{"product_id":"gibson-style-dy-army-navy-special-flat-top-mandolin-1920-4027","title":"Gibson Style DY Army-Navy Special Flat Top Mandolin (1920)","description":"Gibson Style DY Army-Navy Special Model Flat Top Mandolin, c. 1920, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, dark brown varnish finish, birch back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \"Style DY\" was a short-lived Gibson experiment, the company's first attempt at a very low-cost instrument. Using the general flat-bodied design of the slightly earlier \"Alrite\" model, the \"Army-Navy Special\" dispensed with all decorative trim and sported a utilitarian brown finish overall. There was a matching guitar as well (Gibson's first flat-top 6-string), and the initial aim was to sell the plain if functional instruments to Doughboys at military PX's. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWorld War I had pretty much ended by the time production got under way, but the instruments were built for several more years in fairly small numbers. The DY had a distinctive sound, and despite its short shelf life is well-remembered...the Flatiron company was founded to produce a re-issue of this model in 1977. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGibson kept the plain-jane low-cost line alive with the \"Junior\" models introduced after 1919, but the \"A-Jr.\" mandolin was built with a carved top, leaving the flat-top mandolin design to languish until the 1930's. The DY has a unique tone, bright and peppy but with a distinctly Gibson flavor. This is a good-playing and sounding example of this fairly rare mandolin.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 24 3\/4 in. (62.9 cm.), 9 3\/4 in. (24.8 cm.) width, and 1 3\/4 in. (4.4 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.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll original except missing pickguard; back seams have been reglued and there is some fairly heavy topwear, but overall a good example. Very Good + Condition.","brand":"Gibson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853262704780,"sku":"4027","price":900.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_44b366c6-358e-4dbc-86f5-50970a49c6f6.jpg?v=1774332408","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/gibson-style-dy-army-navy-special-flat-top-mandolin-1920-4027","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}