally good with some loss. Quite a bit of finish wear to the back of the neck and neck/body junction area. Back and sides have some repaired seams, most noticeably near the tailblock. Tailpiece original with some plating damage. Bridge an older correct style replacement and tuners are later 1920's -- early 1930's style.
This is a really great playing and sounding mandolin that has seen a lot of use and is ready for more!
With a well-worn but functional original HSC. Very Good + Condition.